Hotelier and artist finds balance as a global nomad
Güncelleme Tarihi:
by Damaris Kremida
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Haziran 13, 2009 00:00
ISTANBUL - Czech-born Jiri Kobos has lived in 13 countries over the last 25 years with his family, managing hotels around the world and exhibiting his paintings. In his new home, Istanbul, he continues to find balance between his work as general manager of the Hyatt Regency in Taksim and as an abstract expressionist painter.
Istanbul-Hurriyet Daily News When Czech born Jiri Kobos meets people, sometimes he gives them two business cards. One defines him as an abstract expressionist painter, the other as the General Manager of Istanbul’s Hyatt Regency Hotel. The hotel manager and artist told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review that after more than two decades of living overseas he has learned that juggling two professions is all about balance. "Life is about balance," he said pointing to his two business cards. "You can do anything, anytime, anywhere as long as it’s the right amount. The key is to know what that is." Kobos has exhibited his work around the world, and his work is currently on display at the İlayda Art Gallery in Istanbul’s Teşvikiye until Sunday. When asked what it is like juggling his two careers he said: "Where there is a will there is a way. You can be passionate about more than one thing."
At the age of 15 Kobos was drawn to art through friends and spent a lot of time in galleries and museums. He eventually picked up a brush and started painting initially more Asian style art. His father, a struggling artist as he describes him, was commissioned to work on murals and at churches in Germany where he grew up after his family migrated there.
Artisanship has always been appreciated, but not necessarily rewarded, said Kobos. Very few artists were recognized in their own time and were often associated with a more bohemian lifestyle. "The future generation of artists is indebted to their struggles," said Kobos.
He explained that the work of artists like his father was driven by passion, and although the styles and techniques have evolved and changed through generations, what has remained is the love for art. "The methods, forms, structural expressions will evolve and change," he said. "But once you are passionate about anything you obviously apply a much different approach to it."
As an artist, he said that the most important element to feel success is the ability to share your work with the world. Reflecting on the life of Dutch post-impressionist Vincent van Gogh, Kobos said his inability to share his greatness in life through his work eventually led him to depression."The worse thing is to create or do something and not be able to share it," he said. "You can only have a sense of fulfillment to an extent this way. But the ultimate is about sharing." As the world has shifted from industrialization and information to conceptualization, Kobos said that more than ever the future belongs to the creators and inventors. On a personal level, living as an expatriate family of three, he said, often there is much to juggle with many "external unknowns" of the new cultures. But what has kept them going through life in 13 countries over the span of 25 years has been their family's connection. "We have the permanency, but it’s not external. It’s internal and that is the family," he said. "We have our routines, our world within a world, and we created it. So we do not depend on the external if you wish. It depends on which way you see it and how you balance or manage your life within." Kobos spent part of his childhood in northern Bohemia where he was born and the rest in Munich where he also got his first job in a hotel as a bell-boy at the age of 18. His interest in traveling came at a young age when he would look through an old book his grandfather had, full of black and white pictures of travel expeditions. Kobos’ first international stop was South Africa where he met his wife, who shared his passion for travel. From there they moved further east to China in 1987. "China at that time was very different, so it gave us a very intensive course in survival," he said. "But we were young, energetic and strong and dealt with it. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger." Since then he and his family have been on the road living as industrial nomads and global citizens, he said.
An hotelier’s life
Kobos described himself as part of the "older generation" of hoteliers who worked their way to the top. He said that early on in his career he decided he wanted to become a manager by the age of 30. "I became a manager at the age of 31, so I missed my target a little bit," he said with a chuckle. "But that’s OK. It’s not about speed."
Kobos explained that one of the challenges of the hotel business is that at the end of the day, it is everyone’s business. The ongoing challenge of a hotel is to re-invent itself, improve and change with the times and demands and lifestyle trends of the world. "Our business is part of everyone’s life," he said. "We cook, we clean. Sometimes I wish I could be an architect. They build a bridge and one million people walk over it. I wonder how many people turn around and say, ’Hey listen, I really think this should be over there,’ and ’my mother used to do this much better’ ... What a great job! "
Once Kobos read an article about top-tier executives who after retiring finally spent time doing what they had always wanted to do, one of them even making surfboards. The common thread among all the retirees was that they wished they had followed their true passions from the beginning.
"Many times I’ve met people who have retired and have faded away because they have not developed their passions," said Kobos. The hotelier said, however, that when he retires he won't look back with regrets. "I decided to see the world Éand here we are," he said. "But I’m able to say that I will retire, I’ll open a gallery, and an art colony and have a cafe where I can send the customers away if they don’t like the food, because I can," he said laughing "it will be fun."
At the age of 15 Kobos was drawn to art through friends and spent a lot of time in galleries and museums. He eventually picked up a brush and started painting initially more Asian style art. His father, a struggling artist as he describes him, was commissioned to work on murals and at churches in Germany where he grew up after his family migrated there.
Artisanship has always been appreciated, but not necessarily rewarded, said Kobos. Very few artists were recognized in their own time and were often associated with a more bohemian lifestyle. "The future generation of artists is indebted to their struggles," said Kobos.
He explained that the work of artists like his father was driven by passion, and although the styles and techniques have evolved and changed through generations, what has remained is the love for art. "The methods, forms, structural expressions will evolve and change," he said. "But once you are passionate about anything you obviously apply a much different approach to it."
As an artist, he said that the most important element to feel success is the ability to share your work with the world. Reflecting on the life of Dutch post-impressionist Vincent van Gogh, Kobos said his inability to share his greatness in life through his work eventually led him to depression."The worse thing is to create or do something and not be able to share it," he said. "You can only have a sense of fulfillment to an extent this way. But the ultimate is about sharing." As the world has shifted from industrialization and information to conceptualization, Kobos said that more than ever the future belongs to the creators and inventors. On a personal level, living as an expatriate family of three, he said, often there is much to juggle with many "external unknowns" of the new cultures. But what has kept them going through life in 13 countries over the span of 25 years has been their family's connection. "We have the permanency, but it’s not external. It’s internal and that is the family," he said. "We have our routines, our world within a world, and we created it. So we do not depend on the external if you wish. It depends on which way you see it and how you balance or manage your life within." Kobos spent part of his childhood in northern Bohemia where he was born and the rest in Munich where he also got his first job in a hotel as a bell-boy at the age of 18. His interest in traveling came at a young age when he would look through an old book his grandfather had, full of black and white pictures of travel expeditions. Kobos’ first international stop was South Africa where he met his wife, who shared his passion for travel. From there they moved further east to China in 1987. "China at that time was very different, so it gave us a very intensive course in survival," he said. "But we were young, energetic and strong and dealt with it. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger." Since then he and his family have been on the road living as industrial nomads and global citizens, he said.
An hotelier’s life
Kobos described himself as part of the "older generation" of hoteliers who worked their way to the top. He said that early on in his career he decided he wanted to become a manager by the age of 30. "I became a manager at the age of 31, so I missed my target a little bit," he said with a chuckle. "But that’s OK. It’s not about speed."
Kobos explained that one of the challenges of the hotel business is that at the end of the day, it is everyone’s business. The ongoing challenge of a hotel is to re-invent itself, improve and change with the times and demands and lifestyle trends of the world. "Our business is part of everyone’s life," he said. "We cook, we clean. Sometimes I wish I could be an architect. They build a bridge and one million people walk over it. I wonder how many people turn around and say, ’Hey listen, I really think this should be over there,’ and ’my mother used to do this much better’ ... What a great job! "
Once Kobos read an article about top-tier executives who after retiring finally spent time doing what they had always wanted to do, one of them even making surfboards. The common thread among all the retirees was that they wished they had followed their true passions from the beginning.
"Many times I’ve met people who have retired and have faded away because they have not developed their passions," said Kobos. The hotelier said, however, that when he retires he won't look back with regrets. "I decided to see the world Éand here we are," he said. "But I’m able to say that I will retire, I’ll open a gallery, and an art colony and have a cafe where I can send the customers away if they don’t like the food, because I can," he said laughing "it will be fun."