Trois pinceaux d’Orient

Montreal, April 3rd, 2008 - In collaboration with the Mile-End Library, Festival Accès Asie presents an exhibition from May 5th to the 18th uniting three women painters from the Orient. Originating from Turkey, Iran and Syria respectively, the artists Pelin Yazar Cañez, Nazanin Afshar and Khadija Chekh Baker offer visitors the chance to discover their impressions of the contemporary world. A trespass into unknown territory that surprises, intrigues and ravishes.

These three women artists from three countries share a common ground of the same inspiration from which flows the fertile rivers and crescents in the Orient; the veritable cradle and history of the arts and humanity. Having been raised in cities with rich cultural heritages, they have all chosen painting as a privilege to communicate their relationship to the world. The exhibition allows you to discover the works of Khadija Baker’s style that reflects her journey pursuing several inspirational lineages that depart from the grand masters of modern occidental paintings to religious icons, oriental colours and abstract approaches. On a more personal level, Nazanin Afshar is interested in the contemporary stories of women and her works express the daily constraints imposed upon women. Her approach favours introspection with colours and forms that expose the experienced internalized pain. Finally, the works of Pelin Yazar Cañez show the surrounding world in a radiant abundance of light. Her style is clearly influenced by colour and motifs from impressionistic paintings and reveals luminous landscapes that are marked by contrasts of brightness.

Multi-talented artist Khadija Baker was born in a Kurdish village in Amoude in Syria. She studied in Damascus, received a Bachelor of Visual Arts in 1996 and completed her masters in Interior Design in 1999. She was first recognized by her designs in book covers and illustrations in Lebanon and Syria. Several of her drawings were soon shown in Damascus and published in an anthology, Very Kurdish States in 2000. Arriving in Montreal in 2001, she worked as a graphic designer before embarking on a Bachelor of Visual Arts degree at Concordia University specializing in film animation. Since 1997, she has participated in a number of exhibitions in Damascus, Beirut and Montreal.

Pelin Yazar Cañez was born in 1969 in Istanbul where she received a Bachelor of Arts in painting and education at the University of Marmara studying with the grand master, Nevhiz Tangeli. She also benefited from the teachings of photographer and artist, Ahmet Keskin and the venerable master, Lütfü Cülcül. She lived in the United States before choosing to move to Montreal. Her works have been exhibited on several occasions notably in Chicago in 1999 at the Turkish American Association for Cultural Exchange; in New York in 2001 for the 20th Annual Festival of the Federation of Turkish American Associations; in Middletown, Ohio in 2000 at the Middfest International Festival; and in Rivière-du-Loup in 2007 for the Fête culturelle familiale.

Opening: Saturday, May 4, 2-5 p.m.
Exhibition runs from May 5th to the 18th
Mile End Library
5434, avenue du Parc
Free Admission

Press contact: Olga Pudelko (514) 570-0931