Ankara hosted Russian-Turkish Culture and Art Week
Paintings of Russian artists in an Oriental style are seen at this picture at Ankara Science University, Türkiye, Oct. 20, 2023 (Photo by Dilara Aslan Özer)


Türkiye's capital Ankara hosted a range of activities and exhibitions as part of the Russian-Turkish Culture and Art Week.

The event, which took place at the Ankara Science University, has been the first of its kind, yet the university and G Gallery Art aim to turn it into an annual event.

The concerts as part of the culture week were canceled due to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine. Russia’s ambassador Aleksei Erkhov also attended the opening of the event and touched upon the issue.

Besides several workshops, discussions, film screenings and a bazaar, an exhibition of artworks of Russian artists was open to visitors.

Director of G Gallery Kristina Lantcova told Daily Sabah that this collection boasts bright colors and does not comprise uniform artworks but different styles in order to show the richness and variety in which young and talented Russian painters engage.

"We selected these paintings as we wanted to present different techniques, to show people that Russian artists can work in a figurative style, abstraction, interior artworks, etc."

Director of G Gallery Kristina Lantcova is seen at this picture at Ankara Science University, Türkiye, Oct. 20, 2023 (Photo by Dilara Aslan Özer)

"The works belong to 50 artists from different cities in Russia such as Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Samara and many others. I was part of putting forth the idea of a Turkish-Russian Culture Week. Last year, I came to Ankara for the first time and held with the Russian house an exhibition. After that we thought of ways to further interact with Türkiye in the field of arts," Lantcova said.

She mentioned that the gallery and its artists participated in the ArtAnkara fair with 189 paintings.

"Our artists come even from the smallest cities of Russia and it provides a huge opportunity for them to be represented at the international level," she said, adding that art unites people and would have positive contributions toward Turkish-Russian relations.