Calligraphers hold auction for quake victims

ISTANBUL

Turkish calligraphers have sold 71 works and collected some 2 million Turkish Liras (over $100,000) within the scope of an auction they organized for people affected by the Feb. 6 earthquakes, donating the proceeds to the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD).

The auction, organized by Calligraphy Art Atelier, was broadcast live on social media.

All 71 works were sold in the live broadcast auction presented by calligrapher Mustafa Camil Efe and joined by 65 calligraphy artists, including Savaş Çevik, Levent Karaduman, Mehmet Arif Vural, Ali Haydar Çetintürk and Necmi Atik.

In the auction, which was attended by 1,501 people and got 489 viewers, 2.1 million liras were collected from the sales of the works. The buyers deposited the money directly into their AFAD accounts.

The works sold in the auction will be exhibited at Istanbul’s Bağlarbaşı Cultural Center during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

A certificate of appreciation will be presented to the artists who joined the auction and the buyers during a program to be organized by the Üsküdar Municipality.

Necmi Atik, who teaches Islamic history and arts, said, “Our country is facing a big problem. There is great destruction, and now a resurrection process is taking place. Our nation will overcome this. We also came together with the calligraphy masters to talk about what we can do more. We organized an auction, and this will continue.”

Stating that the auction lasted four hours, Atik said, “Such a good result was achieved in four hours. An income of 2,111,500 liras was obtained. The money is deposited directly into AFAD Accounts for our earthquake victims.”