Fontana Shelter

Fontana Shelter
GÜLÜMSE (Smile!)
fotoğraf baskısı
30 x 40 cm
3.500 ₺

‘GÜLÜMSE ‘, a framed print by Fontana Shelter

This framed print, portraying a pier (iskele), recalls a song by Sezen Aksu and encourages to find  hope, joy, and resilience amidst life’s challenges. The lyrics, featuring iconic lines like ‘The climate changes, it becomes Mediterranean, smile!’, use nature metaphors to suggest positive emotional feelings.

So the central message is to remain positive or find joy despite difficulties, with the chorus ‘Gülümse hadi gülümse’ (Smile, go on, smile) serving as a comforting, mantra-like call to action. It embodies a bittersweet resilience: while it has an upbeat melody, the lyrics reflect a mature, slightly melancholic acceptance of life’s struggles, advising a smile as a remedy for loneliness or sadness. Finally,  the lyrics often reference a change in atmosphere—moving from cold to a ‘Mediterranean’ (warm/hopeful) climate—symbolizing a personal, internal shift toward happiness.

In short, this iskele portrayed in the picture, is a Metaphor for Waiting: it represents loneliness and the vain search for a ‘landing point’ or someone waiting for us. In effect, piers are usually places of departures, arrivals, and long waits, making the sense of absence very concrete and visual. Nevertheless, we have to turn that loneliness into a form of hopeful acceptance. In conclusion, the iskele of our print is not just a maritime structure; it’s a symbol of a stop in life where the person we seek is missing, making the ‘smile’ requested by the song an act of true courage.

Fontana Shelter
SADECE SES KALIYOR (Only the Sound Remains)
fotoğraf baskısı
30 x 40 cm
3.500 ₺

‘SADECE SES KALIYOR’, a framed print by Fontana Shelter

This framed print ‘Only The Sound Remains’, portraying a beautiful woman, recalls the poem ‘Only The Sound Remains’ by Füruğ Ferruhzad. It argues that while physical bodies, material objects, and traditional societal structures perish or prove meaningless, the voice—symbolizing artistic expression, truth, and humanity—endures. The woman in the picture represents the poetess and her interior troubles.

In fact, the recurring phrase ‘Voice, voice, only voice remains’ emphasizes that sound or artistic expression is the sole survivor of decay. It represents a form of non-violent, enduring resistance against censorship, oppression, and time. The poem rejects a passive, static life, famously asking, ‘Why should I stop?’ It highlights a rejection of societal constraints (‘newspaper worms’) and affirms a commitment to life and continuous movement. Moreover, the sound  mentioned is detached from the mortal, ‘captive’ body and becomes a universal essence, a ‘melody’ of nature in an existential journey toward finding one’s true ‘self’ by confronting death and rejecting the ‘they-self’ (conformity).

In essence, ‘Only the Sound Remains’ is a defiant testament to the endurance of the human spirit and artistic voice, asserting that authenticity lies in continuous creation and movement rather than static survival.

Fontana Shelter

Fontana Shelter (a member of WestOx Arts in Bampton, Oxfordshire Artweeks, IAAF online) proudly carries on with the art activity of Italian Painter Luigi Fontana in his loving memory. With a name evoking a sense of protection and solace, Fontana Shelter’s art is more than a collection of paintings: it’s a testament to resilience, family, and a commitment to preserving a legacy of beauty that transcends time because the memory of the glorious past is the only way to build an awesome present and a happy future. Culture is more than just an aesthetic pursuit: it’s an emblem of resilience, a reflection of how we navigate life’s challenges and practice moral virtues. Just an expression of strength and hope, a way of capturing the essence of resilience in the face of adversity. This art activity is lovely supported by DOWNTON GAZETTE cultural website. Created in 2022, that’s an eclectic platform where artwork, literary creations, theatre and music come together. Named after ‘Downton Abbey’ TV drama series (mainly set in Oxfordshire), Downton Gazette & Fontana Shelter do believe culture serves as both a “getaway” and a “gateway”- an escape that helps survive and reset, but also an entrance into beauty and truth. So this initiative is more than a passion: it’s calling! As a matter of fact, Covid-19 lockdown suggested the importance to consider culture as a form of moral expression, a shelter, a safe space to express Truth, seek Beauty, and make our world a better place to live. ‘And we must have faith in human beings.’- This line, from NAZIM HİKMET’s poem ‘Before Paris is burned down’, emphasizes the human element at the heart of Art truly suggesting that culture should be a proud source of Hope and belief in Humanity. In fact, Art and Culture have the sublime power to connect people across vast distances and time, and the supreme ability to transcend physical limitations. Nobody can deny that Art is a vibrant and integral part of human existence, encompassing both beauty and struggle, connection and transcendence. That’s why Nazim believed Art should be a force for change, a means of expressing the human condition, and a way to connect each other across time and space. Downton Gazette and Fontana Shelter are now focusing on the project ‘ONCE UPON A TIME-BIR ZAMANLAR’, born with the aim to allow European people to know and deepen Turkish culture and folklore through the lens of the most important and awesome Turkish cultural spots: Nidra Art Project and its fabulous fairs, IAAF and its exhibitions, and Urladam Cultural Centre with its sublime events. In short, this special project celebrates the remarkable memory of the past and builds a glorious future on it. Website downtongazette.altervista.org E-mail downtongazette@gmail.com Instagram downtongazett

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