ESKİŞEHİR TERRACOTTA SYMPOSIUM DEDICATED TO ATATÜRK AND CHILDREN THIS YEAR

• This year, at the International Eskişehir Terracotta Symposium, which has become one of Eskişehir's most important cultural and artistic traditions, local and foreign artists and students created a collective work themed "Atatürk and Children." The work expresses Atatürk's love for children, his entrustment of the Republic to new generations, and the direct link between the Republic and art established by children.

Prof. Bilgehan Uzuner and Ahmet Ataç

The 18th International Eskişehir Terracotta Symposium, organized by Tepebaşı Municipality, was held at the Tepebaşı Municipality Vecihi Hürkuş Aviation and Technology Park between September 2-6. During the symposium, local and international artists and students created a collective artwork themed "Atatürk and Children."

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Tepebaşı Mayor Ahmet Ataç explained that the symposium, which began in 2001, has become one of Eskişehir's most important cultural and artistic traditions. Professor Bilgehan Uzuner also provided information about the creation process of the "Atatürk and Children" themed collective artwork and the artists' work. In the artwork, where children directly participated in the production process, flowers they prepared themselves were also incorporated into the monument. The aim of the artwork was to depict Atatürk's love for children, his entrustment of the Republic to new generations, and the direct link between the Republic and art established by children.

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This year, the 18th International Eskişehir Terracotta Symposium, held in memory of Prof. Dr. İlber Ortaylı, hosted artists from Türkiye (Ayşegül Veryeri, Ercan Dural, Tuba Önder, Nilgün Salur, Özgür Yıldız, and Ümit Gürsoy), Japan (Mariko Okubo), France-based Chinese artist Yin Chang, and the symposium's former art consultant, Prof. Bilgehan Uzuner, as guest artists. For five days, the artists shaped the Eskişehir clay according to their own artistic visions, creating original works while sharing their technical knowledge and experience with each other and the students.

At the closing ceremony, certificates of participation were presented to the members of the Symposium Executive and Advisory Boards, the artists and sponsors who contributed to the symposium, the student assistants who supported the artists' work throughout the symposium, and the children who contributed to the creation of the collective artwork themed "Atatürk and Children."