ROME - An exhibition entitled “Sade Kahve - Bitter Coffee”, displaying works by Turkish artist Nilay Meral will be open to the public from Jan. 27 until Feb. 3 at the exhibition space of the Culture and Information section of the Turkish Embassy in Piazza della Repubblica 55/56. 

  The artist writes: “Coffee is a tear that falls from the eye of a pearl mixed with happiness and hope, it is an agreement signed between friends.”

  And it is Turkish coffee that is the protagonist of the paintings by Nilay Meral. Turkish coffee, which due to its intense and penetrating flavour, thanks to a recipe handed down through generations, has joined the list of Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in December 2013. Turkish coffee combines special preparation techniques and a rich traditional culture. It is celebrated in literature and song and occupies an important function for meetings and ceremonies.

  Nilay Meral was born in 1966 in Istanbul. She attended the Kültür Koleji and later graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Marmara. She was then a researcher at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. During her studies, she continued producing paintings in the atelier of Balkan Naci Islimiyeli and Mehmet Özer. She also worked in the studio of sculpture by Nilay Kan Büyükişleyen and Nurettin Bektaş. Her first solo exhibition was opened in 1999 at the Art Gallery of AK Bank and she subsequently took part in many other exhibitions in Turkey and abroad.

  The sponsor of the exhibition is the Turkish company Arzum OCCA www.arzumokka.com, which specialises in the production of coffee machines. At the inauguration event on the evening of Jan. 26, a coffee machine will be set up in a corner to give guests the opportunity to discover the true taste of turkish coffee.

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