A selection of works spanning different periods, left to Sera Sade, director of Galeri Siyah Beyaz, by Mehmet Nazım, the son of Nazım Hikmet, who lived between 1951 and 2018 and spent his life in France from the 1970s onward, has been brought to art lovers. Sade stated that Mehmet Nazım deliberately kept his identity as Nazım Hikmet’s son a secret and did not even sign his paintings, emphasizing the need to introduce his art to the public.
Sera Sade, whose father, Faruk Sade, was a close friend of Mehmet Nazım, shared her story with ‘Memo,’ as she affectionately called him: “After returning from Paris, my father decided to open Galeri Siyah Beyaz in Ankara, turning his dream into reality within our family apartment. In 1985, Mehmet Nazım held his first exhibition there. At that time, he was unable to return to Türkiye due to the ban imposed on him because of his father, Nazım Hikmet. So, my father traveled to Paris to bring back his paintings. While preparing the exhibition, they realized the paintings were unsigned. As a solution, a stamp was created based on Memo’s signature, and the paintings were stamped accordingly. This exhibition marked the beginning of their professional relationship alongside their friendship.”
AVOIDING HIS FATHER’S NAME
Sade explained that Mehmet Nazım did not want to be associated with his father’s name: “Because of the political situation surrounding Nazım Hikmet at the time, Mehmet Nazım was taken out of Türkiye when he was only three months old. He never returned. Even after the ban was lifted in the 2000s, he briefly moved to Büyükada but couldn’t adapt and returned to France. It is not well known that he is the son of Nazım Hikmet. This has been a conscious decision from the very beginning and a choice of Memo. If you look at all the exhibition announcements and articles since 1985, you won’t find any mention of it. He doesn’t want to be remembered or highlighted in that way. For example, if we had built the news, the book, and all our communication strategies around that, it would probably have drawn much more attention and gone in a different direction. But Memo always wanted his paintings to stand without the weight of his father’s name. After all, we are talking about a father who left when he was just three months old.”
They also prepared a book to present during the exhibition. Sera Sade added: “Even art professionals and enthusiasts were mostly unaware of Mehmet’s work. I don’t think many knew about it. That’s why we need to work on bringing it to light through this exhibition, and this book is the first step in that effort.”
COMPRISING FOUR DISTINCT SERIES
The exhibition, which can visited at Galeri Siyah Beyaz until the end of March, features four different series from Mehmet Nazım’s artistic period between 1985 and 2000. These include Kısas-ı Enbiya (1985), Loncalar Geçerken (1989), Orientalists (Les Orientalistes, 1993-1995), and Yıldızlar (1995), all of which reflect the deep influences of Middle Eastern social narratives. Additionally, the exhibition presents a chronology section featuring photographs and a video centered on the friendship and shared history between Mehmet Nazım, Sera Sade’s father Faruk Sade, and Galeri Siyah Beyaz.
As part of the exhibition, the book La Vie Immédiate: Mehmet Nazım, edited by Dr. Necmi Sönmez and dedicated to Münevver Andaç, Mehmet Nazım, and Faruk Sade, has also been released for art lovers.
