Kıymet Giray

After finishing her elementary and high school education in Ankara, her hometown, Kıymet Giray obtained her degree in Art History from the Department of Language and History Geography at Ankara University. She completed her post-grad studies at the same institution with a thesis on Mahmut Cûda’s Life and Art. She earned her doctoral degree at Ankara University’s Institute of Social Sciences with a thesis on the Independent Painters and Sculptors Union. He taught Art History at Ankara Başkent High School and Çankaya High School before becoming a lecturer at Ankara University’s Department of Art History in 1991. He was awarded the title and position of Associate Professor at the same faculty in 2002. In May 2007, he became the Head of the Department of Art History, and in February 2008, he was promoted to Professor.

Other notable collections that feature his work include Hikmet Onat (1995), Independent Painters and Sculptors Union (1997), Aydın Ayan (1999), Nuri İyem (1998, second edition 2000), Istanbul Museum of Painting and Sculpture (1999), Ergin İnan (1999), Cevat Dereli (2000), and Refik Epikman (2001). Mahmut Cûda’s artwork has been featured in various collections, including the Sabancı Collection (1985), the İş Bank Collection (1997, second edition 2000), and the Sabancı University Sakıp Sabancı Museum Painting Collection (2002). Other notable collections that feature his work include Hikmet Onat (1995), Independent Painters and Sculptors Union (1997), Aydın Ayan (1999), Nuri İyem (1998, second edition 2000), Istanbul Museum of Painting and Sculpture (1999), Ergin İnan (1999), Cevat Dereli (2000), and Refik Epikman (2001). Other notable collections that feature his work include Hikmet Onat (1995), Independent Painters and Sculptors Union (1997), Aydın Ayan (1999), Nuri İyem (1998, second edition 2000), Istanbul Museum of Painting and Sculpture (1999), Ergin İnan (1999), Cevat Dereli (2000), and Refik Epikman (2001). Additionally, Çallı and his Workshop (1997) have also featured Cûda’s work. Second Edition 2000), Ergin İnan (2001), Mahmut Cûda (2002), Still Life (2003), Ferruh Başağa (2003), Examples from Turkish Painting in the Republican Era, Ankara (2003), The First Painters of the Republic (2004), Ayten Yetiş Doğu (2006) Orhan Peker (2006), d Drubu (2006), Bosphorus, Şeref Bigalı (2007), 75 Yılın İzi (2007), Bir Yüzyıllık Öyküsü 1 (2007), Paris School (2008), Kıymet Giray, The author has written books, including the Ziraat Bank Collection (2008) and Turkish Painting’s Bir Asırlık Öyküsü 2 (2009), as well as organized exhibitions, such as Ziraat Bank’s Century’s Exhibition (2010). Additionally, they have worked as an art consultant for institutions such as Emlak Bank, İş Bank, and the Central Bank and have curated both individual exhibitions for many artists and the comprehensive Retrospective exhibition. Their book, Contemporary Masterpieces from Turkish Painting, opened in Madrid in April-May 2010.  Between May 31 and July 14, 2013, he organized the exhibition Times and Spaces Istanbul in Tirana, Albania and wrote a related book. In 2016, he opened the exhibition “Baştapıtlar: Selected Works from my Central Bank collection” at Cermodern and published the corresponding book. Additionally, Turkish Modernism Selections ISTANBUL premiered at Beşiktaş Çağdaş on November 25, 2017.

She was employed as a copywriter and program consultant for TRT television documentaries, including Portraits from Our Art, From Sanayi-i Nefise to Fine Arts Academies, Pictorial Decorations in Western Anatolian Architecture, Seljuk Palaces in the Light of Day, From Soil to Porcelain, Golden Apple and the First Architects of Ankara, A Magic Mirror, Let’s Go, and History of Turkish Clothing. He appeared in numerous broadcasts on TRT Ankara radio and delivered routine art presentations on the program “Towards Noon” throughout 2007. Giray’s studies, evaluations, articles, and critiques have been published in a variety of magazines, including Boyut, Gösteri, Sanat Çevresi, Türkiye’de Sanat, Genç Sanat, Antik Dekor, AD, and Artam. Additionally, her articles have been published in Siyah Beyaz, Hürriyet, and Cumhuriyet newspapers.

She organized Ankara University Painting and Sculpture Symposiums, the first of which started in 2006. Organized Bodrum/Aspat International Painting and Sculpture Symposiums between 2002-2014. In August 2010, he developed and implemented the Children Discovering Contemporary Art at Cer Modern program for Ankara University Children’s University.