22.02.2025 10:21
Famous painter Salih Salimoğlu made very special statements to Gökay Kalaycıoğlu on the program "Haber Bahane." Salimoğlu, who opened an exhibition titled "Deep Sleep" for the children who lost their lives in Gaza, stated that he expressed his sorrow for the deceased children on the canvas.
Painter Salih Salimoğlu is opening an exhibition titled 'Deep Sleep' with 52 pillows on which he has written the names of 4,500 children who lost their lives in Gaza. In a pleasant interview with Gökay Kalaycıoğlu on the program "Haber Bahane," Salimoğlu made statements about the exhibition.
The famous painter explained to Kalaycıoğlu how meaningful the exhibition is with the following words:
"I WROTE THE NAMES OF THE CHILDREN IN GAZA ON WHITE PILLOWS"
"It's not just the Gaza war; all wars in the world seriously disturb me. I was quite disturbed when I saw the deaths of children in Gaza news. We always say children are our future... I dedicated this to all the children of the world, to the children who died in war, to the children of Gaza. Normally, when we lie down, the most comfortable place we rest our heads is the pillow. We rest our heads, drift into dreams, and confront our conscience. I took the names and ages of children aged 0-4 who died from media organizations. I wrote these names one by one on white pillows.
"DEATHS FEEL LIKE A PAINTING TO US"
I wanted to display these by hanging them on a wall in an exhibition hall. If you ask why I hung them on the wall, it's because deaths now feel like just a painting to us. We only watch them like a screen. It has normalized for us."
In response to Gökay Kalaycıoğlu's question, "As an artist, as a human, when you rest your head on the pillow, do you really feel at peace with your conscience when you do your individual accounting?" Salimoğlu said, "You're not really at peace because you can't do anything. Most of the children died with their heads on the pillow. There are one-week-old babies who never saw a pillow. When I look at the situation humanely, nearly 5,000 children were martyred in a year. These children have no religion, no race, and they haven't entered any war..."
"I DON'T SELL MY PAINTINGS TO EVERYONE"
Salimoğlu stated that he does not sell his works to those who only want to buy them for investment purposes, saying, "It is very important to share the same feelings and to be able to translate emotions. I don't easily sell my paintings to everyone. There have been many times I haven't given my paintings to those who come for investment purposes just because of my name and don't understand art. Everyone has a livelihood concern; artists do things to earn money, but thankfully, I have never had such a problem in my past."
The artist's exhibition, featuring the names of 4,500 children who lost their lives in the war, will be open at Yapı Kredi Bomontiada Academy Building from February 24 to March 2.