ASAŞ Aluminium, which is ranked Number 124 in the top 500 industrial enterprises in Turkey, founded an art workshop under the name of ASAŞ ART at its factory located in Akyazı, Sakarya in order to meet material and space needs of artists so that they can better demonstrate their creativeness. Aiming to combine aluminium with art, ASAŞ ART demonstrated the examples of works of art made of aluminium at its stand at Istanbul Fair Center on October 8-10, 2015.
Chairman of the board director of ASAŞ Safa Bayar Yavuz said: “The investment that we make in art is as precious as our R&D investments” and explained the idea and purposes of founding an art workshop as follows:
“As an industrial enterprise, we consider supporting art in our country not only as sponsorships and buying arts of work but also making contribution to the creation of works of art by artists, providing spaces, materials and technical support and creating authentic working environments. We know that both artists and product designers have difficulties in finding materials and spaces in order to create their authentic products. We are happy and proud to support artists and designers by opening the doors of ASAŞ ART to them so that they can create their works of art at ASAŞ Aluminium integrated production facilities located in 623.000 m² area. One of our target id to present art which are created by artists and designers to the collectors in the next periods.’’
The works of art created by Mr. Hanefi Yeter and Mr. Süleyman Saim Tekcan, who are among the most prominent artists in our country, as well as the work of art entitled ‘Faces’ created by Mert Ege Köse, who made sculptures out of the faces of the workers in the factory based on ‘‘People First’’ concept, which was the 2015 motto of ASAŞ, were among the works of art that were exhibited during the fair.
The work of art entitled ‘Faces’ in the first collection of ASAŞ ART was sent to Selb Museum in Germany to be demonstrated at the exhibition entitled ‘‘Industrialization of Anatolia and Life of Workers’’ for a period of five years.
ASAŞ ART WORKSHOP aims to be the gathering point for artists and designers in 2016 and in this regard, a new building construction has been started on the factory land for the art workshop.
ASAŞ ART, which plans to build a sculptures garden within the factory, supports art and artists and also introduces art to its employees. ASAŞ believes that knowing, loving and embracing art will open up a new window in the world of all of its employees. Therefore to extend this awareness spouses and children of employees will be able to attend courses and seminars at the workshop in the next periods. Also, the aim is to develop projects to enable our handicapped friends to create works of art in line with the social responsibility activities of ASAŞ.
