In Berlin, between 10 October-14 November, 40 works by Ali Zülfikar will be presented to art lovers under the title ‘Reflections’ at Junge Welt Maigalerie, Torstraße 6.

Painter Zülfikar created a portrait of Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan on a giant tree with the root painting technique in his work titled ‘Cry for Freedom’. The exhibition will also include portraits of environmental activist Greta Thunberg, imprisoned politicians Figen Yüksekdağ and Selahattin Demirtaş, as well as portraits of Antonio Gramsci, Rosa Luxemburg, Nelson Mandela and Che Guevara.

Expressing that he aims to draw attention to the ongoing isolation of Abdullah Öcalan and international obligations with his work, Painter Ali Zülfikar said, “I thought and developed this work as a contribution to draw attention to the isolation conditions of Abdullah Öcalan in particular and the need to build a peace bridge between peoples in general.”

Ali Zülfikar gave the following information about his work ‘Cry for Freedom’: “I am a son of this geography. On this basis, I thought together with the identity, cultural, artistic and political questions of the Kurds, and searched for the answer to the most basic question. First of all, I searched for maps from ancient history, including the Kurdish geography and living areas. I tried to reach a document prepared by G. Ritters and printed by the Berlin Dietrich Reimer Printing House in 1854, which includes the Kurdish geography and is also referred to as ‘Kurdistan’. The original of this map is also in the British Museum in London. This map was a historical document in which the settlements and their names in the historical period were indicated together with the old names of the social existence and cities. On this basis, Abdullah Öcalan set out for the Kurdish people's values of identity and freedom and assumed responsibilities for the sake of this cause and still continues to do so. I want to create an evaluation based on these social realities. I believe that this problem can only be matured and discussed with more interpretations by people like us who work in the fields of art, literature, etc.”

Ali Zülfikar noted that the portrait of Abdullah Öcalan in the centre of the work was taken by photographer Günay Ulutunçok in 1991 in Lebanon, and pointed out that he drew the picture with pencil technique and preferred a mystical expression style.

The work ‘Cry for Freedom’ will be displayed on large billboards in the city centre and streets of Berlin from 1 October until 11 October.