Lycian Art Movement: Creating the New with the Past
The Lycian Art Movement is an art platform created so that a heritage thousands of years old can begin to speak again through the creative energy of today. For us, art is not just an end result. It is a shared bond with this ancient land and an experience we live together.
The Unifying Power of Art
Throughout history, Lycia has been a place where different cultures met. Inspired by this heritage, we aim to bring different disciplines, generations and ideas together in the language of art. The acoustics of ancient theatres, the trails of the Lycian Way and the shade of olive trees are the natural settings for this meeting.
Sharing Experience: A Community That Learns and Teaches
The Lycian Art Movement is built not only on exhibiting, but on creating together and passing on what we learn. With shared experience at its heart, we aim for:
- Intergenerational exchange: bringing local artisans together with young artists, so that traditional techniques live on through contemporary interpretation.
- Interdisciplinary encounters: organising “experience workshops” where an archaeologist meets a digital artist and a botanist sits at the same table as a painter.
- An open workshop culture: creating a shared space where artists share their processes, and where mistakes and discoveries become tools for learning.
Our Vision: A Living Art Archive
The Lycian Art Movement aims to be a living document that grows with the traces its participants leave behind. In the future, through international programmes such as Erasmus+ and artist residencies, we hope to share this experience-based approach to art, born in Lycia, with artists from other countries.
Programme Framework: An Art Route in the Footsteps of Light
The Lycian Art Movement works through specific disciplines and areas of focus to tell the story of local heritage in a universal language.
1. Our Fields of Activity
Painting, sculpture, ceramics, photography, digital art and video, music and performance, literature and traditional crafts. We place particular value on interdisciplinary work that brings art and science together.
2. Our Themes
- Stone and memory: rock-cut tombs, sarcophagi, inscriptions and ancient cities.
- Nature and light: Lycia’s endemic species, mountains, coasts and light.
- Living culture: seasonal migration to the highland pastures, crafts, local cuisine and oral tradition.
- Anatolian roots: Lycia’s deep past in Anatolia and the meeting of cultures.
3. How We Work
- Experience workshops and open studio days
- On-site creative trips to ancient sites and along the Lycian Way, with the necessary permits and without harming the sites or nature
- Joint exhibitions and online exhibitions
- Documenting the work in the Voice of Lycia archive
4. Participation Criteria
- Respect for Lycia’s heritage and nature, and for the principles in our Sustainable Travel and Ethics Guide
- Openness to sharing experience and creating together
- Sharing your own original work
For full details, see the Lycian Art Movement Participation Terms.
Leave Your Mark in the Land of Light: Join Us
Touching the Heritage of Light Through Art
Read our manifesto where we explain the philosophy, intention and future vision of the Lycian Art Movement.