Bekir Sami

I was born in 1954 in the Siverek district of Urfa. I finished high school there. Then I won admission to mathematics teaching but didn't study due to my passion for painting. I passed the applied exam for the painting department of Istanbul Applied Fine Arts, but since I didn't have a house in Istanbul and there were political turmoil at that time, I was eliminated in the oral exam. Later I worked at Akbank, then resigned. While working as a traffic technician at Diyarbakır Highways, I was arrested for political reasons and imprisoned in Diyarbakır military prison. After getting out, I opened a painting studio and sometimes gave painting lessons to students, while continuing my painting work on the other hand. I held 4 personal exhibitions in bank galleries in Diyarbakır, 4 personal exhibitions in Ankara, and participated in group exhibitions in Istanbul and Kütahya. I sent paintings to auctions and my works are in many collectors' collections. I am currently 72 years old. I started oil painting work at age 12, took lessons from various painting instructors, studied art history well, and did work from many schools. I have had thousands of works. I still reside in Diyarbakır and continue my painting work.