Zoro Mettini

Zoro Mettini
Zoro Mettini, 2009
Born	(1949-09-01) September 1, 1949 Amuda, First Syrian Republic

Zoro Mettini (Kurdish: Zoro Mettînî; born 1 September 1949 in Amuda, Syria), is a Kurdish painter and sculptor born in Syria.

Early life and career

Zoro Mettini and his wife Birgit Vogt, 1990

Zoro Mettini was born in the small town of Amuda in north-eastern Syria into a ethnic Kurdish family. Because of their political commitment, his family had to emigrate to Lebanon in 1964.

In 1969, Mettini began studying with H. Hamwie at The Center of Fine Arts in Beirut. He graduated with a diploma as a painter and sculptor. He then worked as an art teacher. In 1972 he received second prize from the American Academy of Art in competition with more than a hundred artists. In 1973 he worked as art director at the youth magazine Weekend and became a member of the Oriental Artists Movement, of which he was a member of the board from 1974. In 1974, he worked as a graphic designer at the Worldtrade advertising agency and worked as a painter and sculptor at Libanorama from 1975 until his emigration.

He has lived and worked in Berlin since 1976. He is a member of the Professional Association of Visual Artists and was on the board of the Association of Visual Artists in Steglitz from 1985 to 1987. He works as a lecturer at the Steglitz adult education center for painting and sculpture and was an employee of Prof. Waldemar Grzimek, in the field of sculpture, Prof. Erich Fritz Reuter, in the field of sculpture, Henry Moore, in the field of sculpture Dr. Steffen Rehm, in the field of art performance, Bernd Hüppauf, professor of cultural theory and literature at New York University, in the field of art performance, Cigerxwîn (kîne em), Dr. Nûredîn Zaza, in the area of ​​his book design, Hemreş Reşo and Oscar winner Hans-Jürgen Kiebach, in the area of ​​stage design.

In 1987, Zoro Mettini was awarded first prize by the Steglitz Art Office in a competition for a stage design. In 1972, his work at a group exhibition was attacked and destroyed. In 1990 he received a prize for his illustrations of poems by Nikolaus Lenau.

Exhibitions

Mettini's pictures and sculptures have been exhibited in, among others, Beirut, London, Paris, Malmö, Helmstedt, Rotenburg, Hamburg, Berlin, Munich, Zurich and Lausanne.

• 
  Gallery Berlin-Baku Destruction and new beginnings 2010
• 
  Surreal creations town hall & artist card Rotenburg 1992
• 
  Surreal creations Kunstamt Steglitz 1988–1989
• 
  Gallery 333 Helmstedt, Surreal Creations 1987
• 
  Bernd E Gallery, 1984

Gallery

• 
  The euphony in Beethoven’s “Neuunter” 2010
• 
  Resettlement box from the Orient to the Occident 2010
• 
  Girtî 2001 (meaning: Captured)
• 
  Anticipated 2010
• 
  The planets

• 
  The Search for Freedom 1980 (ceramic)
• 
  Çeto und Berivani 1978 (Bronze)
• 
  The Prisoners 1979 and SOS 1994 (ceramic)
• 
  Leyla Qasim 1975
• 
  Mettini and his partner Birgit creating the sculpture Horizont II in 1978

Bibliography

• Kurden im Exil. Ein Handbuch kurdischer Kultur, Politik und Wissenschaft, Band 1, Herausgegeben vom Berliner Institut für Vergleichbare Sozialforschung, dem Haus der Kulturen der Welt und medico international, 1991. (In german)
• Kurdistan-Rundbrief, Die verbotene Muttersprache von Zoro Mettini, herausgegeben vom Kurdistan-Informations-Zentrum Köln. (In german)
• Steglitzer Kunsttage, herausgegeben vom Bezirksamt Steglitz von Berlin 1987. (In german)
• DAMID Pressedienst: Das kurdische Problem verlangt eine politische Lösung, Interview mit dem Künstler Zoro Mettini, Berlin 1994. (In german)
• Hemreş Reşo: Denge Yekitiye, Ratingen 1983–1984. (In german)
• Jürgen Rüdiger Krenzien: Gedichte mit spitzer Farbe, Berlin 1984. (In german)
• Rüdiger Trantow: Mosaik meines Lebens, Berlin 2007. (In german)
• Seit 1982 in Who’s who in the arts and literature. (In german)

Weblinks

• Website of Zoro Mettini