Kuzgun Acar

Abdülahet Kuzgun Çetin Acar (28 February 1928 – 4 February 1976) was an Afro-Turk sculptor well known for his works in metal. He is best known for his abstract sculptures and is considered one of the pioneers of modern sculptures in Turkey. One of his famous sculptures is Kuşlar ("The Birds"), which he created in 1967.

Private life Kuzgun Acar was born in Istanbul to Nazmi Acar and his wife Ayşe Zehra, who was a sub-Saharan African woman of either West or Central African origin, arriving from a Libyan port, or from Ethiopian origin . Although his father Nazmi Acar was a well-to-do businessman he initially refused Kuzgun, perhaps because of his dark skin color (the forename Kuzgun involves a pun; it means "Raven" in Turkish and seems to make reference to the saying “The raven sees her young as a falcon”). Kuzgun and his mother (who soon afterwards divorced her father) lived in poverty during his childhood and youth. He graduated from high school at İstanbul Sultanahmet Ticaret Lisesi. In 1948 entered the sculpture department of the Academy of Fine Arts (now Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University). He became a student of Rudolf Belling (1886–1972). In his academy years, influenced by Hadi Bara (1906–1971), he developed an abstract style. In 1953 he graduated from the academy. He married Münire Abdusef in 1955. After divorcing, in 1965 he got married for a second time to Bige Berker, who bore him a son named Yunus in 1966. He married for a third time in 1971 to Fersa Pulhan.

In 1968, he produced masks for street theater company of Mehmet Ulusoy. In 1975, he accompanied the Turkish theater company to Paris and created the masks for the play The Caucasian Chalk Circle. The 140 masks made of steel and rubber used in World War II are among his important works. When it was taken down, it was noticed that the damage was more severe than initially thought. The very extensive restoration efforts led by Asst. Prof. Özer Aktimur took three years. It was on display, for the first time in a museum environment, until 23 October 2016 and then was returned to its original place at the "İMÇ" building.

Masks Acar made 140 masks for the Kafkas Tebeşir Dairesi.

Some of Acar's works at public places caused controversy, and were removed and put in storage. His large-scale metal sculpture crafted in 1966 and titled "Türkiye", which stood in front of the Emek Business Center in Kızılay, Ankara, and depicted the lost lands in Anatolia due to becoming arid, was removed later, put in a storage and was subsequently sold for scrapping. Crafted in 1974, his metal relief composition made of automobile parts and scrap iron, which was placed on a wall at the social facilities of "Maden-İş Sendikası" ("Miners Union") in Gönen and depicted a worker, his family and employer, was removed after the 1980 military coup and put in storage. In 1997, as it was remembered, it was taken out from storage and was put in its original place. Crafted in 1975, his giant sculpture in the form of a hand in honor of former governor of Antalya Haşim İşcan was removed some time later and put in storage. It was then erected at Karaalioglu Park in Antalya.