Mehmet Zeki Kusoglu

He was born in Gaziantep, Turkey in 1943. He moved to Istanbul in 1949. He graduated from the state College of Applied Fine Arts, and received a state grant, with which he went to Germany for postgraduate studies in 1964. He was interested in Turkish, Islamic, and Eastern art while conducting research in the museum and libraries in Germany and other European countries. He was back to Turkey in 1969. He contacted the masters living in Turkey to develop his practical skills, in addition to expanding his theoretical knowledge. He was particularly interested in wood, stone, and metal arts. He held exhibitions, published articles, and books, and gave seminars, teaching his classical and modern interpretations of these arts. He made more than 100 presentations in national and international conferences. He held more than 70 exhibitions in Turkey and abroad, and participated in many group exhibitions. He has more than 14 books.