A monthly theme inspires new conversations and ideas that we otherwise wouldn’t think about. At our virtual events, speakers are invited to share a story around the theme and what it means to them. After a month, we are excited to see the talks and inspiration that are born out of the theme.

Given that these monthly illustrations are at events all around the world, it’s only right that we get to know the illustrator. It is a tradition at CreativeMornings to work with an artist in our community to create an illustration for the monthly theme.

CreativeMornings/Istanbul chose April’s Kismet theme, and Selin Çınar created the accompanying illustration.

We’re excited to share some of our favorite artworks created by Selin!

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Selin Çınar’s Artist’s Statement

I would like to talk about the meaning of the word “kısmet” in the culture I grew up in. “Kısmet” is a word used in Turkish culture to mean “good fate” and “luck”. Two things that come to mind the most when it comes to good fortune and luck in my country are the bird and the lottery games. The bird has long been considered an animal that brings good news. In fact, when a bird poops on someone’s head, that person is immediately told to go and buy a lottery ticket. According to this belief, if a bird’s poop coincides with a person’s head, that person’s chances of winning increase. At the same time, when people experience sudden and beautiful news, especially financially, they rejoice by saying “The bird of fortune has landed on our heads!” Therefore, in this work, I chose to use the bird and the lottery ticket images as my main objects, based on the concepts of sudden good news “Kısmet”.

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Selected Works

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You can see more of Selin’s work on her Instagram and Behance.