Mehmet Bildirici (18 - 27 July)

 ICONIUM (KONYA) and the Surroundings in Antique Times
Documentation and Photographs

Mehmet was born on 24.02.1939 in Konya. He finished in 1957 the high school in Konya and in 1962 the technological university in Istanbul as a structural engineer.

30 years he worked in Konya in a private art institute. In the years 1971-1982 he taught in the academy KDMM (Konya Selçuk university engineer faculty) and gave building materials and construction statics-lessons.

He worked furthermore from 1984-1996 in IV. regional managements of the DSI as an engineer and then was retired. In 1996 he moved to Istanbul. In 1997-1998 he became a technical adviser for the project "drinking water for Istanbul". In addition, from 1997 he worked as a consultant for the court in Istanbul.

Since 1991 he deals investigations about the history of the water arrangements in this land, with the history to Konyas and his antique sites, the high school in Konya, the history Gökova … etc. He talks in English language.

In 2001 he took part in Israel, in 2004 in Efesus, in 2007 in Jordan in the international conference Cura Aquarum to antique water systems and held there talks. The artist is a member of the association of the friends of Akyaka. He is married with the teacher Düzey Bildirice and has with her one son and two daughters, from them again two grandchildren.

His published works are:
- Building materials in 1986 (S.Ü. Publishing company)
- The village Yatağan in 1988 (private publishing company)
- Konya’s antique water systems in 1994 (publishing company DSI)
- Antique irrigation in 2004 (publishing company DSI)
- A period of a pupil from high school of Konya (CD-private publishing company)
- An engagement with the Konya grammar school pupils Korukent (private publishing company)
- At the 40th anniversary of the ITÜ (CD - private publishing company)
- The novel of the Şevka mother from Konya (CD - private publishing company)
- In newspapers and magazines in Konya, Muğla and Istanbul more than 200 articles about antique water systems and reports on different arrangements.
- The reports put together for long time and photographs about Gökova became the first spot on 13.08.2004, the second spot on 28.07.2006 in the Culture- and art house of Nail Çakırhan and Halet Çambel in Akyaka shown.