Ziya Aydin, painter and glass master

Ziya Aydin (1954- ) is a Kurdish painter and master stained glass artist living in France.

He was born in Dersim and studied at the School of Fine Arts in Istanbul. In those years he also designed and produced works of stained glass, for sites including a TV building, a hospice, a town hall, and several hotels.  

He moved to Paris and in 1990-91 created stained glass windows for the Saint Bernard glass factory. In 1992-93 he earned a BFA at the University of Paris VIII and the following year wrote a master’s thesis on “stained glass and modern art.” Starting in 1995 he taught a stained glass workshop at the Universities of Paris VI and VII.  In 2002 he wrote his doctoral thesis on “The Emergence of the Notion of Constraint in Art.”

View his paintings and stained glass work here.

A few years ago he wrote down some of the Kurdish folk tales that his mother had told him in Zazakî. He collected 27 of them into a book (in French).  It was published in 2021 by Éditions L’Harmattan called Contes Kurdes de Dersim—Sanikê Kirmanciya Dêsimî.

Many of the stories are mythological tales, recounting fights between dragons or evil giants that are inspired by the dualist Zoroastrian religion, which is based on the battle between good and evil. Other stories are animal fables, and still others are tales of tragic love such as Mêm û Zîn.

In May 2023  book signing in conjunction with an exhibition of his work was held at the Society of French Poets.