Nevzat Metin

Born in 1948 in Babayağmur, Yozgat, Nevzat Metin was one of the pioneers of gallery management in Turkey. He founded the International Knidos Culture and Art Academy (UKKSA) by opening the old village school building in Datça's Yaka neighbourhood to art; for years the academy brought painters, sculptors and ceramic artists from around the world together in Datça. He died in Datça on 29 December 2022, of the cancer for which he had been receiving treatment.

He is the person who re-tied Knidos's tradition of science and art to Datça through the idea of a contemporary academy. Thanks to UKKSA the peninsula entered the map of international art production; the transformation of an abandoned village school into an art campus remains an example of how place can come back to life in Datça.