Complementary art unbinds Turkish and Armenian artists

Tuesday, May 8, 2007
ISTANBUL - Turkish Daily News
BY VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU

No doubt, the Chief Editor of the Agos Newspaper Hrant Dink's desire was this, too, who passed away as a result of an assassination. Özcan Yurdalan says that Hrant Dink also attended the opening of the exhibition in Istanbul and said “I support you from the heart”. And he denotes that Dink was quite affected in the formation process of the exhibition.

Turkish and Armenian photographers have displayed the daily life of Yerevan and Istanbul and exhibited them first in Yerevan, then in Istanbul, Diyarbakır and Tbilisi. 18,000 frames of a total of ten artists, have been collected in the photography album under the title "Merhaparev Yerevan-Istanbul"

While the conflicts about opening the border between Turkey and Armenia cannot be solved, the `candid steps of art` have long gone beyond the two countries' boundaries. Clicking on the shutters, Turkish and Armenian photographers have displayed the daily life of Yerevan and Istanbul, spoke about being “Armenian” and “Turkish” with people in the street.

Artists of both countries say that they are impressed by the interest they received in Armenia and Turkey, where they went for the first time. The photographs have so far been exhibited first in Yerevan, then in Istanbul, Diyarbakır and Tbilisi.

Özcan Yurdalan, one of the Nar Photos Agency photographers, who undertook the leadership of the project, says that the exhibition especially received major attention in Diyarbakır. During the process, the exhibition will travel all around Anatolia and the world, with the support of the Heinrich Böll Stiftung Association. The photographs will explain the geographies they travel, about the two people who adopted Anatolia as homeland for themselves beyond their identities, without politics and strategies for thousands of years.

The works, chosen from among 18,000 frames of a total of ten artists from Turkey and Armenia, have been collected in the photography album under the title "Merhaparev Yerevan-Istanbul." One side of the album is in Armenian, and the other side is in Turkish. And the title means “hello” in both languages. There are also explanations in English in the catalogue about the works of the artists.

It is necessary for both communities to perceive and become close to each other again without external interference, to be able to step into a common peaceful future and for the trauma between the two peoples to be overcome.

No doubt, the Chief Editor of the Agos Newspaper Hrant Dink's desire was this, too, who passed away as a result of an assassination. Özcan Yurdalan says that Hrant Dink also attended the opening of the exhibition in Istanbul and said “I support you from the heart”. And he denotes that Dink was quite affected in the formation process of the exhibition.

Art, without any doubt, can prepare a ground with its candid side, for the two people to get closer. This is why Nar Photos from Turkey and Badger Photokorzsagalutyun from Armenia have gotten ready to do this project. Garen Mirzoyan, Nelli Şismanyan, Rupen Mankasaryan, German Avagyan and Anahid Hayrabedyan from Armenia came to Istanbul for the first time in May last year. And Mehmet Kaçmaz, Serra Akcan, Tolga Sezgin, Özcan Yurdalan, and Kerem Uzel went to Yerevan. Both groups dived into the daily life on the city streets for one week, took photos, were guests at tables, directed their questions that had been hanging in their heads for years to ordinary people.

Özcan Yurdalan from Nar Photos and Rupen Mankasaryan from Badger Photokorzsagalutyun come together with a common thought and express their opinion with the following words, “As we see in recent events, although we have been living together for centuries, we almost don't know each other at all. Apart from the historical origins, the conflicts in between emanate from oblivion. There is a serious discontinuity between Turkey and Armenia, in fact there are attitudes that sometimes become animosity. We want peace in our countries and region. Contact and touching would contribute to the direct solution of the problems between the two communities.”

The healing role of art in accords:

Mehmet Kaçmaz and Özcan Yurdalan summarize the mission of Nar Photos as, “We see photographs as a tool of expression, and we also want to have a share in the overcoming of problems.” Artists of both groups mention that photographs are a universal language.

During the evolution of the project, meetings were held in Kars, Tbilisi and Armenia by the Heinrich Böll Stiftung Association. Özcan Yurdalan says, "The basic subject of these meetings was the healing role of art and culture in regions of accord." Yurdalan mentions that the Caucasus is a quite problematic region, and says that Nar Photos came up with a suggestion during these meetings for the project to be formed.

Mehmet Kaçmaz says that differences enrich, and they give meaning to our living together, and adds that he came back from Yerevan enriched in terms of differences and similarities, by saying “however similar the Armenian and Turkish societies may be, they also have as many differences.” He mentions that the photographers from Nar Photos and Badger Photokorzsagalutyun did not interfere with each other during the shootings, but the resulting works are a product of the same perception and understanding.

In the catalog named “Merhaparev,” that include black and white photographs, various segments from the daily lives of the two countries are depicted, from everyday life to art, religion and sports.

Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.