art and culture

11:35

The COVID-19 shutdowns affected everyone. Street musicians have also been affected by lockdowns imposed due to the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak. Most street musicians have faced financial problems. Ruşen Dönder is one of them. She is a student and makes her living by performing on the streets. “We cannot get any financial supports. We go through a troublesome process. We have been financially and emotionally affected,” said Ruşen.

10:02

Asiye Yalçın takes notes from her childhood in the Homshetsi language (Hemşince), one of the languages that are about to disappear. She writes stories specific to their cultures told by her family elders and keeps them in a box. She tries to turn her notes into stories in order to keep Homshetsi alive.

12:44

“As women, we censor ourselves due to pressures we face sometimes without even realizing it. This is an obstacle for women's collective consciousness opening the door to innovation and to emancipation in art. The common struggle of women that should be waged for the position of women in society and particularly the attitude to be developed against censorship are important,” said painter and author Salomé Cizrawi.

09:53

09:24

09:40

11:53

Perinaz Delazy is one of the theatre players of the Tiyatro Mencel. She told us about her adventure with theater.

12:01

Artists in Rojava overcome all kinds of difficulties despite the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak thanks to the communes they established. Despite difficulties, they keep working. One of these artists is Şevîn Xelîl. She unites the resistance of Kurdish women and Ulrike on the theater stage.

09:44

11:01

“I never had a dream to study art. The painting was just a game for me. It was to watch my father while drawing pictures,” Painter Esma Sürücü says her story of painting started by chance.

14:49

Many musicians have faced many financial and moral difficulties due to lockdowns after the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak. Musician Cansu Nihal Akarsu organizes online concerts but she says online concerts don’t draw the attention of people like live concerts. She underlines that about 100 musicians committed suicide, “I think there is a general ignoring approach. No one talks about these suicides.”

11:24

The culture of dengbêj is the Kurdish oral literature. Evin Dulek and Sarya Ertaş, who are known for their songs, adopt this culture when they were very young. They say they feel free while singing songs.

11:49

10:34

10:16

In times of a pandemic, everyone is staying home. Shall we make this period more tolerable with a movie diary? We recommend you to watch the films below having different and impressive topics that will allow you to discover the fascinating power of cinema and to look at life in a different way.

09:43

Do you know how a life oppressed with pain strengthens in a woman's voice? Dengbêj Meryem Tuncer explained her journey to be a dengbêj.

10:06

Theater and Cinema actress Arin Sibel Arslan states that she performs to make visible the violence against women, sexual abuse, violations of rights against LGBTI + individuals who become the target of hate crimes and the demand for education in the native language. “There is no space, resources, or support to produce in the country, particularly to produce correctly. We come together with people like me and create what is impossible; because we need to do so,” says Arin.

11:55

“Those who mention Islam and feminism together are always criticized and always have enemies but they get stronger in a way and this movement has found a place in Turkey and in the world. Over time we can say more, but it is already possible to say that this movement opens a new area in Turkey,” says a Muslim feminist activist and musician Rümeysa Çamdereli.

09:02

Percussionist Dilan Yeşilyaprak states that her biggest dream is to give concerts all over the world with an all-women percussion group and she says, "I want to change the stereotype that says playing percussion instruments, requiring physical force, is men’s occupation.”

15:45