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Cultural bridges established through young generations
Fifty students visited “Love By Any Other Name,” an exhibit about Venice and İstanbul during the Ottoman period at the Sakıp Sabancı Museum, which was inaugurated in November 2009 during Italian President Giorgio Napolitano’s official visit to Turkey, and were taught about the close relationship between Venice and İstanbul in an engaging workshop on Saturday.
Culture via entertainment
Students and teachers from two schools visited the exhibition with a special guide. “We learned about the relationship between Venice and the Ottoman Empire,” said Gülşah, 13, one of the students. “We saw the outfits and items used by the Venetians and Ottomans. We are very happy to be here.”
“We also learned about the hats and the money that the doges used,” says Tuğçe, 12, showing the paper kaftan she made, “and we learned the symbol of the Venetians: a lion with wings.”
“We were very excited to come to the museum,” says Ali, 12, another student at the workshop, who said that they “learned that the Venetians used to engage in commerce with the Turks.”
“This is not only paintings,” said Eve, 12. “The things that I have learned here will be very useful for my other lessons at school, as well.”
Contribution to Capital of Culture process
The outing was organized as part of the 2010 European Capital of Culture celebrations in İstanbul. “The program in İstanbul with respect to its 2010 European Capital of Culture designation is very busy and significant,” Ambassador Marc Pierini, head of the European Commission delegation to Turkey, told Today’s Zaman.
“What I see from my political perspective,” said Pierini, “is the way to illustrate the richness of the culture in İstanbul and the way in which İstanbul belongs to Europe, to European history and European cultural history.”
Cultural Bridges
The Cultural Bridges program brings together the EU and Turkey by exploring and celebrating their shared and diverse cultural heritage. Contributing to İstanbul’s 2010 European Capital of Culture activities, the program supports cultural actors and civil society organizations in Turkey and the EU that collaborate in contemporary arts and culture.
The program is sponsoring four main activities: “European Literature Goes to Turkey, Turkish Literature Goes to Europe,” run by the Goethe-Institut; “My City,” run by the British Council; “KaleidoscopEurope,” run by the Italian Institute of Culture-Ankara; and lastly, “Digital Bridges,” run by the French Cultural Institute.
The Goethe-Institut project brings nearly 50 Turkish and European authors to 24 Turkish cities, as well as myriad musicians, photographers and filmmakers. The tour, which has visited 17 cities so far and will embark on its next round from Antalya in March, will next turn to the EU, visiting European cities with a selection of Turkish authors and artists.
The project run by the Italian Institute of Culture features art from roughly 500 artists from Turkey and the EU, including theater performances, youth operas, ethno-music concerts, exhibitions and educational programs, a documentary film and a book on the common roots of the Mediterranean culture -- a total of 123 activities in 34 locations.
The “My City” project focuses on art in the public space in order to engage young people in debate about the identity and the future of their cities. New works by prominent artists from five EU countries are being commissioned for Çanakkale, İstanbul, Konya, Mardin and Trabzon, while six well-known artists from Turkey will be hosted by leading contemporary arts centers in Berlin, Dortmund, Helsinki, London, Vienna and Warsaw.
Finally, the “Digital Bridges” project entails a trans-national multimedia platform for cultural e-journalism on the Internet for young journalists, cultural operators and artists enabling multicultural teams of 70 young journalists from Turkey, Romania and France to cover cultural events such as the Season of Turkey in France and European Capital of Culture activities.
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