|
|
The theatre aficionados of Garajistanbul  Garajistanbul is an arts cooperative which strives to play an active role in the cultural transformation taking place in Turkey, together with national and international partners. It is bravely making way on its path, with the support of TAV among others. Founders Mustafa and Övül Avkýran point out that during this process TAV stood by them, as if to complement them, rather than acting as a sponsor, adding, “An approach of this kind is of inestimable value for us.” Övül Avkýran and Mustafa Avkýran, founders of the 5. Sokak Theatre Company, one of the building blocks of the contemporary performing arts movement that began to flourish in Turkey in the 1990s, leased the 600 square meter ground floor of the Galatasaray Car Park in November 2005. Their objective was to create an “empty space,” where works produced “today” and belonging to the “present” in theatre, dance, music, literature and other related branches of the arts would be given visibility. In the beginning they shared these views with artists, audiences, businessmen and businesswomen around them. This is how their journey, which became a civil/cultural transformation project in Turkey, and one of the best known cultural centers of Europe, began. From the beginning, Garajistanbul proliferated as it moved forward. New artists, new audiences and new supporters kept joining the project; one of these was the TAV Group. Local administrations and even the state joined this process, which was woven by artists, audiences and supporters. Garajistanbul thus became a civil/cultural transformation project organized from the bottom up. The venue of Garajistanbul opened on 25 January 2007. Currently, through production house Garajistanbulpro, their national and international relations and the “gist” magazine published twice a year, they continue to make a contribution to momentum in the development of contemporary performing arts. , With national and international partners, they aim to play an active role in the cultural transformation taking place in Turkey. We spoke with the founders, Mustafa and Övül Avkýran, about their collaboration with the TAV Family.
MUSTAFA AVKIRAN: I graduated in 1982 from the Istanbul State Conservatory, that is to say the present Mimar Sinan University. My origins lie completely in the State Theatre. I was appointed by Yücel Ertan, the General Director of the time, as founding director of the Antalya State Theatre. I later left this position and in 1995 we founded the 5. Sokak Theatre Company When did you return to Istanbul? Ö.A: The 5. Sokak Theatre Company is actually a small model of the current Garajistanbul. In 1997 we said let’s go back to our village and we came to Istanbul. At that time we preferred to be nomads, rather than have a venue of our own. We used to present our work in the “Tiyatro Oyunevi,” on the second floor of the Istanbul Sanat Merkezi. M.A: When we look at the past, we see that both the 5. Sokak Theatre and the ISM were like a rehearsal for Garajistanbul. You work and work at it, and then one day it comes true. Ö.A:At that time we collaborated with many important arts organizations and with prestigious arts festivals in Europe, thus presenting ourselves on an international platform. How would you describe the theatre you make? M.A: Let me relate what was written by a European journalist: They refer to our theatre as “political and poetic theatre.” We are endeavoring to make theatre that is woven with the culture, the history, the past and the future dreams of a country. In other words, we have formed our language on these lands and not in the West. The stories we tell were “old” at first, like Dede Korkut stories. Now we tell urban stories that are about the present. Our subject matter includes concepts such as “migration,” “nomadism,” “to be the other,” “to be different” and “to be a woman.” To deal with these subjects we use real stories as a starting point. As we have a universal point of view, arts enthusiasts from the West as well as the East show interest in our work. We sing songs in 12 languages on stage; we tell the story of the disappearing culture of Anatolia. Ö.A:The artistic questioning that you pursue must always contain a political stance. Because arts means a “stance.” We have a political stance; when we produce work we feed on that, but we do not deal with politics. How did Garajistanbul come into being? Ö.A:We leased this garage in Galatasaray and then we began to look for companions. We created a supporter model and then, one by one, we recruited members to the Garajistanbul idea. We believed that the more pluralist our structure was, the stronger we would be. And it really did become a venue of world standards. The structure was built with the help of individual and corporate supporters and it began to move ahead. Up to the crisis, that is. And when we encountered an obstacle, the TAV Group and Garanti Bank became our patrons; they enabled us to survive, they gave us their corporate strength. M.A: I need to tell an anecdote, to express the tie that has formed between us and our supporters. Our assistant returned from Germany recently and when he encountered a TAV Airport employee in the Istanbul Atatürk Airport, he smiled and said, “Hello, how are you?” That was a member of Garajistanbul meeting with an employee of TAV and greeting him, as if they were from the same family. This is very important. We too, when we go to the airport we pass through gates saying “hello” to everybody. That is the kind of affectionate bond that exists between us and the TAV Group.
|
Index
 TAG:
|
ART | Garajistanbul | -Mustafa-Avkýran | Övül- | TAV-Airports-Operations | airports | theatre-aficionados |