The People’s Front also made an important contribution to the struggle on the field of arts.
F-Type Movie
For many years Grup Yorum is telling about isolation imprisonment in its albums, concerts and songs. Because by means of the F-type prisons and isolation, not only prisoners but the whole population is under attack, this subject was inevitable. With Grup Yorum as designator of the project, a feature film was produced by 10 producers, of which each shot a 10 minutes short film connected to the other. Both famous actors and volunteers took part in the film. The film has been a strong attitude against isolation and the first production dealing with that issue. It is stimulating who a cinema work with antifascist content is being produced with the understanding of the Art’s Front. The issue isn’t “simply a film”, but understanding, culture, solidarity and collectivism of the Art’s Front. Under conditions, where the system constantly imposes egoism by saying “It’s the captain who saves the ship” and in combination with the recent frailties on the field of arts this leads to rottenness, the F-type film was in real terms created shoulder on shoulder.
Ahead of the producers and actors, besides professional team working on technical fields like camera, sound, set and light, as well a team of cinema and television students worked with big devotion in direction and production. Almost all persons engaged in the film, which had required very high sacrifices at each stage, worked without expecting material reward. The common aim was to show a reality, which was hidden from the people in Turkey and worldwide, in a very stong and effective way: Including another effective tool of struggle against the F-type prisons and isolation tyranny.
Art’s Parliament:
With a festival in Istanbul’s neighborhood Gazi on the 26th and 27th October 2013 the art’s parliament was founded.
By that, the field of arts was provided with a new organisation. Musicians, movie actors, actors, photographers, dancers, painters, sculptors, cartoonists… Artists of all branches unite under a single roof!
The Art’s Parliament, which aims at developing solution methods on all fields, from own professional problems to the agenda of the country, has published a manifest and announced its principles and goals.
During the festival each branch of arts, performed its activities on a separate space. Each space was given the name of a martyr of the uprising and the martyrs were cherished in every step of the festival.
On the first day of the festival, on 26th October, exhibitions of paintings-sculptures, photographs and cartoons were displayed.
On the first day, on the Ethem Sarisülük Theatre Square, the Idil Theater Atelier performed a forum theater under the direction of Mehmet Esatoglu. The forum theater, which started at 5 p.m., demonstrated why an apolitical young person prevented the cut down of trees and how he got politicised.
On the second day of the festival all perfomance squares besides the exhibitions were prepared. Separate squares, sound systems, decorations were prepared for the screenings, dances, music, theater, poems.
Firstly there started concerts at the Ali Ismail Korkmaz Music Square. All concerts at the music square were followed by more than 1000 people.
The activities at the Mehmet Ayvalitas Dance Square started on Saturday, 26th October at 10 p.m. with the performance „Tree of Resistance“ by the „Vava Dance Group“. On Sunday, 27th October at 2.30 p.m. the program started again with a tango perfomance of the „Argentinian Tango Club“. The program continued at 4 p.m. with dance Flamenco (10 min.), Latino (10 min.) and Romany (10 min.) dance genres by the GAU (Girne American University). The activity ended at 5 p.m. at the Mehmet Ayvalitas Dance Square with a 25 minutes lasting performance of the „Standing Man“ Erdem Gündüz. Also the dance square gained unexpected big attention.
Abdullah Cömert Cinema Tent:
Short films were shown about the Taksim-Gezi incidents. Seats were filled and many people watched the films standing.
Ahmet Atakan Poem Square:
The activities at the poem square started on Sunday at 3 p.m. Even the poem square, which was expected to be the most quiet square with less participants, had a large group of visitors and dozens of the participants took the floor and read their own poems or poems they had selected from poetry books of the library at the square.
Each presentation at the Ethem Sarisülük Theater Square was followed by around 400 people.
Medeni Yildirim Painting-Sculpture Exhibition:
The painting-sculpture exhibition was set up on a basketball court in the park.
While the painters presented their painting on this space, they also drew their pictures on a big canvas.
Also the pictures of Free Prisoner Filiz Gencer were displayed on this space. There was also made a special illumination on this exhibition space and the exposition could be visited two days long, at night and day time.
Irfan Tuna Photograph Exhibition:
The photographs, which were hang on all along the park, transported every detail of the uprising to every corner of the park. Everyone, who came to the festival area watched the photographs with great interest.
Berkin Elvan Cartoon Exhibition:
Berkin was still alive at these days, but he had been one of the victims of fascism during the June uprising.
On the cartoon space comics were displayed as well as selected cartoons by independet cartoonists. Also cartoons drawn and sent by prisoners were selected and exhibited. This exhibition was also viewed with great interest by the people.
ACTIVITY AT THE MAIN STAGE:
All activities in the park ended at 6 p.m. and everyone began to gather for the activities at the main stage. Around 15.000 people followed these activities.
In the main activity several artists gave concerts, including Grup Yorum.
Further there was held a dance performance, a film show and poems were read.
The “Manifest of Arts” by the Art’s Parliament was published.
A photo album from the event organised by Arts Parliament in 2013
