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1.       si++
3785 posts
 18 Oct 2010 Mon 11:43 am

* Istanbul´s French High School Saint Joseph opened Turkey´s richest
"Natural Sciences Center" on Oct. 9 as part of its 140th anniversary
celebrations, reports the Hurriyet Daily News.
  The center was be opened by the French ambassador to Turkey, Bernard
Emié. The venue is the first natural sciences center in Turkey and
contains the richest natural sciences collection of Turkey´s fauna, a
collection that was created over 140 years of work.
  The work on the collection began thanks to the friars who were
working for Saint-Joseph in the past, receiving special permission
from the sultan to collect and hunt specimens from every animal
species in Turkey. This historical permission was what provided Saint-
Joseph with the richest fauna collection in Turkey.
  Thousands of animals, many species of which are now extinct, have
been preserved thanks to varying techniques.
  See more at: http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/

* Turkey´s Hagia Sophia museum in Istanbul has been granted Italy´s
prestigious Rotondi Award to the Saviors of Art for the restorations
carried out in the museum.
  In a written statement Tuesday, the Turkish Ministry of Culture and
Tourism said the Hagia Sophia was presented with the Rotondi Award by
the Arca dell´Arte Museum in a ceremony held in Sassocorvaro in
central Italy on Sept. 25.
  The statement said the Rotondi Award had been presented to
individuals or institutions making contributions to cultural heritage
every year since 1996.
  Istanbul´s Hagia Sophia is a former Greek Orthodox patriarchal
basilica that later became a mosque before being turned into a museum.
From the date of its dedication in 360 A.D. until 1453, it served as a
church. The building was a mosque from May 29, 1453 until 1934 and was
converted into a museum on Feb. 1, 1935.

2.       si++
3785 posts
 18 Oct 2010 Mon 06:18 pm

Magnificent chess artwork


Fantastic artwork by the incredibly talented artist Serkan Ergün.


Serkan Ergün, born in Izmir in 1980, has adopted realism. He has rendered “individuals in society” in an attitude of expression in his works. Besides having the talent for visualization of each individual’s character, Ergün tries to provide a unique confrontation for grasping the subject, to the beholder, in all his portraits.

Please feel free to check out his website at http://serkanergun.org/

.

3.       si++
3785 posts
 27 Oct 2010 Wed 09:27 am

VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU
A part of the Armenian Music and Science Library in Yerevan, home to the some of the world’s most priceless musical notes, documents, manuscripts and gramophone recordings, is dedicated to maintaining a Turkish and Azeri music archive. Museum director Gulo Nahadakyan has called on Turkey to help maintain the archive. “The language of music is universal. We want to meet with you in the universal denominator,’ she says.
The rich music archive is maintained under bad conditions because of lack of funds. Museum Director Gulo Nahadakyan (L) hopes to collaborate with a Turkish organization working in the field of music to safeguard the archive.

The rich music archive is maintained under bad conditions because of lack of funds. Museum Director Gulo Nahadakyan (L) hopes to collaborate with a Turkish organization working in the field of music to safeguard the archive.

A treasured history of Turkish music is housed in the Armenian Music and Science Library, located a few kilometers away from the center of the Armenian capital, which maintains an archive of world music.

Besides maintaining recordings of the usual international names in music, from Beethoven to Mozart, and to Armenian music’s best-known figures such as Gomidas and Khacaduryan, and tens of thousands of documents, manuscripts, musical notes, gramophone recordings and some famous composers’ private correspondence, an archive of Turkish classical and pop music is kept in a special room in the library, which also features an impressive collection of Azeri music. It is almost impossible to find such a comprehensive archive in Turkey.

The museum’s director, Gulo Nahadakyan, told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review the reason for maintaining the archive was to preserve especially regional music, because music transcends geography and politics. “Turkey and Azerbaijan are our neighbors. Moreover, art does not have a religion and language. Music is universal,” Nahadakyan said, adding that her biggest wish is to collaborate with a Turkish organization and university working in the field of music in order to safeguard the archive.

Dilapidated conditions and a lack of funds

Unfortunately, the library, which accommodates hundreds of years’ worth of world music history, has been severely neglected and some of the documents in the archive are kept in dust and dirt because of a lack of funds. Nahadakyan said the archive is deprived of financial support and has severe economic problems.

“If these documents belonged to another country, they would have been kept like priceless treasures. But unfortunately, this is our situation,” said Nahadakyan, adding that the condition of the building was far from secure. “People are not aware of the riches here. If they knew, they would steal everything in one night,” she said.

The museum employs 36 expert staff, almost 90 percent of whom are women. Nahadakyan said the reason why it is mostly women who work in the museum is again one of funding. “The maximum amount of money we can pay is $30 dollars a month. A man cannot support a family with this money.”

Nilüfer moves the library to tears

The room where the Turkish and Azeri collections are kept is full of gramophone recordings. A Turkish music expert who simply calls herself Ruzan said they had transferred the collection of gramophone recordings onto CD over the last few years in order to make things easy for researchers. “In this way, we try to protect gramophone recordings as much as possible. Researchers can take them home, which makes things easier for them,” she said.

Yet one day, as a surprise, Ruzan and her friends brought a record player to the library one day and played a record of renowned Turkish pop singer Nilüfer. The Turkish singer’s voice echoed around the library on the other side of the closed border and everyone in the room was moved to tears, she said. The name of the song was “Taa Uzak Yollardan” (From Very Far Roads). Nilüfer is the most beloved Turkish pop singer among the women working in the library, Ruzan said.

She added that recordings by many famous artists who have left their mark on Turkish and Azeri music are kept in the Turkish and Azeri music archive room.

Nahakdakyan said that all documents in the library are the common heritage of mankind and required support, calling on Turkey to contribute to the archive. “The language of music is universal. We want to meet with you in the universal denominator. Let’s collaborate. Our doors and archives are open to you,” she said.

 

source: here

4.       si++
3785 posts
 01 Nov 2010 Mon 06:55 pm

* Acc HD, Building bridges between Italy and Turkey, La Scala Ballet´s
troupe is set to perform the Pink Floyd Ballet at Istanbul Congress
Center between Nov. 25 and 28.
  Having been performed the world over since 1972, the ballet has
excited numerous audiences with its mix of classical ballet, modern
dance and the music of Pink Floyd.

* The works of Tivadar Kosztka Csontvary, Hungary´s loneliest but most
extraordinary artist, are on display at Istanbul´s Pera Museum at an
exhibition titled ´Csontvary: An Extraordinary Master of Hungarian
Painting.´
  The exhibition, organized within the scope of the Istanbul 2010
European Capital of Culture events, was launched Wednesday
  the exhibition is being put together with the support of Pecs 2010
European Capital of Culture and Hungaries Janus Pannonius Museum.


* The Hiroshima-Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Exhibition, which is traveling
the world and organized by the Nagasaki National Peace Memorial Hall
for the Atomic Bomb Victims, opened Saturday at Ankara´s Cer Modern.
  The exhibition has been organized as part of the 2010 Japan Year in
Turkey and is also the first overseas atomic bomb exhibition held in
the Middle East
  Explaining the messages of the exhibition, Japanese Ambassador to
Ankara Nabuaki Tanaka said: "The first message is that Japan has been
a country of peace ever since the end of the war. The second message
is to explain the misery and tragedy of the nuclear war to Turkey, to
the complicated region of the Middle East and to the international
community."

5.       si++
3785 posts
 14 Dec 2010 Tue 03:50 pm

 

Hagia Sophia Museum Director Haluk Dursun (R) talks to members of the media next to the sixth-century baptismal pool during a news conference at the Byzantine-era monument of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul December 13, 2010. The sixth-century baptismal pool, made from a single solid block of marble, is believed to be the world´s largest of its kind and was once used for group baptisms. It was moved in the 17th century during Hagia Sophia´s turn as a mosque. Historians unearthed the pool in 1943, but it remained off-limits to visitors until an extensive restoration that has just been completed. It will now go on display to the public early next year.  

Hagia Sophia Museum Director Haluk Dursun (R) talks to members of the media next to the sixth-century baptismal pool during a news conference at the Byzantine-era monument of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul December 13, 2010. The sixth-century baptismal pool, made from a single solid block of marble, is believed to be the world´s largest of its kind and was once used for group baptisms. It was moved in the 17th century during Hagia Sophia´s turn as a mosque. Historians unearthed the pool in 1943, but it remained off-limits to visitors until an extensive restoration that has just been completed. It will now go on display to the public early next year.

 

Source: here

slavica and Elisabeth liked this message
6.       si++
3785 posts
 27 Dec 2010 Mon 11:11 am

Depicting Polonezköy and literature with a book

The culture array of Polonezköy -expanding from Nazım Hikmet to Gencer, from Franz Liszt to Atatürk, from Gustave Flaubert to Pierre Loti, from Chopin to Czeslaw Milosz, from music to literature- is exposed by the book and photographs of the artist Akgün Akova.

Artist Akgün Akova has got over five thousand photographs depicting Turkey and over four hundred articles about the country that appeared in magazines like Voyager, Skylife and National Geographic etc. The book titled “The Eagle beneath the Crescent and Star: Polonezköy” by Akgün Akova aims at showing the meaning and importance of a tiny village in Istanbul that serves European culture and world peace.

Founded in 1842 in Beykoz, Istanbul, the village Polonezköy established a strong bond between Turkey and Poland. This project is about a book and a photograph exhibition to be held in Istanbul and in Warsaw to tell about artists that relate to Polonezköy along with their stories.

Within the scope of this project, Polonezköy will be told as a symbol of peace, friendship and fraternity between the peoples of Turkey and Poland all through a wide array of names such as Nazım Hikmet, Leyla Gencer, Franz Liszt, Atatürk, Gustave Flaubert, Pierre Loti, Chopin and Czeslaw Milosz. The story of Polish originated people living in Polonezköy will be examined through history, poetry, literature, music, photography and other lines of art.

 The book titled “The Eagle beneath the Crescent and Star: Polonezköy” by Akgün Akova aims at showing the meaning and importance of a tiny village in Istanbul that serves European culture and world peace. The book published on December 15.

 

Source: here

7.       si++
3785 posts
 26 Jan 2011 Wed 01:43 pm

Turkey´s National Library included in EU digital project

 

The National Library has become the first Turkish institute to be included in Europe’s digital library project, Europeana. Thanks to the project, Europeans can see many priceless manuscripts and other objects online. ´Inclusion in Europeana is also significant for Turkey’s promotion abroad,´ says the National Library General Director Tuncel Acar
Within the scope of the Europeana project, the unique Turkish artworks, manuscripts and documents in the digital platform of the National Library will be seen by Europeans online.

Within the scope of the Europeana project, the unique Turkish artworks, manuscripts and documents in the digital platform of the National Library will be seen by Europeans online.

Turkey’s National Library has become be the first Turkish institution included in the European Union’s digital library project, Europeana, the director of the National Library has announced. Nearly 27,050 manuscripts and 10,000 magazines from the National Library’s digital collection will now be available through the database.

The Europeana project aims to integrate the databases of cultural institutes and libraries from around Europe. The project, which began in 2008, is based in the National Library of the Netherlands and receives funding from the European Commission.

National Library General Director Tuncel Acar said Europeana officials contacted with Hacettepe University and asked to include Turkey in the project. The university then held a meeting with the National Library to initiate work on the project, Acar said.

Europeana largely focuses on historic artworks that were digitized in libraries, museums, and research and development centers, according to Acar. “Some 27,000 manuscripts were in the digital platform, but we were not included in Europeana’s website,” he said. “This was a deficiency.” The National Library signed a protocol with Europeana a few days ago and its works are now included in the system, the library director said.

The Turkish artworks and documents included in the database are unique and could prove very important to researchers, Acar said. “These objects do not have copyrights. We have digitized them and shouldn’t other people in the world see Turkey’s priceless manuscripts?”

 

Source: here

8.       si++
3785 posts
 01 Feb 2011 Tue 12:56 pm

Old Turkish comic heroes make return to bookshelves

 

An infallible and timeless Turkish comic book hero meets new generations in a new publication. The Hunnic warrior Tarkan, under the service of Attila the Hun, fights Vikings, Romans and giant dragons

Sezgin Burak´s fascination is most evident in the depiction of the origin of his hero when he is cared for by a she-wolf, a crucial mythical figure in many ancient Turkic legends.

Sezgin Burak´s fascination is most evident in the depiction of the origin of his hero when he is cared for by a she-wolf, a crucial mythical figure in many ancient Turkic legends.

With Turkish nationalism on the rise among young people in the last decade we have seen TV and cinema unabashedly cashing in on the sensitivities of a significant portion of the country. It was inevitable that the plethora of Turkish historic comic books of the ’60s and ’70s with larger-than-life heroes would hit the shelves again nearly a half-century later.

The popular comic book heroes of the period, referred to as Heroes with Swords, were inspired by motifs from the histories of Turks as well as by Islam. Although the heroes and the worlds they lived in were rarely accurate in their depiction, three of the 50 or so popular comics of the day proved to be more careful about their historic backgrounds. Karaoğlan (Kebir, in its French editions) took place in 12th- and 13th-century Central Asia during the reign of Genghis Khan. Malkoçoğlu took place during the reign of Ottoman Sultan Mehmet II.

The third of these proved to be more timeless, with its historical background going back to the 4th-century Hunnic Empire. The classic adventures of cartoonist Sezgin Burak’s Tarkan is now being published once again, more than four decades.

The hero Tarkan is a Hunnic warrior, serving for Attila the Hun. The origin of the story goes like this: Born as the son of a Hunnic warlord in the Caucasus Mountains, Tarkan’s parents are slaughtered when he is an infant. He is then raised by gray wolves. He grows up to be a solitary warrior, his only companion a wolf, called simply Kurt, the Turkish word for wolf.

What makes the Tarkan comics more timeless is their unique blend of historical accuracy and their mythic and fantastic nature. Burak conceived the idea for the character when he was working for the art agency Studio D’Ami in Italy in the mid-60s. He had earlier created the comic character El Cougar and had drawn for the comic Colosso.

Historic accuracy vs fantastic worlds

Burak’s research of Italian history made him realize the crucial role of the Hunnic Empire and Attila the Hun in their history. His research into the Huns, coupled with the fact that official Turkish history considers Huns to be the ancestors of modern Turks, helped in the conception of Tarkan. Burak’s fascination is most evident in the depiction of the origin of his hero when he is suckled and cared for by a she-wolf, quite similar to what happened to Romulus and Remus, the mythical twin founders of Rome. But the wolf is a crucial mythical figure in many ancient Turkic legends, some going as far as saying that the Turks have descended from wolves; in many others the gray wolf is seen as a savior and a guide to Turks.

Burak did thorough research in Italy, which would later be reflected in the background details of the Tarkan comics, in the cities, dwellings, clothes and accessories of the period. That said, most of the adventures of Tarkan would be over-the-top, where he would fight giant man-eating dragons, sorcerers and Cyclops and look after the sword in the stone with magical powers. The occasional sado-erotic imagery where Tarkan would be tied and tortured by half-naked sexy women with whips was a sight for sore eyes for many of the male readers.

Most of the adventures of Tarkan were set in northern, northwestern and middle Europe, with Vikings and Romans being some of the enemies. While Tarkan called himself a “Hunnic Turk,” the word “Turk” was not to be used for another two centuries after the period he lived in.

The first Tarkan strip was published in the daily Hürriyet in 1967. It ran for nine years. In 1970, the adventures of Tarkan were published separately as a weekly comic book. The comic’s popularity led to a string of films from 1969 to 1973 starring Kartal Tibet as Tarkan in all but two. The first of these films was directed by veteran director Tunç Başaran and was a faithful adaptation of the very first Tarkan adventure, “Mars’ın Kılıcı” (The Sword of Mars). Now, a whole new generation of Turks will delight in a new hero who will defeat anyone from Vikings to dragons.

 

Source: here

9.       si++
3785 posts
 06 Feb 2011 Sun 04:55 pm

Turkish woman recounts difficult life in Saudi Arabia with book

 

Zekiye Yüksel came back to Turkey after she lived nearly four years in Saudi Arabia. AFP photo


Zekiye Yüksel came back to Turkey after she lived nearly four years in Saudi Arabia. AFP photo

The difficulties of living as a woman in Saudi Arabia are the subject of a new book by Turk Zekiye Yüksel, who lived in the country for three-and-a-half years.

“You can never walk alone. You should either have your husband, father or brother with you. During the three-and-a-half years I stayed there, I couldn’t go out to buy bread even once, for instance. This is very important because it hurt me. That means you have no bread at home and cannot go out to buy it. I even had to order my tweezers through the driver,” she said.

Yüksel is the author of “Being a Woman in a Sharia Country,” which recounts her time in the austere kingdom as a literature teacher for Turkish children whose parents had moved to Saudi Arabia for work opportunities.

Most of the children were from the Mediterranean province of Hatay, which has a high Arabic-speaking population.

“My students were born and raised there. They had never gone to the theater. The Turkish school was like oxygen for them. They couldn’t go out, but the curriculum of the Republic of Turkey was used by the school,” said Yüksel.

Since the families heard about Turkish girls who married rich Saudi men but were unhappy, they generally sent their daughters back home to Turkey after graduation, Yüksel said.

“I lived in Riyadh and just craved to drive a car, go to a supermarket, take a commuter bus from one city to another and walk in the street. I learned how valuable life in the Republic of Turkey is. I walked 40 minutes every day in the school’s yard, as though I was pacing back and forth in a prison yard,” she said.

“Arab women communicate nonverbally through their eyes and feet. These are the only body parts visible to everyone. So, women give importance to their eyes and feet. Since the weather is always hot, they wear shoes and sandals that are unimaginably attractive,” Yüksel said.

Saudi houses are surrounded by high walls like castles from the Middle Ages, said Yüksel. “When you open the windows at your house, you face huge walls. Having a balcony is banned, in order to keep women inside.”

Yüksek said women were banned from driving in Saudi Arabia and added that women could not go anywhere alone because there were no commuter buses either.

“In Turkey, even if women are pious, they drink tea with neighbors and go to the village market. The wife of the religion instructor became ill in Riyadh because she did not have a social life. Since my friend was coming home tired, he couldn’t take his wife out,” he said.

Polygamy is widespread in Saudi Arabia, according to Yüksel. “I realized this because three or four women were walking behind a man in the street or at a park after they left luxurious villas.”

The muezzin, or the person who calls the faithful to prayer at the mosques, would make the call with an unattractive tone of voice in order to prevent women from falling in love with the voice, said Yüksel.

“After I returned to Turkey, I started to listen to the adhan [call to the prayer] admiringly,” she said.

 

Source: here

slavica liked this message
10.       si++
3785 posts
 15 Feb 2011 Tue 09:30 am

Turkish TV series director turns creative talents to Bosnian War

Turkish director and producer Osman Sınav is working on a real-life story that occurred during the Bosnian war. Sınav says the film follows a young musician that loses an arm that later becomes a fearless sniper. The director, who has enjoyed great success with past TV series, says Bosnia and Herzegovina is one of his favorite countries in the world
Osman Sınav visited Sarajevo to have talks with the screenwriter of the film, Almir Basovic.

Osman Sınav visited Sarajevo to have talks with the screenwriter of the film, Almir Basovic.

Popular Turkish television director Osman Sınav is leading a film project set during the Bosnian War of the 1990s that features true events from the fighting.

“We are working on a real story. A young person who only wants to play guitar and make music and has no idea about the war until the day it begins loses his arm and cannot make music. Later on, he becomes a sniper and a fearless warrior using his two remaining fingers. The film tells the drama of this period,” Sınav recently told Anatolia news agency.

Sarajevo University Conservatory Department member Almir Basovic is the screenwriter of the drama, which features real events from the period.

Sınav, the director of popular Turkish TV series including “Deli Yürek” (Crazy Heart) and “Kurtlar Vadisi” (Valley of the Wolves), visited Sarajevo last week to confer with Basovic. The director said he came to Bosnia and Herzegovina for a second meeting with Basovic after their first meeting in Istanbul.

Sınav said he had previously come to Bosnia immediately after the war for footage for a TV series he was working on.

“When I came here for the first time, I saw that one can fall in love with a country just like a man falls in love with a woman. Bosnia gives me the feeling of love and I am in love with the country. It is like a lover who is far away from me,” Sınav said.

He also said the Ottoman-period Gazi Hüsrevbey social complex in Sarajevo was a very significant place for a common story. “A social complex was constructed 500 years ago and it includes a Turkish bath, a covered bazaar, a mosque and an almshouse, which still serves meals every day for free regardless of the religion, language or nation of the people. This complex has survived for 500 years thanks to this perspective. This is why we should not produce Brazilian TV series but more different and serious stories.”

The director said Turkish cinema should broaden its horizons and make stories on a wide range from Sarajevo to Tabriz and from Baku to Almaty.

Sınav also said Turkish TV series were very popular across a wide region. “Turkish TV series draw great interest in many countries. Turkish artists are loved so much. We have to make the most of it and make good productions for further cultural collaborations. This is why we are here.”

First Turkish TV series broadcast abroad

Sınav said the first Turkish TV series broadcast abroad was his “Deli Yürek,” which was sold to Kazakhstan for a low price. It received huge interest in the country and was later shown in Bosnia, drawing the same interest, he added.

“At the moment, Turkish TV series are on the screen in a wide region on three continents. This is a very serious gain and it will bring economic income. You not only sell TV series, you also establish a cultural connection. Brands and tourism are sold thanks to it,” he said. “Politicians or academics couldn’t do this over 20 years but you can do it in one or two years with a TV series. Today, most children under 5 years old in Azerbaijan are speaking Istanbul Turkish.”

Sınav said the interest in Turkish TV series should be evaluated in the best way and added that the most important issue was to find stories in common.

‘Muhteşem Yüzyıl’ disappoints

Filmmakers should also be extra careful during the present period in which the Turkish film sector is opening to the world, he said, adding that there was big interest in the Ottomans throughout the Balkans and that Ottoman heritage still survived in many places.

“The new TV series ‘Muhteşem Yüzyıl’ [Magnificent Century] will draw great interest in the country because of Süleyman the Magificent,” he said. “But I am sure people will say the [Süleyman] in the TV series is different from the man they know. Because he is shown like a poor man running after a woman. It will disappoint them. Producers should have this perspective but they don’t have it. It is too wrong that the Ottoman Sultan [Süleyman], who was called ‘magnificent’ even by his enemies, is shown to be a very simple man,” he said.

 

Source: here

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