Two events took place in 2009 in Vienna for strengthening the intercultural discourse. “Spot On: Turkey Now” cultural festival was held during 10-11 October 2009, supported by the Republic of Turkey Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Promotion Fund of The Turkish Prime Ministry in collaboration with Vienna Konzerthaus and Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts. Also in Wiener Festwochen (Vienna Festival), considered as one of the world’s most important cultural festival, several performances related with Turkish culture was shown in collaboration with Ä°KSV.
SPOT ON: TURKEY NOW, VIENNA (10-11 October 2009)
The festival hosted over 20 events in Konzerthaus and Brunnenpassage, to illustrate the multi ethnicity and cultural diversification of Turkey. Main initiative in this festival was to form a bridge among societies for enhancing cultural exchange and improving tolerance. The various events in this festival shaped around the east-west dimension and focused on presenting diverse life stories in order to give the audience a fresh and modern notion of Turkey.
The festival included various events as literature, music and dance. Young violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja gave a concert performance of Fazıl Say’s violin concerto in Konzerthaus. Doron Rabinovici read excerpts from Mario Levi’s Istanbul Was a Fairy Tale. Worldwide-known musican Selim Sesler and his ensemble, gave a concert of Balkan’s and Roman’s sounds. Also Martin Grubinger performed Béla Bartók’s sonata for two pianos and percussion.
Brunnenpassage is the liveliest and the most vigorous cultural region in Vienna and in this festival, Vienna Konzerthaus has collaborated with Brunnenpassage for two events. “Saturdance” event, calling everyone for dancing every Saturday regardless of their ethnicity, race or origin, was held in Brunnenpassage on October 3rd 2009 and in Konzerthaus on October 10th. Additionally, on October 3rd, Vienna Konzerthaus’s highly appreciated “Sing Along” event took place in Brunnenpassage. This event was inspired by the Turkish culture and held in Konzerthaus in October 11th, 2009.
Wiener Festwochen
In the course of her work on behalf of the International Istanbul Theatre Festival (for the project X Apartments), stage designer Barbara Ehnes’s walk-in installation “Istanbul, Transgelinler” was shown during 1-8 June, daily at 6 to 10 pm at brut bar. In this IKSV and Wiener Festwochen co-production, she came into contact with the very poor TarlabaÅŸi neighbourhood, where inhabitants are mostly Kurds, Roma and African immigrants. For some time, Barbara Ehnes has been interested in a novel form of portraits, in the life stories and life conditions of people who find themselves in unusual situations. In TarlabaÅŸi, she worked with transsexuals, who lead a hidden ghetto life in a country whose biggest difference as compared to Europe is described as the relationship between the sexes. Barbara Ehnes addresses the question of what this transformation means and how it is subjectively experienced in a non-liberal as well as in a liberal society. Barbara Ehnes is one of the most outstanding stage designers of the younger generation, whose sets and specific spatial solutions are always spaces of and for art in their own right.
A re-interpretation of the story of Antigone, called Euridice's Cry, was shown on 6 June 2009 at brut im Künstlerhaus. In this performance, this time it is not only Antigone, her sister and her betrothed who put up resistance to King Creon but also his wife Euridice, who commits suicide at the end of the play. This performance is a high-speed spoken symphony that stages the tragic conflict of reasons of state, religion and female rebellion as a passionate to-and-fro of musical-rhythmic chants, chorus intermezzi, solos, duos, trios. Employing a choreography of language and light, eight young women and men visualise the fears of a people composed of directionless goody-two-shoes and the almost physical menace emanating from an unchallengeable power. The way of expression chosen by the performers, who all wear tight black tops, is a dark and dangerous rap. The decisive form adopted makes this production from Istanbul something very novel and strange. Director, author and actress Şahika Tekand played roles in 17 feature films and worked with numerous directors before founding her own, Istanbul-based ensemble Studio Oyuncuları (The Studio Players) in 1988. For several years already, the ensemble has been enjoying an international reputation as one of the best-known Turkish theatre groups.
Reporter, a docu-performance was performed on 8 June 2009 at brut im Künstlerhaus. Mehmet Ali Alabora was alone on the stage, playing himself as he narrates his own life-story as a specific, modern Turkish biography. Reporter holds up a mirror to the different identities of Memet Ali Alabora, his life and experiences and the way in which these personal experiences influence Alabora as a performer. Since 1995, directors Övül and Mustafa Avkiran have been collaborating as independent artists in Turkey but also in international contexts.
