JOINT TURKISH-ARMENIAN EXHIBIT FACES FORWARD
The New Anatolian, Turkey
Oct 16 2006
While diplomatic relations are on a knife’s-edge due to the French
Parliament passing a bill penalizing denial of the so-called Armenian
genocide, Turkish and Armenian documentary photographers were in
Istanbul yesterday to open a joint exhibit.
Ten photographers put together the exhibition called
"Merhabarev/Yerevan-Istanbul," which depicts daily life in Yerevan
and Istanbul. It opens on Oct. 22 and runs through Oct. 29.
The exhibit’s title is a combination of the words "Merhaba" and
"Barev" meaning "Hello" in Turkish and Armenian respectively.
The Turkish documentary photographers are Ozcan Yurdalan, Serra
Akcan, Mehmet Kacmaz, Kerem Uzel and Tolga Sezgin, and those from
Armenia are Ruben Mangasaryan, Karen Mirzoyan, Anahit Hayrapetyan,
Nelli Sismanyan and German Avagyan.
Mainly highlighting the importance of direct dialogue and an
unprejudiced approach, the photographers focused on the importance
of greetings in all encounters by combining the two words.
The photographers also aimed at emphasizing the importance of the
future and of looking towards the future even when catching daily
life on film.
In the belief that relations between the two nations can become
normal by overcoming problems stemming from a lack of dialogue and
overcoming prejudices, the photographers aimed to reflect what they
saw and experienced through their lenses.
After first opening in Yerevan’s best-known cultural center the Moscow
Cinema, it’s on in Istanbul and will then go to Europe to France,
Italy, Germany and the Netherlands.