Archive
Sidestreets - Chronology of events
2007 October
– Anber Onar
– Dr. Johann Pillai
2007 Nov. – 2008 Apr.
Sidestreets Fellows and Architects-in- Residence Emre Akbil and Esra Akbil develop their award-winning project to design the new Presidential Administrative Offices for North Cyprus, interview community residents who will be affected by the project, and prepare for “Layers of Space,” an exhibition of their project at Sidestreets.
2008
2008 Oct. 6 – Oct. 18
Sidestreets Cultural Heritage Awareness Events: The Excavations at Kraltepesi/Vasili in Kaleburnu/Gallinoporni
2008 Oct. 6 (M)
Presentation: “Kaleburnu-Kraltepesi/Gallinoporni-Vasili: Discovery of a Major Bronze Age Settlement in Cyprus”
– Dr. Uwe Müller, Excavation Director, Department of Archeology and Art History, Eastern Mediterranean University, North Cyprus.
2008 Oct. 6 (M)
Exhibition Opening: Photographs from the King’s Hill Excavations
– Dr. Skip Norman, Dean, Faculty of Communication and Media Studies, Eastern Mediterranean University
2008 Oct. 8 (W)
Presentation: “The Kaleburnu/Vasili Settlements in the Context of World Cultural Heritage” (Turkish)
– Mr. Bülent Kızılduman, Excavation Co-Director, Department of Archeology and Art History, Eastern Mediterranean University, North Cyprus.
2008 Oct. 10 (F)
Children’s Educational Event: Visit by SOS Primary School children to the Kraltepesi/Vasili exhibition at Sidestreets followed by a film screening.
2008 Oct. 13 (M)
Presentation: “Kaleburnu-Kraltepesi/Gallinoporni-Vasili: An Example for Cultural Heritage Management in Disputed Areas” (English)
– Dr. Uwe Müller, Excavation Director, Department of Archeology and Art History, Eastern Mediterranean University, North Cyprus.
2008 Oct. 15 (W)
Presentation: “Famagusta’s Cultural Heritage: Recent International Developments” (English)
– Dr. Michael Walsh, Department of Archeology and Art History, Eastern Mediterranean University, North Cyprus.
2008 Oct. 17 (F)
Presentation: “Discoveries from the 2008 Underwater Surveys at Kaleburnu” (English)
– Dr. Matthew Harpster, Department of Archeology and Art History, Eastern Mediterranean University, North Cyprus.
2008 Oct. 28 (T)
Film and Presentations for the “Suspended Spaces”/”Famagusta Project” group of 30 European artists:
1) Screening of “The Stones of Famagusta”
2) Presentation: “Famagusta’s Cultural Heritage: Recent Developments” (English)
– Dr. Michael Walsh, Department of Archeology and Art History,
Eastern Mediterranean University
3) Presentation: “A Scientific and Visual Project for Creating an Environmentally- Friendly Park on the Green Line”
– Dr. Anna Grinitsch, Harvard University
2008 Oct. 31 (F) Presentation on Digital Storytelling (English)
– Dr. John Higgins
Dr. John W. Higgins (www.mediaprof.org) is an associate professor of Communication and Media at Menlo College in Atherton, California, USA. Since 1974 he has been involved in alternative, grassroots, community-based media in a variety of roles. Most recently he served as president of the board of the San Francisco Community Television Corporation, the non-profit organization managing the city’s and county’s public access cable television facilities and channel.
Dr. Higgins’ areas of expertise include community-based, alternative media; media production; media technologies; critical pedagogy; and storytelling and oral history as art and social science. His background includes twenty-five years as a professional puppeteer and street performer. Dr. Higgins’ interest in narratives has typically been focused on the stories told by people within communities. A recent outgrowth of these interests has been digital storytelling, which fuses individual and group narratives of struggle and transformation, personal reflexivity, ethnographic research, and digital distribution.
2008 Nov. 1 (Sa) Workshop on Digital Storytelling I (English)
– Dr. John Higgins
Digital Storytelling is a method of telling personal stories using digital tools. These are typically stories of personal relevance – transcendence, transformation, change, of events or people in our lives who have made a difference.
The focus of digital storytelling is on hearing the stories of everyday people, the communities in which they live, and the people with whom they share the planet. The belief is that there is empowerment in hearing the stories, as well as empowerment in the telling of the stories. Digital technologies are tools to aid in this ancient human process.
Primarily initiated by the multimedia performance work of Dan Atchley and developed by Joe Lambert, founder of the Center for Digital Storytelling in Berkeley, California, USA, the technique has spread across the globe. Contexts have included support in healing and prevention of domestic violence, awareness of HIV, conflict resolution and reconciliation, and self-reflexivity in the college classroom.
Digital storytelling focuses more on the stories told, and less on the technical polish of the finished production. Simple digital tools and methods are used, drawing from archival family photographs and artifacts, with the voice of the storyteller favored over that of the polished professional announcer.
There are striking similarities between the tenets of digital storytelling and notions of self-reflexivity, oral history, ethnographic methods of social science, and media as tools for building community and affecting personal/social change. With stories rooted in the experience of the storyteller searching for personal or universal human truths, digital storytelling offers a unique method of prompting practical self-reflexivity for people in a variety of personal and cultural contexts.
2008 Nov. 1 (Sa) Street Puppet Performance for Children
– Dr. John Higgins
In recreating the magic of the old-time street puppeteers, John Higgins utilized a modern concept – the "Walking Stage." A unique backpack-like design of tubes and burlap, the walking stage allows the puppets to walk among the audience and interact directly with the crowd. Performances depend a great deal on audience participation. No script is used; shows follow a basic outline and the rest is improvised. This allows each performance to be fresh and alive, with the audience helping to create the outcome.
John Higgins` troupe was first organized in Dayton, Ohio in 1974 as the "Puppets of Lothlorien," and the cast changed its name to the "Night Vision Puppets" in 1977. As Dayton`s official "Ambassadors of Goodwill," the puppets toured Mexico and the U.S., performing in English and Spanish, primarily in small, remote villages. They appeared weekly on Dayton`s WKEF TV program "Shock Theater" for three years, until in 1981 the troupe finally settled in southeastern Ohio.
2008 Nov. 1 (Sa) Sidestreets Film Screening for Children
2008 Nov. 6 (Th) – Dec. 10 (W)
Exhibition continues: "Provocation" – Multimedia works by Emin Çizenel
- … in the soot of the candle’s flicker … Soot is made up of tiny black carbon particles that radiate energy and give the flame of a candle its characteristic yellow-red color. Like charcoal, which is also formed of carbon, soot has historically been used as a base for calligraphers’ ink, as an additive to the amber resin used in the first oil paints to create printers’ ink, and also as a symbolic coloring agent in shamanistic and other types of rituals. Today, the accumulation of soot particles in the air from industrial and other types of smoke is held responsible for most of the global warming effects of carbon dioxide, as soot settles on snow and ice and inhibits reflection of the sun’s radiation; and inhalation of atmospheric soot particles is a major health problem in developing countries. Soot is also a major issue in the conservation and restoration of art, as it is deposited and accumulates over time, causing damage to artworks from petroglyphs and cave paintings to contemporary works in museums and galleries. ...In an essay on “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction,” Walter Benjamin defined the “aura” of an object such as an artwork as all that it expresses and carries with it from the time it is created, including its physical form and the traces it shows of the history which it has passed through. Emin Çizenel’s works of “Provocation” represent an extraordinary postmodern reflection on the history of art and on contemporary issues, on the processes of memory and forgetting, and on history itself: they are formed out of traces of soot, a medium which is, paradoxically, both an integral part of the history of painting and writing, and the primary source of damage to art, which curators and restorers try to remove, thereby erasing from artworks the traces of their history. Çizenel’s work foregrounds soot as the very mark and trace of history, in a series of works that restore the aura to painting, as painting …
- Note: One image in Emin Çizenel`s Provokasyon exhibition was a photographic reproduction of the original that was on view at Sidestreets during the opening. Çizenel was selected as a finalist in the Fifth International Painting Prize competition of Castellon County Council, in Spain. His original canvas was exhibited with those of the other finalists at the Museu de Belles Arts de Castello (the Castellon Museum of Fine Arts) from 11 November 2008.
2008 Nov. 7 (F)
Street Puppet Performance for Children at the SOS Primary School
– Dr. John Higgins, Sidestreets Resident Fellow
Street Puppet Performance at Sidestreets
– Dr. John Higgins, Sidestreets Resident Fellow
Sidestreets Film screening for children
2008 Nov. 11 (Tu)
Armistice Day Lecture: “British Art in the First World War” (English)
– Dr. Michael Walsh, FRSA, Department of Archeology and Art History,
Eastern Mediterranean University
The radio program “Rebellion and Fear: Artists and the Great War” was aired on BBC Radio 3 at 9:30 p.m. GMT on Sunday, November 9, hosted by The Times art critic Richard Cork, and featuring Dr. Michael Walsh. The Sidestreets lecture represented a detailed follow-up, and provided a fresh perspective on the art and ethos of the time.
Performance-Lecture: Breaking the Rules: Dada, Surrealist, Concrete and Phonetic Poems (English)
– Dr. Johann Pillai
“Breaking the Rules” represents a unique visual and auditory exploration, interpretation, and performance of alternative forms of literature.
International Children’s Film Festival
2008, Dec. 13
Seminar for Children: “What is Hearing, and How do we Hear?” (Turkish)
– Dr. Levent Sennaroğlu, Hacettepe University
As part of its mission to raise awareness of critical social activities and promote values among children and in the community, Sidestreets hosted a seminar for children aged 5 to 10 on hearing disabilities by Dr. Levent Sennaroğlu, which was followed by the regular screening of a Sidestreets Saturday afternoon children’s film. The seminar was designed for children, with colorful animated films about the ear and its functions, and how disabilities can affect hearing and balance, and social participation; some 35 children frfom the areas around Sidestreets participated in an energetic question-and-answer session.
Professor Levent Sennaroğlu is a specialist and surgeon in the Ear, Nose and Throat Division of Hacetttepe University’s Medical School, who has also worked at the House Ear Institute in the United States, and is one of the world’s leading authorities on cochlear implants. His area of specialization is in clinical and surgical procedures for treating hearing loss and balance problems in children and adults.
15 Dec. 2008 – 24 Jan. 2009
Sidestreets’ last exhibition of the year, "Small Touches," opened on 15 December 2008 at 19:30. "Small Touches" is a group exhibition featuring artists Aslı Bolayır, Emin Çizenel, Sümer Erek, Ümit İnatcı, Aşık Mene, Panayiotis Michael, Lefteris Olympios, Anber Onar, Güner Pir, and Cemal Gürsel Soyel,. The exhibition will be open to the public until 24 January at Sidestreets, 22 Mahkemeler Önü, Lefkoşa. Visiting hours: 09:00-17:00 (weekdays) and 10:00-16:00 (Saturdays).
The artists:
Aslı Bolayır (b. Istanbul, 1968) lived in Cyprus until 1986, when she went to France to study art at the Marseille School of Fine Arts. She has participated in exhibitions in Bastia, Barcelona and Nicosia. She currently lives in Spain and works as freelance artist.
Emin Çizenel (b. Mallia, 1949) received his B.A. and M.A. from Istanbul Fine Arts Academy (1973-1974). He works as an independent professional artist, and has participated as artist-in-residence in programs in Turkey and Vienna, and as a Fulbright fellow in New York. The recipient of many regional and international awards for his work, Çizenel has participated in numerous international and local exhibitions/biennials in England, Cyprus, Turkey, Sweden, Austria, Greece, France, Germany, and the United States.
Sümer Erek (b. Limassol, 1959) graduated from St. Martin’s School of Art in 1985, and in 2008 completed his M.A. in Theory and Practice of Transnational Art at Camberwell–University of the Arts, London. Erek is a multi-disciplinary conceptual artist with extensive experience in public art installation, creating large-scale works and participatory projects in the UK and abroad. He works in a variety of art fields, including painting, sculpture, photography, installation, video and performance. Erek has exhibited widely nationally and internationally; currently he works as a freelance artist in the UK.
Ümit İnatçı (b. Limassol, 1960) began his higher education at the Holborn Center School of Art and Design in London and then traveled to Italy, where he graduated from the Pietro Vannucci Academy of Fine Arts in 1984. İnatçı has participated in numerous exhibitions in Cyprus, the United Kingdom, and Italy, and has received many awards for his work in painting, photography and graphics design. He is currently based in Cyprus, where he lectures at Eastern Mediterranean University and also writes regularly for the Turkish Cypriot daily newspaper Afrika.
Aşık Mene (b. Limassol, 1955) began his studies at the Istanbul State Academy of Fine Arts, and also traveled to the UK to pursue his personal artistic interests. In 1982, after graduating from the Neşet Günal Studio of the Academy, he returned to North Cyprus, where he currently works as a freelance artist and art director. Mene has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions both nationally and internationally, including in the "Contemporary Istanbul Painters" exhibition at Moda Cumali Gallery, the Istanbul State Museum of Fine Arts, and Urart Art Gallery, Istanbul.
Panayiotis Michael (b. Nicosia, 1966) studied Graphic Arts and Poster Design at Moscow Academic Art Institute V.I., Surikov, Moscow in 1986-1993, and then painting at Queens College, New York in 1998-2000. He is the recipient of numerous awards and grants for his work, which has been exhibited nationally and internationally in Cyprus, Greece, Turkey, Egypt, Italy, France, Germany, Ireland, Belgium, and the United States. Michael currently teaches in the Department of Art, Design and Communication at Frederick Institute of Technology in Nicosia, and is also the cofounder of the Artrageous Group.
Lefteris Olympios (b. Limassol, 1953) completed his studies in graphic arts at the Doxiades Academy, Athens in 1973-76, and then studied painting, iconography, fresco and mosaic at the School of Fine Arts (1978-84), and painting and sculpture at the Free Academy of Fine Arts in The Hague (1984-86). Since 1986 he has been living and working in Amsterdam. Olympios’ work has been exhibited internationally from Italy, Portugal and Holland to Mexico; and is exhibited regularly in Cyprus, Greece, and the Netherlands.
Anber Onar (b. Nicosia, 1964) received her B.F.A. in visual arts from Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University (1987), and her M.A. in critical theory and film analysis from Eastern Mediterranean University (2002). Onar is an independent artist and scholar, and co-founder of Sidestreets, where she develops the culture and arts programs. She has taught fine arts and art history at Bilkent University, and at Eastern Mediterranean University, where she worked as a design consultant. Her work has been exhibited in Cyprus and internationally, from the USA to Sweden, France, Greece, and Germany.
Güner Pir (b. Paphos, 1949) studied painting at Ankara Gazi Institute and graduated from its Turan Erol Studio in 1972. Pir is the recipient of numerous awards for his work, which has been exhibited extensively in Cyprus and Turkey, including in the Asia Europa Bienalles in Istanbul and the National Painting Competitions in Cyprus. He currently teaches art in North Cyprus.
Cemal Gürsel Soyel (b. Paphos, 1951) graduated in 1986 from the Neşet Günal, Neşe Erdok Studio at Mimar Sinan Üniversity in Istanbul, and then studied at the Vienna Fine Arts Academy with Prof. Anton Lehmden during 1986 to 1990. The recipient of numerous prizes for his work, Soyel has exhibited widely nationally and internationally. He is currently working in Austria as a freelance artist.
2008 Dec. 16– 2009 January 15 Sidestreets Creative Writing and Poetry Workshop Program (in Turkish)
A five-week Creative Writing and Poetry Workshop program is being offered by distinguished Turkish Cypriot poet Mehmet Yaşın, Sidestreets’ Resident Fellow for the period December 2008 – January 2009.
Mehmet Yaşın (b. 1958, Lefkoşa) lives between Cyprus and Cambridge, where he lectures and does research on literature and translation studies; he has taught courses and led creative writing workshops at Sabanci University and the University of Middlesex. He is the author of numerous books of poetry, including Pathos (1990), The Promising Armchair (1993), Fantasy Repair (1998), Don’t Go Back To Kyrenia (1993), His Name on the List of Missing (1993), the novel Hours Outside Borders (1993), and the experimental works Poeturka (1995) and Kosmopoetika (2002).
His 1985 work My Love the Dead Soldier was awarded the first prize of the Turkish Academy and the A. Kadir Poetry Prize; his 1994 novel Your Kinsman Pisces won the prestigious Cevdet Kudret Novel Prize. His edited works include the Anthology of Turkish Cypriot Poetry (1994), Stepmothertongue (2000), and the Anthology of Cypriot Poetry (2005) which was awarded the Memet Fuat Criticism prize. Five of his books were published in 2007: Collected Writings 1978-2005, Collected Poems 1977-2002, Hours Outside Borders, Your Kinsman Pisces, and a new volume of poetry, Orange Bird.
Mehmet Yaşin’s works are currently being translated into several languages, and several of his works have appeared ınternationally in 2008: a poetry collection in French, Constantinople n’attend plus personne (Bleu autour, trans. Alain Mascarou); a collection in Italian, Il drago ha anche le ali (Argo, trans. Rosita d’Amora); a collection in Lithuanian, Vecas dziemas no Jaunās pilsētās (Adrina, trans. Uldis Berzins); and a DVD of his poetry in Russian (NeMe, trans. Julia Stepanchuk, ed. H. Black).
2008 Dec. 16
2008 Dec. 19
Children’s Educational Event: Visit by SOS Primary School children to the “Small Touches” exhibition at Sidestreets
2008 Dec. 22
Sümer Erek, an artist based in the UK, gave an informal talk and slide presentation on "house installation" projects he has been working on since 2000.
Sümer Erek (b. Limassol, Cyprus, 1959) graduated from St. Martin’s School of Art in 1985, and in 2008 completed his M.A. in Theory and Practice of Transnational Art at Camberwell–University of the Arts, London. Erek is a multi-disciplinary conceptual artist with extensive experience in public art installation, creating large-scale works and participatory projects in the UK and abroad. He works in a variety of art fields, including painting, sculpture, photography, installation, video and performance. Erek has exhibited widely nationally and internationally; currently he works as a freelance artist in the UK.
2009
2008 Dec. 15 – 2009 Jan. 24
International Group Exhibition: "Small Touches" continues.
2008 Dec. 16 – 2009 Jan. 15
Sidestreets Creative Writing and Poetry Workshop Program continues.
– Mehmet Yaşın
2009 Jan. 25
Innocence and Experience: The Poetry and Art of William Blake
Sidestreets presents the first in its new series of cultural and art events for the English-speaking community in Kyrenia at 12 p.m. on Sunday, 25 January at Onar Village. The events, to be held on the last Sunday of every month, will include informal, interactive and visual talks and conversations on British and World art, music and literature, with new and exciting interpretations of classical and modern masterpieces. Each conversation will be followed by a full Sunday lunch. The first event, an interactive reading of “Innocence and Experience: the Poetry and Art of William Blake” followed by Sunday lunch at the Onar Village restaurant, is presented by Dr. Johann Pillai, the Director of Sidestreets.
2009 Feb. 2 - 12
Since December 2008, Sidestreets staff have been teaching English at the Haydarpasha Trade School and the Atatürk Vocational School in Nicosia under a program for disadvantaged children funded by the US Embassy in Nicosia.
To develop learning outside the classroom for these students, Sidestreets began a two-week pilot program during the schools’ February semester break. The purpose of the program was to stimulate interest and excitement in learning by engaging 14-year-old students in discussions of music, art, literature and history within the framework of global culture. Ten events were organized: six 2-hour educational seminars, two film screenings, and two tours (Nicosia and Kyrenia). All events (except tours) were held at Sidestreets, in Nicosia. Presentations and tours were designed and conducted by Dr. Johann Pillai, and implemented with the assistance of Christopher Coupland.
2009 Feb. 2
Slides and music as well as actvities to accompany Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf, Saint-Saens’ Carnival of the Animals, and Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons.
Interactive presentation of fundamental concepts in these traditions through artworks such as Sistine Chapel frescoes, calligraphy, etc. Fundamentals of church, cathedral and mosque architecture and functions.
2009 Feb. 4
Educational tour of St. Sophia’s Cathedral (Selimiye Mosque), St. Catherine’s Church, the Arabahmet Mosque, and the Dervish Museum, making use of concepts and ideas from the previous session.
2009 Feb. 5
Slide presentation, interpretation, and performance of international concrete, visual and sound poems, with student activities based on creating Dada poems.
Enjoying film
Screening of Catch Me If You Can. Discussion by Chris Coupland
Slides and music introducing the history of jazz, covering the slave trade, call-and-response, work-songs, gospel, blues, dixieland, ragtime, swing, boogie-woogie, and the origins of rock-and-roll.
2009 Feb. 10
Screening of Bruce Almighty. Discussion by Chris Coupland
2009 Feb. 11
Interactive slide presentation and discussion of cultural history, including archeological artifacts, lifestyles, images, and antiquities from the various periods of Cyprus’s history, including the Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Lusignan and Venetian. Overview of Lusignan and Venetian castle structure and functions.
2009 Feb. 12
Educational tour of the castle and harbor, followed by a visit to the Onar Village Museum and lunch at Onar Village.
2009 Feb. 17 - Mar. 1
Sidestreets inaugurates its first art film series in collaboration with the Embassy of Sweden in Nicosia. The aim is to introduce, to as wide an audience as possible in Cyprus, the works of one of the most influential film directors of the twentieth century; and to stimulate interest in and discussions of Bergman among movie lovers, students and the general public.
The first event was a simultaneous screening of both the Turkish and the English (subtitled/dubbed) versions of The Seventh Seal, introduced by Mr. Ingemar Lindahl, the Swedish Ambassador to Cyprus, and followed by a reception.
2009 Feb. 22
Futurist, rebel, War Artist, Englishman in New York, painter of the Jazz Age and the Great Depression, and war artist once again in the second World War, C. R. W. Nevinson has earned a place among the established icons of art and literature in early 20th-century England. The list of distinguished contemporaries who were either his personal friends or declared enemies includes: Wyndham Lewis, Roger Fry, Clive Bell, F.T. Marinetti, Amedeo Modigliani, H. G. Wells, Winston Churchill and George Bernard Shaw.
Michael Walsh’s study of Nevinson, “Hanging a Rebel,” published in 2008 by the Lutterworth Press, “is the first comprehensive study on this artist, writer, playboy and provocateur who continually found himself at the heart of public scandals, intellectual debates and personal vendettas, which characterized his four-decade career”... Walsh’s book is accessible and authoritative; it represents a major contribution to the history of art and the understanding of British intellectual thought and culture in the early 20th century.
2009 Feb. 24
2009 Feb. 26
2009 Mar. 3
2009 Mar. 5
2009 Mar. 29
Sidestreets in Kyrenia - Conversations on Culture III
On Not Reading ’The Raven’: Edgar Allan Poe’s Poem and iıt Illustrators, Manet, Redon, and Dore
- Dr. Johann Pillai
Since its publication in 1845, Edgar Allan Poe’s poem, “The Raven,” has become one of the world’s most famous poems, described by Poe himself as “the greatest poem that ever was written,” and by one critic as "unsurpassed in English poetry for subtle conception, masterly ingenuity of versification, and consistent, sustaining of imaginative lift...." This poem has been the subject and inspiration for music, dance, films, paintings, and graphic novels; and for a tradition of illustrations by such distinguished artists as John Tenniel, John Rea Neill, and Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Johann Pillai’s Sidestreets presentation “On Not Reading the Raven” proposes an unusual new interpretation of the poem, while exploring a wide range of visual images, focusing in particular on the illustrations to the poem created by Édouard Manet, Odilon Redon and Gustave Doré.
2009 Apr. 8
Poetry Performance and Book Signing - Mehmet Yashin and Alev Adil
(in collaboration with İşik Kitabevi)
A crowd of culture- and literature-lovers filled the room at Sidestreets on Wednesday evening to hear brilliant performances by two internationally acclaimed Cypriot poets, Mehmet Yaşın and Alev Adil.
Alev Adil, described by reviewers as “a multi-cultural poet of exceptional originality” gave an animated and expressive performance of her poems and prose-poems in English, accompanied by slides reflecting their explorations of personal and Cypriot identities and mythologies, and a commentary in Turkish and English. Based in London, where she is head of the Department of Creative, Critical and Communication Studies, she is widely published in literary and critical journals, and has performed at venues from the British Museum to Radio 4 and Channel 4 television. Her poetry has been described as “fractured narratives of love, loss, longing, exile and collision,” and her collection “Venus Infers” as “both a passport and a trip to new and unimagined communities.”
Mehmet Yashın, whose work has been characterized as creating “an entirely new philosophical and linguistic dimension to poetry in Turkish,” began with a melodious meditation on two classical images, and performed a range of works from his new book, “In the Time the Heart Stopped,” that fascinated the audience both with their echoes of Rumi and Sappho, and through the musicality of the Turkish language in his poetry. Living between Cambridge and Cyprus, Mehmet Yaşın is well known for his work on literary criticism and translation; and he is the recipient of numerous awards for his poetry collections and novels, many of which have been translated into languages from English, French and Italian to Russian and Latvian. He is considered by critics to be “one of the most important representatives of Modern Cypriot Poetry.”
The audience at Sidestreets comprised Greek Cypriots, foreign visitors, and Turkish Cypriots with a genuine interest in cultural events at an international standard, who expressed their appreciation for the exceptional quality of the performances during the discussion and reception that followed.
Sidestreets Second Art Film Series: Dervish Zaim
Sidestreets is pleased to present, in its Second Art Film Series, the films of international award-winning Turkish Cypriot novelist and film-maker Dervish Zaim.
All films - except Dot (Nokta), venue to be announced - will be screened at Sidestreets, 22 Mahkemeler Onu, Lefkosa, in Turkish with English subtitles.
The aim of this series is twofold.
First, as part of its mission to showcase the work of Cypriot artists which is of international caliber and transcends the local, Sidestreets will be screening for the first time in Cyprus nearly the entire cinematographic oeuvre – feature films and documentaries – of the country’s foremost film-maker.
Secondly, in contrast to the situation in other parts of the world, film has traditionally been undervalued in Cyprus as an artistic medium, as a form of expression, and as a medium of personal, sociological, and political communication and questioning. Through various initiatives, such as short film screenings, panel discussions and series of both classic and contemporary films (“Conversations on Film,” (May, 2008); “Art and Art Audiences,” (Jan., 2008); “Art Film Series I: Ingmar Bergman” (Feb-March, 2009), Sidestreets has been working to bring public attention to this medium. The Dervish Zaim series represents a further significant step in this direction.
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Dervish Zaim was born in Famagusta, Cyprus in 1964. He majored in economics and administrative sciences at Bosphorus University, Istanbul (1988), and received his Master’s degree in Cultural Studies from Warwick University in 1994. He also attended a course in independent film production in London organized by the Hollywood Film Institute. He began his work in film in 1991 with the experimental video Hang the Camera, followed by the TV documentary Rock Around the Mosque. Between 1992 and 1995, he worked as a television writer and producer and directed numerous television shows. In 1995, his first novel, Ares Harikalar Dünyasında (Ares in Wonderland) won the prestigious Yunus Nadi Literary Award in Turkey; his feature films and documentaries have been screened to critical acclaim at international and national film festivals, where they have won numerous awards.
2009 Apr. 24 (F)
Dervish Zaim Film Series
Screening of "Parallel Trips" (Paralel Yolculuklar)
7.00 pm
“Parallel Trips” (2004; 115 minutes) is a documentary based on Cyprus jointly directed and produced by Dervis Zaim and Greek Cypriot Panicos Chrysanthou. Fiachra Gibbons of the British newspaper The Guardian reported on 1 May 2004: “Parallel Trips is a tough film. It was shown for the first time to a shocked silence at the
2009 Apr. 26 (S)
Sidestreets in Kyrenia IV
“Breaking the Rules: A Performance-Lecture on Dada, Surrealist, Concrete and Phonetic Poems.”
- Dr. Johann Pillai
The fourth event in the “Sidestreets in Kyrenia-Conversations on Culture” series will be “Breaking the Rules,” a performance-lecture on Dada, Surrealist, Concrete, and Phonetic Poems, by Dr. Johann Pillai.
This experience, which received enthusiastic acclaim from a packed audience at Sidestreets last November, wil be offered once in Kyrenia on Sunday, 26 April.
“The dramatic breaking of rules in modern music, art, and architecture in the 20th century, from Cubism to Futurism to Dada to Language Poetry, has been accompanied by similar exciting new developments in literature, as internationally poets, artists and musicians have experimented with new ideas and forms of expression. Asking fundamental questions – “What is poetry made of? What is literature? – writers have developed brilliant interdiciplinary forms of poetic expression that break down the boundaries between writing, images, and music.
Johann Pillai’s “Breaking the Rules” represents a unique visual and auditory exploration, interpretation, and performance of alternative forms of literature, ranging from Japan to New York to Scotland to Russia, and from classical visual poems to sound poetry.”
2009 Apr. 27 (M)
Dervish Zaim Film Series
Screening of "Parallel Trips" (Paralel Yolculuklar)
7.00 pm
Additional screening of the documentary for members of the diplomatic community in Cyprus.
2009 Apr. 28 (Tu)
Dervish Zaim Film Series
Screening of "Somersault in a Coffin" (Tabutta Rövaşata)
7.00 pm
(1996; 75 minutes; Toronto Film Festival, San Sebastian Film Festival): Directed by Dervis Zaim, produced by Ezel Akay and Dervis Zaim, and made on a shoestring budget with a cast of three main actors (Ahmet Ugurlu, Tuncel Kurtiz, Aysen Aydemir) and a few theater players, Zaim’s feature film debut immediately established itself as a cinematic masterpiece, winning some twenty awards in Turkey and internationally, including:
1998:
1998: D’Annonay International Film Festival – Best Film, Best actor
1997: Montpellier Mediterranean Film Festival: Critics’ Award, Golden Antigone – Special Mention
1997: Thessaloniki Film Festival: Best Actor, Silver Alexander, Nomination for Golden Alexander;
1997: Turin International Festival: International Feature Film Competition: Audience Award, Jury Special Prize, Nomination for the Prize of the City of Turin for Best Film;
1997: Amiens International Film Festival: NETPAC Award,
1997: Istanbul Film Festival: FIPRESCI Award;
1996: Antalya International Short Film/Video Festival: Best Editing;
1996:
2009 Apr. 30 (Th)
Dervish Zaim Film Series
Screening of "Elephants and Grass" (Filler ve Çimen)
7.00 pm
(2000; 113 minutes; Rotterdam Film Festival): Directed by Dervis Zaim, Produced by Ali Akdeniz, Dervis Zaim, Cast: Haluk Bilginer, Taner Birsel, Ugur Polat, Ali Sürmeli, Sanem Çelik.
Awards:
2001:
2001:
2001: Siyad Turkish Cinema Awards: Best Director, Best Screenplay;
2001: Orhan Ariburnu Awards: Best Film, Best Director
2000:
2009 May 5 (Tu)
Dervish Zaim Film Series
Screening of "Mud" (Çamur)
7.00 pm
(2003; 98 minutes; Venice Film Festival): Directed by Dervis Zaim, Produced by Marco Müller, Dervis Zaim, Cast: Mustafa Uğurlu,Taner Birsel, Yelda Reynaud, Bülent Emin Yarar
Awards:
2003:
2003: Orhan Ariburnu Awards: Mehmet Emin Toprak Award
2009 May 7 (Th)
Dervish Zaim Film Series
Screening of "Waiting for Heaven" (Cenneti Beklerken)
7.00 pm
2006; 107 minutes; Cairo Film Festival): Directed by Dervis Zaim, Produced by Dervis Zaim and Baran Seyhan, Cast: Serhat Tutumluer, Melisa Sözen, Mesut Akusta, Nihat Ileri (Cairo Film Festival)
Awards:
2007: Cairo Film Festival - Best Artistic Direction;
2006: Siyad Turkish Cinema Awards - Best Musical Score;
2007: Golden Chrysalis Film Festival - Jury Special Award;
2007: Golden Chrysalis Film Festival - Best Music;
2007: Golden Chrysalis Film Festival - Best Editing,;
2007: Golden Chrysalis Film Festival - Best Art Direction;
2007: Ankara Film Festival - Best Art Director;
2007: Ankara Film Festival - Best Musical Score;
2006: Antalya Film Festival - Best Special Effects.
2009 May 11 (M)
Dervish Zaim Film Series
Cyprus premiere screening of "Dot" (Nokta)
6.00 pm
(2008; 75 minutes; Montreal Film Festival, Sarajevo Film Festival): Directed by Dervis Zaim, Produced by Dervis Zaim, Baran Seyhan, Cast: Mehmet Ali Nuroglu, Serhat Kılıç, Settar Tanrıögen, Sener Kökkaya. (
The latest film by Dervish Zaim will be released in cinemas in
Among the awards Dervish Zaim’s film Nokta has received are:
Turkish Ministry of Culture - Turkish Director of the Year
Cairo International Film Festival - Best Digital Film
Montpellier Mediterranean Film Festival - Best Musical Score
Istanbul Film Festival - Best Director
Adana Golden Cocoon Film Festival - Best Photographic Direction
Adana Golden Cocoon Film Festival - Best Studio
2009 May 12 (Tu)
Dervish Zaim Film Series
8.00 pm
Discussion with Dervish Zaim at Sidestreets
2009 May 19 (Tu)
A Taste of Experimental Short Films
On Tuesday, 19 May at 8:00 p.m., Sidestreets will be presenting a first smorgasbord of experimental short films by David Lynch, Peter Greenaway, Man Ray, Hans Richter, Özgür Özcan, Elvan Dülgeroğlu/Tuğba Tokat, and Rabia Otoloğ.
After the screenings (which require no translation, and will take about 45 minutes), there will be (in Turkish) a presentation and discussion of experimental short films by film-maker Özgür Özcan.
David Lynch, “The Alphabet” (USA, 1968; color & b/w, sound; 4 minutes)
Peter Greenaway, “Intervals” (UK, 1969/1973; color, sound; 6 minutes)
This is a black and white film essay, ostensibly de-romanticizing Venice through shots of the back alleys and canals, and denying its commanding characteristic of water.
Man Ray, “Return to Reason” (Paris, 1923; b/w, silent; 2 minutes)
This improvisation premiered during the controversial “Bearded Heart” event at the Michel Theater organized by Tristan Tzara, and caused a small riot.
Hans Richter, “Ghosts before Breakfast” (Baden-Baden, 1927; b/w, sound; 6 minutes)
Inspired by a scenario written by Werner Graeff, entitled “The Firearms’ Rebellion,” this film premiered at the Baden-Baden music festival in 1928. Actors: Paul Hindesmith, Werner Graeff, Hans Richter, Darius and Madeleine Milhaud, Jean Osser, Walter Gronostay.
Özgür Özcan, “Eternal Return” (Istanbul, 2008; b/w, sound; 4 minutes)
20th Ankara Film Festival – Experimental Film Competition Finalist (2009); Intenational Shorts On the Road - Vienna Screening (2009); Cyprus International Short Film Festival (2009); 14th European Festival On Wheels – Experimental Film Screenings (2008); 8th !F İstanbul Independent Film Festival (2008).
“Eternal Return” is an experimental work that explores a philosophical question based on Nietzsche’s depiction of the individual who, facing the same, and more difficult obstacles, constantly returns to the same points of beginning: “the Super-Man should exceed those barriers” But to bring the Super-Man and eternal return one must surmount the obstacle of God. The character in the film who turns his back to the direction of Mecca (Muslim turn) represents the spiritual man living a duality and state of conflict state is fragmented in time and space; what does one face when one turns away from God?
Özgür Özcan, “Witches through the Looking-Glass” (Istanbul, 2008; color, sound; 1 minute 35 secs)
19th Ankara Film Festival – Best Experimental Movie Award (2008); 61st Cannes Film Festival Best Turkish Shorts Catalogue (2008); Estonia – Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival / Sleepwalkers Cycle (2008); 5th Akbank Short Film Festival – Out Competition Screenings (2008).
“Witches Through The Looking Glass” is a visual and sentimental experimental video, searching for different arrivals through deformation of a well known destination. It deconstructs and reconstructs a web-based found video and a sound work to create polyptich frames, a claustrophobic effect, and an erotic spectrum, inventing resistances to pressures on independent individuals in the contemporary world.
19th Ankara International Film Festival – Experimental Competition (2008); 7th !F Istanbul Independent Film Festival (2008); 1st Golden Cocoon Mediterranean Shorts Festival – Exp. Competition (2008); 1st Cyprus International Short Film Festival (2008).
LOGOS represents a spiritual journey through a triptych: “Prolog: Patchwork,” “Monolog: Purification,” and “Epilog: Union.” The story of an old lady reflects the fundamental rational structure of universe, and a harmony of conflicts; we witness her last-minute purification and a continuum of imaginative faith. The idea of “Logos” is opposed to coincidences and randomness; according to Heraclitus, it is an immense ethical structure that works like a clock set over the cosmos. This ‘personal period’ is external and enigmatic as a matter of fact, and esoteric as a way of life signified by the old lady (a video protagonist in the film), who wants to end her personal life regrettıng that she is a representational figure in an inevitable structure of social rules, including religious pressures and individual human responsibilities. Within a context of abstract forms and rhythms, the film experiments with mystical elements of the cosmos by aurally and visually constructing a ritual around Logos.
Elvan Dülgeroğlu and Tuğba Tokat, “Becoming Insane” (Kyrenia, 2008; color, sound; 6 minutes 40 seconds)
A short film regarding "becoming a stranger in postmodern times."
Rabia Otoloğ, “…” (Kyrenia, 2009; color, sound; 5 minutes)
A short film regarding "becoming a stranger in postmodern times" through visualizing music.
2009 May 20 (W)
Press Conference and Book Launch
The Series of Modern Turkish Cypriot Literature
1) PRESS CONFERENCE
On Wednesday, 20 May at 5:30 p.m. Sidestreets is hosting a bilingual (English and Turkish) Press Conference on the release of a new and historic literary publication: the unique, eight-volume bilingual (Turkish and English) “Series of Modern Turkish Cypriot Literature.” The Press Conference will be at Sidestreets, 22 Mahkemeler Önü, in Lefkoşa. Details of the book are provided below.
Sidestreets is hosting this event as part of its unique mission and activities aimed at catalyzing and developing cultural and historical understanding by recognizing and bringing into public awareness the work of artists, writers and scholars, Cypriot and international, and promoting quality culture in the community.
The publication of “The Series of Modern Turkish Cypriot Literature” is an extraordinary event: it fills an important gap in Cyprus’s cultural history and makes this field accessible for the first time to both Turkish- and English-speaking audiences; it also represents the first comprehensive classification of genres and styles of modern Turkish Cypriot literature; it opens up new ways of thinking about the literature and performing arts in Cyprus; and it creates new avenues to explore issues of memory, history, identity, and individual and group identity in such fields as sociology, anthropology, history, and cultural studies. The collection will undoubtably be the standard reference source in the field for schools and universities throughout Cyprus.
2) BOOK LAUNCH for “The Series of Modern Turkish Cypriot Literature.”
Wednesday, 20 May, 7:30 p.m., at the Mallia Wine Bar in the Büyük Han, Lefkoşa
Also on Wednesday, at 7:30 p.m., Sidestreets is organizing a book launch and signing for this publication at the Mallia Wine Bar in the Büyük Han, Lefkoşa, offering participants the opportunity to meet the coordinator and eight editors, and obtain the entire 8-volume set at an incredible discount.
The Series of Modern Turkish Cypriot Literature
This unique eight-volume paperback collection is the product of a comprehensive three-year research, translation and publication project examining about 130 years of Turkish Cypriot literature from the nineteenth to the twenty-first centuries. Eight editors from academic backgrounds collaborated with other editors from creative backgrounds, to produce, for the first time, an extraordinary overview of the range and quality of Modern Turkish Cypriot Literature. Also for the first time, each text or excerpt from a longer work is printed in the original Turkish, followed by its English translation.
The collection was produced under the supervision of distinguished poet and scholar Dr. Mehmet Yashin, and comprises the following volumes:
The Series of Modern Turkish Cypriot Literature
Volume 1: Poetry (167 pages; edited by Suzan Yılmaz and featuring works by 37 writers)
Volume 2: Operettas and Plays (305 pages; edited by Bilen Kılıç; 25 writers)
Volume 3: Memoirs and Travel Writing (358 pages; edited by Ahmet Gildir; 32 writers)
Volume 4: Short Stories (358 pages; edited by Gür Genç; 34 writers)
Volume 5: Novels (370 pages; edited by Turhan Uludağ; 20 writers)
Volume 6: Essays (429 pages; edited by Nazan Ökçün; 51 writers)
Volume 7: Literary Criticism and Study (776 pages; edited by Murat Bülbülcü; 29 writers)
Volume 8: Biographies and Bibliography (213 pages; edited by Jenan Selcuk; biographical notes on all the authors featured in the series)
2009 Jun. 3 (W)
Green Week: EU Commission Press Conference and Film Screening
(English and Turkish)
The European Commission’s Representation in Cyprus
cordially invites you to the European Green Week Press Conference
with the Head of Representation, Ms Androulla Kaminara
and representatives of environmental NGOs
at 11:30 a.m.
and a Film Screening
of Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” (subtitled in Turkish)
at 6:15 p.m. on Wednesday, 3 June at Sidestreets, 22 Mahkemeler Önü, Lefkoşa.
These events (free and open to the public) are being organized by the European Commission’s Representation in Cyprus in collaboration with seven NGOs (BIO-DER, KEMA, Çekova, the Green Action Group, the Bright Future Movement, the NEU Environmental Sciences Institute, and the Chamber of Environmental Engineers) and coordinated by Sidestreets. During the day, leaflets will also be distributed by the Commission and NGO representatives in front of Sidestreets to raise public awareness of environmental issues.
2009 Sep. 7-11
Sidestreets organized the program for a 5-day Micro-Access Summer Camp (sponsored by the U.S. Embassy and supported logistically by MCM) at Eastern Mediterranean University in Famagusta, for students from schools in Lefkosa, Famagusta, and Iskele. The camp (programmed by Sidestreets’ General Secretary Anber Onar, and staffed by teachers in the Micro-Access Program including Sidestreets’ Jenna Durham) was attended by some 80 students, and featured three seminars (on the history of Cyprus, Famagusta, and historical sites in the area) and four walking tours of the city and its surroundings conducted by Sidestreets Director Dr. Johann Pillai.
2009 Oct. 2 (F)
Eric Lloyd Wright on Frank Lloyd Wright & Environmental Architecture
(2:30 p.m. in the Çevik Uraz Conference Hall at Cyprus International University)
Sidestreets, in collaboration with Cyprus International University, Onar Village and the NGO NeMe, is pleased to present a lecture by Eric LLoyd Wright on the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright and his own work in relation to organic architecture and working with nature. The lecture and Q&A, followed by a reception will be held on Friday, 2 October at 2:30 p.m. in the Çevik Uraz Conference Room at Cyprus International University, and is free and open to the public.
Wright’s current focus is on the evolution of Organic Architecture and Green Building design. His design philosophy is rooted in the integration of ecology, social responsibility and beauty. Through his years of design experience, he has developed an understanding that it is not the physical walls and roof, but the space within a building that forms its character - its soul. He gives careful thought to a project’s physical, social and spiritual environment, with a focus on appropriate materials, quality, craftsmanship, and careful detailing. Wright believes that one of the most important aspects of the design process is the relationship between the client, the site and the architect. It is the client and site, together with the architect, that shape the design of a project.
The Wright Organic Resource Center educates and activates people to be creative, aware, and environmentally responsible in all aspects of life. It provides opportunities for people in the Los Angeles area, especially youth, to experience the legacy of Frank Lloyd Wright and Organic Architecture, encouraging the creative integration of Nature, Art and Community. Its goal is to spark the imagination of people who come to land and activate them to envision and participate in building a socially and environmentally connected world.
2009 Oct. 25 (S)
Sidestreets in Kyrenia #5 - Conversations on Culture
" A Mosaic of Cities: Urbanism in the Byzantine Empire from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages (Focus on Constantinople and Salamis)"
- Dr. Luca Zavagno
The fifth event in Sidestreets’ “Conversations on Culture” series at Onar Village in Kyrenia will be a presentation by Dr. Luca Zavagno, entitled “A Mosaic of Cities: Urbanism in the Byzantine Empire from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages.”
“A Mosaic of Cities: Urbanism in the Byzantine Empire from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages”
There has been a long and heated debate among medievalists as to what happened to the classical Greco-Roman idea of the city or polis during the exciting and rapid changes that took place between late antiquity and the Byzantine period: did cities survive or did they physically collapse as social and economic conditions changed? This presentation takes a unique and different approach, looking at the real problems confronting Byzantine cities, especially Constantinople, which served as a capital of the empire and as the ‘eye of the universe of cities’ that were scattered across the whole Byzantine empire, and the city of Salamis in Cyprus. These multifunctional cities developed in dramatically different ways in different regions as a result of the social, economic, cultural, administrative, religious and political roles they played; and the changing ideologies and spatial patterns of the Byzantine cities provide an unusual perspective from which we can see the cities of our own time in a new light.
Luca Zavagno was born in Venice, where he received his B.A. degree in History from the University Ca’Foscari; he completed his Ph.D. studies at the University of Birmingham on the society, culture, economics and politics of Byzantine cities. His main area of research is Byzantine urbanism in Anatolia, Greece, Italy,
Zavagno is the author of Cities in Transition: Urbanism in Byzantium Between Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages (British Archaeological Reports-International Series, 2009), a book which explores the impact of important historical events on urban settlements in the Pontus (Amastris), Italy (Naples), western Anatolia (Ephesus), and Greece (Gortyn and Athens) during this period. His work dramatically reveals how cities did not simply shrink or become self-enclosed and isolated, but were transformed administratively, defensively, and economically as the
Zavagno is an Assistant Professor in the Department of History at Eastern Mediterranean University, where he is currently doing research on Cyprus in the Byzantine period, in its role as a major strategic and commercial hub along the eastern Mediterranean sea routes, its administrative and exchange links with Constantinople, and its relation to Syria and
Film Culture: A Taste of the Netherlands
– Selected Dutch short films (57 minutes)
-- Activity Centre (2008: Animation, 5’; Dir. Michiel van Dijk & Sjeng Schupp)
-- Big Buck Bunny (2008: Animation, 10’; Dir. Sacha Goedegebure)
3D animation about a giant rabbit and his revenge on three forest bullies. The movie has been created with open source 3D software ‘Blender’ and is all open content.
2008 - CyBorg FilmFestival, Anghiari, Italy: Special Jury Mention.
Without words, we’re left to consider whether love and attraction can break through impasse of human intolerance. Part of the film project Stories On Human Rights, 22 short films produced by the United Nations and Art For the World, based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Short observational film about taking a picture of a cow. The actions lead to achieving an ideal of beauty.
-- Notebook (2008: Experimental Animation, 4’52”; Dir. Evelien Lohbeck)
Expectations are challenged in this short experimental animation film which plays with illusions and reality.
2008 – Netherlands Film Festival NOFF: Jury prize for best online film
2008 – Holland Animation Film Festival HAFFTube: Award for best online film
The hectic life behind the screen in a film theatre becomes visible for the audience when ‘the phantom of cinema’ breaks.
-- Reef (2008: Fiction/Puppetry Animation, 12’; Dir. Eric Steegstra)
Two frogmen are swimming through a mesmerising underwater world full of translucent deep-sea creatures and multicoloured surprises.
-- De Tweeling (Twin Sisters)
(2002; 137 minutes. Director: Ben Sombogaart; Writers: Tessa de Loo (novel) and Marieke van der Pol (screenplay); Actors: Starring: Julia Koopmans, Sina Richardt, Jeroen Spitzenberger, Ben Sombogaart)
-- De Dominee (The Preacher)
(2004; 110 minutes. Director: Gerrard Verhage; Writers: Hans Galesloot [story contributions], Bart Middelburg [novel], Gerrard Verhage [scenario])
Celebrating World Children’s Rights Week at Sidestreets
"Childish Works"
On Thursday, 19 November, as part of its activites to celebrate and draw attention to children’s rights, Sidestreets organized and hosted a morning of creative events for four-year-old children from the SOS Children’s Village Creche. The event, “Childish Works,” was held from 10:00 to 12:00 a.m. on the ground floor of Sidestreets, which was laid out with colorful carpets and cushions.
Sidestreets’ central location is in the main business, legal and banking district of the city which is mostly focused on adults and their work, and part of its mission is to foreground the lives, activities and rights of children in the area and beyond. Sidestreets has organized a variety of events for the local children, including story-telling sessions with poet Mehmet Yaşın, street puppet theater shows with American performer John Higgins, a session for children on hearing disabilities with ear specialist Dr. Levent Sennaroğlu, and educational visits for SOS and primary school children to its art exhibitions. Sidestreets’ staff are also teaching English at four local high schools, and it has organized semester break and summer cultural education camps for chidren at several schools; for the last two years the organization has also been screening free kids’ films, which attract 30-50 local children every Saturday.
Thursday’s event was designed to stimulate the children’s creativity through painting, collage, and other activities, using the power of creative work to express their thoughts and feelings and broaden their imagination, and to exhibit what they produced; it was also designed to bring them into contact with other children and ongoing life in the city of Nicosia, and many local children who live in the area stopped by and were invited in to join the activities.
Some of the works produced by the children during this event are displayed on the front windows of Sidestreets, where they can be seen for another week until the Bayram Holiday.
After the Bayram holiday Sidestreets will be working with the Foundation for the Prevention of Social Risks, to combine its Saturday film screenings for children with workshops for children on behavior and socialization
Friday, November 20, 2009
The Children’s Right Platform
The North Cyprus Children’s Rights Platform (CRP)’s Common Framework of Agreement was signed at Sidestreets in a short ceremony and press conference at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, November 20, the day on which the UN Declaration of Children’s Rights was signed in 1989, and the day which has been celebrated as World Children’s Rights Day ever since. The Common Framework of Agreement is based on the ethics and aims of the Declaration, and will serve as the Constitution of the Children’s Rights Platform.
The founding members of the CRP, who signed the partnership agreement were: the SOS Children’s Village Association, the Turkish Cypriot Human Rights Foundation, the Cyprus Turkish Press Union, the Foundation for Prevention of Social Risks, and the Social Services Office of the Ministry of Labor and Social Insurance, as well as two other participating organizations, Sidestreets Educational and Cultural Initiatives and the Cyprus Turkish Teachers’ Union.
The Children’s Rights Platform issued a declaration that it envisioned “as its aim a society with an awareness, understanding of, respect for, and will to protect children’s rights.” Its main mission as a platform is: “to set up a system where the childrens rights can be applied; to create awareness in the area of childrens rights; to prevent violations of childrens rights; to bring the necessary legal changes to life; and to generate public engagement in these areas.” The platform is committed to collaborating with state organizations and the media, as well as “with the assistance and personal initiatives if individuals who are sensitive to the needs of children... to create effective policies for the benefit of children in our country.”
Later during the day, at 3:00 p.m., following the signing ceremony at Sidestreets, a Panel on Exploitation/Abuse of Children was held at the Atatürk Cultural Center. The panel discussion, which was well attended, covered topics ranging from definitions of abuse and exploitation, to press coverage of the issue, to its legal dimensions, effects, and strategies for its prevention.
2009 Nov. 20-Dec.18
Masterpieces of the Avant-Garde
Sidestreets is pleased to announce as part of its cultural program, a groundbreaking third Art Film Series, which will run from Friday, 20 November through Friday, 18 December.
PROGRAM
Isidore Isou, "Venom and Eternity"
Sunday, 6 December 2009
Sidestreets in Kyrenia - Conversations on Culture #6
“AGAINST THE CLOCK”
2009 has been another important year for the historic monuments of Famagusta. The Byzantine, Lusignan, Genoese, Venetian, Ottoman and British cultural remains have all been subject to new plans and projects which have now received international funding and the participation of international experts. There have been disappointments too, but that is not what this talk, and this film concentrate on. Instead, Dan Frodsham’s 20-minute documentary, and Michael Walsh’s accompanying lecture, look at what has been achieved, and map out where to go from here. The situation is still urgent, but, it is felt, 2010 might be a breakthrough year. The lecture will also present newly discovered archival sources relating to 19th and 20th century Famagusta.
Michael Walsh, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Archeology and Art History at Eastern Mediterranean University. He is the author of several distinguished books and numerous articles on modernist art and on the heritage of Famagusta. Through his efforts the city of Famagusta was placed on the list of endangered world heritage sites by the World Monuments Fund in 2007, and the leaders of the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities of Famagusta came together to declare their will to collaborate on the conservation of the city’s history. Dr. Walsh is currently actively working to engage local and international organizations in this endeavor.
Dan Frodsham, a former BBC producer and director based in Famagusta, is the cinematographer and codirector/coproducer with Allan Langdale of “The Stones of Famagusta.” The film, which the BBC News described as “exquisitely filmed,” premiered at Sidestreets in Nicosia, and then featured at a conference in Paris hosted by the European Commission and Europa Nostra, a pan-European federation for cultural heritage, at which the leaders of the Greek and Turkish communities of Famagusta pledged to work together to conserve the city’s heritage. The film was also screened twice at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival in
Sunday, 31 January, 12:00 p.m.
Sidestreets in Kyrenia - Conversations on Culture #7
The seventh event in Sidestreets’ “Conversations on Culture” series in Kyrenia will be a presentation by Dr. Johann Pillai on “Michel Foucault’s ‘Discipline and Punish’: The Birth of the Prison.”
The event (presentation and full Sunday luncheon) is scheduled for Sunday, 31 January at 12:00, at Onar Village in Kyrenia. The cost of admission is 30 TL, and seats should be reserved in advance at Sidestreets, Tel: 229-3070.
Johann Pillai’s visual presentation, the first in a Sidestreets series of three on Michel Foucault (there will be two more, on Foucault’s study of medical perception, “The Birth of the Clinic”; and on his history of insanity in the age of reason, “Madness and Civilization”) provides a clear and accessible overview of this brilliant philosopher’s work, which “sweeps aside centuries of sterile debate about prison reform and gives a highly provocative account... of innovations that range from the abolition of torture to the institution of forced labor and the appearance of the modern penitentiary... a genuinely revolutionary book, whose implications extend beyond the prison to the minute power relations of our society.”
Michel Foucault (1926-1984) was a French philosopher, sociologist, historian and professor of the “History of Systems of Thought” at the Collège de France, the State University of New York at Buffalo, and the University of California at Berkeley. His major works include social histories of prisons, medical perception, insanity, and sexuality. In 2007, The Times Higher Education Guide listed Michel Foucault as the most cited intellectual in the humanities.
“Discipline and Punish” (1975) is a classic work of social history, a “history of the human soul” which traces the power relations between crime and punishment as they have developed over the last four centuries, from the spectacle of torture to the hidden logic of prisons, rehabilitation, education, and surveillance. When the book was first published, prison inmates got hold of it and read it to each other, shouting through the walls from cell to cell; the resulting riots led to substantial prison reforms in France. Asked about his ethics as a historian, Foucault responded: “I am not a historian. I write fictions that may come true in the future.”
