2021

Overlapping Circles

Anadolu Kültür and Visual Voices organized a mini series of virtual events bringing together circles from Cyprus and Turkey to initiate more space where it is limited. As two circles move towards each other they begin to intersect and interact, and new shapes emerge. The events exlpored different ways of dealing with memory, narratives and social conflict through arts and culture. 

The first event was a roundtable discussion taking place on Facebook Live on 10 June 2021. This conversation brought together two artistic circles from Cyprus and Turkey. The speakers included Larissa Araz, Dr. Yael Navaro, Ioanna Neophytou, and Anber Onar. The overarching approach of this dialogue embarked upon artistic practice towards its relation to scholarly reflections. Thematically, the discussion revolved around collective memory, deciphering the past, and their connection to perpendicular and parallel narratives.

The second event was case study presentations and discussion taking place on Facebook Live on 24 June 2021. This conversation brought together two circles of civil society from Cyprus and Turkey. The speakers included Övgü Gökçe Yaşa from Diyarbakır Arts Center (DSM) and Naz Vardar from Karakutu as well as Alden Jacobs from Visual Voices and Hayriye Rüzgar from Home for Cooperation. The overarching approach of this dialogue focused on long term initiatives that utilize the arts to bring people together from different perspectives that have resulted from social conflict. This includes projects and organizations that seek to build new opportunities for dialogue as well as a deeper understanding of how narratives can shape the way we interact with the world. 
 
The conversations were held in English and broadcasted in two languages with Turkish simultaneous translation. 

Overlapping Circles is a series of virtual events organized by Anadolu Kültür and Visual Voices with the support of The Anna Lindh Virtual Marathon for Dialogue.