Turkey's Gezi Park protests of 2013 and the attempted coup of 2016 led to an exodus of intellectuals, actors, cultural workers and authors. Taking the exilic experience as the core of its inquiry, the ExiLives project sets out to explore the contribution by exiled Kurdish and Turkish theatre practitioners to urgent cultural, political and aesthetic debates in Europe. The process of exile from Turkey is still in motion; hence, the urgency to map out and evaluate its influence. Exile Studies have predominantly focused on German-language exiles with only sporadic contributions of post-cold war Eastern Europe since the mid-1980s. Despite cultural historical discussions, theatre scholarship on migrant theatre, and the expansion of migration studies, Turkish exilic history of the last decades is largely disregarded. To address the issue, the project sets out to develop a new interdisciplinary methodology utilising ethnographic research and socio-aesthetic theatre analysis, informed by theatre and performance studies, cultural studies, political sociology, and exile studies.
Importance for Society
The 'silent exodus' of artists from Turkey is not widely known, nor are the societal and artistic effects of this migration in motion. The choice of particular urban contexts will shed new light on the different positions, influences and implementations of European policy in these local areas. Key is to help develop society's awareness around mapping, analysing and understanding positive societal responses to exilic art. Berlin as a ‘city of exiles’ is known by its vast history of labour migration and current attraction for refugees and migrants. By doing the research with the Free University Berlin as its base, the project aims to renew the urgency for historical and contemporary studies of exile within the German research context, innovating current debates of diaspora, exile and post-migration for the Turkish and Kurdish art communities.
Objectives
(1) To critically examine the current artistic reflections of artists in exile from Turkey through their artistic works and statements.
(2) To map the supportive networks, institutions, residencies and routes used by artists at risk from Turkey.
(3) To explore new political subjectivities through newly produced theatre plays and performances, and the ways in which the artists redefine the relationship between aesthetic action and affective politics.
(4) To remodel the analytical vocabulary surrounding the ‘exilic experience’ in order to discuss associated artistic practices.
Conclusions
A new, interdisciplinary ethnographic study has revealed substantial differences in the way support and cultural production of (self-)exiled artists and artists at risk are organized in Germany, UK, and the Netherlands, on different levels of state and city. A more in-depth policy report has contributed to the distribution of knowledge on the different support mechanisms, institutions and networks in Germany. The theatre arts were also analyzed and discussed for their model function of the new reality of exiles, where the workings of aesthetics and performative affects aim to impact cultural debates of community, conviviality, social justice, peace, dignity, and free speech. Through a series of public panel debates and a podcast, the awareness of the relevance of Turkey's artistic exodus on Europe's institutions and development of independent theatres, including archives, has been addressed.
