Project description
A closer look at Turkish and Kurdish artists in Europe
Recent political events in Turkey led to an exodus of Turkish and Kurdish intellectuals, actors and authors. The EU-funded ExiLives project will review the exilic life stories of theatre artists of Turkish and Kurdish origin and the interactions between their stories. It will also analyse the collective effects these experiences have on theatre. Specifically, the project will develop an interdisciplinary methodology based on ethnographic research and socio-aesthetic theatre analysis. It will create a digital archive of theatre and performing arts within the framework of the recent exile of Turkish and Kurdish artists. By describing and analysing the differences between the local and national contexts of the artists’ residencies, it will shed light on the current support mechanisms and artists’ networks in diverse urban contexts.
Objective
ExiLives focuses on currently exiled theatre artists from Turkey (Turkish and Kurdish) in European cities. It investigates the entanglement of artists' personal exilic life stories and the collective affects that theatre works based on these experiences can emanate. It sets out to develop a new interdisciplinary methodology utilizing ethnographic research and socio-aesthetic theatre analysis (informed by theatre and performance studies, cultural studies, political sociology, diaspora and exile studies).
ExiLives will create a digital archive of artistic expressions in the theatre and performing arts that deal with the recent exodus of intellectuals, artists and authors from Turkey. It will also map out and discuss the differences between the local and national contexts of the respective artist residencies as well as the efficacy of existing support mechanisms, exchange programs and artist networks in different urban contexts.
The theatre arts are discussed for their utility in understanding new political subjectivities and aesthetic practices emerging from the exilic situation. Representations of the exilic life are not regarded as mere reflections of a social reality. They are gauged as models for that reality, where the workings of aesthetics and performative affects aim to impact cultural debates of community, conviviality, social justice, peace, dignity, and free speech. Hence, the research will shed new light on how seemingly marginal artistic initiatives destabilize but also reimagine ways of being political, thereby constituting a conceptual basis for newly emerging political subjectivities in Europe.
As a precarious theatre scholar who worked and researched in Turkey but left due to political pressures, the Experienced Researcher has first-hand experience with the implications of exilic life. He is part of the solidarity networks for academics and artists at risk from Turkey, from which he will emerge as a key expert in the field.
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Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)Coordinator
14195 Berlin
Germany