We Are Not Ghosts

On ECHOES Kapalı Maraş giderek daha fazla ziyaretçiye açılırken, bu çalışma, Mağusa / Maraş tarihinin insan üzerindeki etkisini odak noktası yaparak hem yerel halk hem de ziyaretçiler için empatik anlayışlar yaratmayı amaçlamaktadır. Şair, mekân hafızasını irdeler ve zorunlu göçün izlerini taşıyan Maraş’ta kesintiye uğramış yaşam yolculuğuna atıfta bulunur. Glossa Plajı, Belediye Bahçesi, Belediye Agora’sı, Yunan Okulu ve diğerleri gibi çeşitli kamusal alanların kolektif hafızalarına dokunarak, Akdeniz tanıdık olanı ortaya çıkarmayı, zorunlu göç deneyimini ve Kıbrıs çatışmasının karmaşık gerçekliklerini daha derin bir şekilde anlamayı amaçlar. Mekânla tetiklenip çalmaya başlayacak bu şiirler, Mağusa’da belirli yerlerde basılı QR kodları ile yerinde ve çevrimiçi olarak ‘Sound Walking’ / ‘Ses Yürüyüşü’ uygulaması aracılığıyla erişilebilir. “Biz Hayalet Değiliz” ifadesi, Maraş göçmenleri tarafından sıkça kullanılan bir itirazı yansıtır. Şehri “hayalet şehir” olarak etiketlemeye bir karşı yanıt olan bu başlık, eski sakinlerinin kolektif hafızasını ve şehrin olası geleceğindeki söz hakkını sahiplenir. Bu şiirlerle, Akdeniz, bu tarihi yerin hafızasında titizlikle gezinir ve onu şehrin savaş sonrası bir alan olarak mevcut deneyimiyle birleştirir. Bu eser, Akdeniz’in şiirin iletişim gücüne inancından üretilmiştir ve insan varoluşunun hem somut hem de soyut yönlerini görünür kılarak tüm duyuları dahil etmeyi amaçlar. Ses yürüyüşü, şair Nafia Akdeniz, küratör Alessandro Vincentelli, kültürel yönetmen Argyro Toumazou, ses tasarımcısı Inal Bilsel, görsel tasarımcı Andriana Lagoudes ve uygulama geliştiricisi Jason Murray Winn’in işbirliğiyle hazırlanmıştır. Proje, Kıbrıs’ta bulunan, Kıbrıs, Avrupa ve Orta Doğu’daki sanatçılar ve kültürel işbirlikleri için yeni fırsatlar geliştiren görsel sanatlar organizasyonu D6:EU tarafından üretilmiştir. Destekçileri: Mağusa Kent Müzesi, Mağusa Caddesi Garajı, Mağusa Belediyesi, Paralimni - Deryneia Belediyesi ve Jason Murray Winn - Narrative Infrastructure. Proje, şair Nafia Akdeniz ve D6:EU arasındaki bir işbirliği olup, Sanat için Sosyal Eylem küçük hibe programı kapsamında finanse edilmiştir.

While the Varosha area is increasingly open to visitors, this work focuses on the human impact of Famagusta / Varosha history and aims at creating empathetic understandings for both locals and visitors. The poet explores place memory and refers to the interrupted life trajectory in Varosha, a place marked by forced displacement. By tapping into the collective memories of several public spaces, such as the Glossa Beach, the Municipal Garden, the Municipal Agora, the Greek Gymnasium and others, Akdeniz aims to identify the familiar and foster a deeper understanding of the refugee experience and the complex realities of the Cyprus conflict. These geo-triggered poems are accessed through the application ‘Sound Walking’ on location and on-line with printed QR codes at specific locations in Famagusta. The title, We Are Not Ghosts, echoes a common phrase used by Varosha refugees. It serves as a counter-response to labelling the city a “ghost town”. Instead, it reclaims the collective memory of its former inhabitants, and the possible future of the city. With these poems, Akdeniz, skilfully navigates the memory of this historical place and merges it with the present experience of the city as a post-war site. This work is produced from Akdeniz’s belief in poetry, aiming to enhance the human experience by involving all the senses and making both tangible and intangible aspects of human existence visible. The sound walk is a collaborative work of the poet Nafia Akdeniz, curator Alessandro Vincentelli, cultural director Argyro Toumazou, sound designer Inal Bilsel, visual designer Andriana Lagoudes, and application developer Jason Murray Winn. The project is produced by D6:EU, a visual arts organisation based in Cyprus, developing new opportunities for artists and cultural collaborations in Cyprus, Europe and the Middle East. Supporters: the Famagusta City Museum, Famagusta Avenue Garage, Famagusta local community, Paralimni – Deryneia Municipality, and Jason Murray Winn – Narrative Infrastructure. The project is a collaboration between the poet Nafia Akdeniz and D6:EU and funded as part of the Art for Social Action small grants programme.

Buffer Fringe partnership with Limassol and Famagusta started in 2020 with Elena Agathokleous (centre of performing arts MITOS) and Nurtane Karagil Famagusta based artist (using neighbouring community space Mağusa Kale Pasajı) and stems from a direct assignment for the two artists/spaces to each curate a Buffer Fringe event for the 2020-2021 Festival. The concept of displacement is aimed to be reversed from a negative connotation to a positive one and therefore is dealt with as the ability of humans to communicate their ideas that are remote in time and/or space, as the new opportunity to discover a new dynamic, as the possibility to feel connected and at home. Inspired by the space between the two cities which is 95km, in 2020 Elena created a complementary virtual map with 95 stops which will be worth to stop-feel-listen-learn-hear in. This year Nurtane will work with Famagusta New Museum [FNM] and Mitos to connect the dots. Famagusta New Museum [FNM], initiated by Yiannis Toumazis in 2016, is an active platform, which through its various programs and activities seeks to propose a total restart of the ghost city of Varosha, a re-enactment and an activation in the social, cultural and political fields. FNM’s mission is to promote life and not death by showing the futility of any human atrocity. Empowered by its motto: “I Understand and Forgive the Past, I Love and Generate the Future”, FNM aims at a potential awakening of citizens by enabling public discourse and generating artistic participatory actions and activist interactions across the board. Cyprus is a home for us and also the space and the place that forms our experiences: loss, displacement, trauma, politics, invasions, but also intentions, stories, hope, dream, and love. In between all these layers, we long for our future selves in united locations and memories. This year fringe 95 stops continue to bring up to the surface what is good for us. Searching, feeling, touching, and being together by using sound as a key element of the spaces. Where are we? What do we see? Playing with the sense of being and the sense of place…The aim is to launch a sensory experience through the sound map. As an outcome, anyone with a smartphone will be able to experience the sound installations placed on locations.

by Inal Bilsel for Famagusta New Museum

Ambient sounds in Famagusta on May 13th

by Salamis Aysegul Sentug for Famagusta New Museum

Famagusta New Museum