ARTS: HABITART – A Showcase For Visitors Only

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Nadire Mater

ISTANBUL, Jun 11 1996 (IPS) - Turkish authorities saw the second U.N. Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II) currently underway here as a great opportunity to expose the country’s arts scene to a captive audience.

They laid on a wide range of cultural activities for the thousands of conference participants, representatives from non- governmental organisations (NGOs) and journalists gathered in Istanbul for the two-week event. But there was a problem: limited time. After endless rounds of meetings, delegates had little of that on their hands.

More than 50 exhibitions are on display in the city. One is titled ‘Human Habitation and Housing Problems Through History: ‘Human Habitation in Anatolia Throughout the Centuries’. It is organised by the Social Research and History Foundation in Darphane.

‘Cities Behind the Silver Screen’ film festival” a film festival includes Woody Allen’s ‘Manhattan’, Vicente Aranda’s ‘Amantes’ and Mathieu Kassovitz’ ‘La Haine’, an acclaimed film from France.

For those who want to get their minds off the problems of the world’s cities for a moment, there is the ‘Istanbul Music Festival’ organised by the Istanbul Foundation of Art and Culture. ‘Galatasaray International Folk Dances Festival’ is another attraction.

“It is the cultural wealth of a city that determines its identity. What else but art can help translate the Habitat philosophy into reality?,” asks Yigit Guloksuz, president of the Housing Development Organisation (TOKI), who oversees the whole Habitat II organisation in Istanbul.

But critics say the series of cultural events, dubbed ‘Habitart’, is mostly of interest to the foreign visitors – not for locals. Many Turks are unaware of the significance of the biggest world summit of the century and have little opportunity to enjoy the many artistic performances going on in Istanbul.

“People here believe that Habitat is something foreign. Some foreigners come, hold meetings, enjoy themselves, they talk to each other and leave,” says arts and cinema critic Tugrul Eryilmaz.

“No one has ever told the public that they are welcome to participate… Habitat at the moment is rather an elite thing in the opinion of the ordinary Turkish citizens,” he adds.

“The aim of the international conference is by no means conveyed to the public and its essence is not really grasped by the organisers themselves,” said a cultural official who preferred to remain anonymous because of the official position he holds.

He said local NGOs were deliberately excluded from the Hatitat conference. In addition, the cultural activities organised alongside the main event, promoting Turkey as having a good environment for the arts, was a bit ironic.

The official, continuing his criticism of his superiors, noted that last May, the Minister of Culture, Agah Oktay Guner, had sent a circular to the personnel of the Ministry – including the artists of the state opera, ballet and theatre – ordering them to make an open declaration of the associations, foundations or other NGOs they were affiliated with.

“In case the declarations are found out to be false, those in question will be punished,” the circular read. “And those who are found affiliated with unsuitable organisations will be punished accordingly,” it concluded.