The Migrating University of Mickiewicz will open on 18 October 2014 with curator Max Cegielski’s introduction to the programme, starting at 13:00. Lectures and performances will continue throughout the weekend of 18 and 19 October, and the opening of the final exhibition at the Adam Mickiewicz Museum in Istanbul will take place on 25 October, at 19:00. The exhibition will remain on view until 16 November 2014. See below for a detailed programme.
The project consists of a series of interdisciplinary lectures and presentations, which on the one hand relate to the presence of Poles in Istanbul and on the other to the history and spatial conditions of the Tarlabaşı district. The presentations will be held in Turkish and English.
First Performance by Slavs & Tatars
Among the participating artists of the Migrating University of Mickiewicz project, Slavs and Tatars will meet Turkish audiences at two preliminary performances on October 10th in Istanbul and October 11th in Ankara. Click here for more details
The Tarlabaşı district in the heart of Istanbul has been undergoing constant devastation for several years – historical houses are edemolished, the steep streets distinctive of this part of the city are vanishing one by one, and people who have lived here for decades are being thrown onto the street. Just like other neighbourhoods – Sulukule or Fikirtepe – Tarlabaşı is falling victim to hectic, top-down gentrification. The profound socio-economical changes are affecting the vicinity of the Adam Mickiewicz Museum in Istanbul.
With the aim of organizing the extensive émigré community in Istanbul, the legendary Polish poet Adam Mickiewicz arrived in the city in September 1855, where he later passed away unexpectedly, probably from cholera. To this day, Mickiewicz's work has a permanent impact on Polish culture, influencing collective consciousness, literature and art, as well as serving as a basis for shaping feelings of patriotism.
His works have been translated into more than twenty languages, either fully or in part, and in many cases multiple times. In current discussions about the shape of a united Europe, Mickiewicz is cited as a pioneer of the vision of a federation of free nations and citizens.
Curator Cegielski notes: Unlike other Romantics, Mickiewicz did not come to the Bosphorus to relish the exotic tastes of the Orient. He had little time to be the tourist, visiting harems or dervish fraternities. He was focused on his political mission: to provide assistance to troops created under Polish command in the army of the Ottoman Empire… The poet arrived in the “City of Cities” by sea, driven by a profound belief that the road to independence may indeed lead across the Orient.
The exhibition and the accompanying lectures at the Migrating University of Mickiewicz project bring together motifs that are little known to Poles and Turks alike. The poet’s final artistic and scientific journey takes Turkish audiences back in time to Constantinople’s multicultural past, and to the emerging social issues of contemporary Istanbul, and Tarlabaşı district in particular.
Cegielseki ends: If it is indeed the “City of Cities” which stands upon the Bosphorus, its heart lies within the Mickiewicz Museum.
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Programme
18 October 2014 (Saturday)
1 PM Max Cegielski, curator
Inauguration of the Migrating University of Mickiewicz
Introduction to the Project (ENG)
1:30 PM Özlem Ünsal, sociologist
“Together We Stand, Divided We Fall”: Grassroots Mobilization and Urban Transformation in Tarlabaşı – lecture (TR)
2:30 PM Mikołaj Długosz, artist
Tarlabaşı – Adam – presentation of the neon light project (ENG)
3:00 PM Paulina Dominik, historian
On the Polish Times of Pera. Polish Political Émigrés in 19th-Century Istanbul – lecture (TR)
4:00 PM Vahit Tuna, artist
Omar Khayyam – film screening and a conversation with the author (ENG)
4:30 PM Bogna Świątkowska, „Bęc Zmiana” Foundation
Art Projects in “Difficult” Urban Spaces as Illustrated by the Case of Warsaw – lecture (ENG)
5:30 PM Max Cegielski, curator
Presentation of other artworks that will be exhibited at the Mickiewicz Museum from 25 October 2014 until 16 November (Slavs and Tatars, Ania Kuczyńska, Tomasz Szerszeń) (ENG)
19 October 2014 (Sunday)
1:00 PM Özgür Demirci, artist
Split Screen – film screening (TR)
1:30 PM Agnieszka Ayşen Kaim, Turkologist, actress
Adam Mickiewicz or the Story of a Turkicised Bard – lecture (TR)
2:30 PM Janek Simon, artist
Adam Janek Mickiewicz Simon – project display and description and a conversation with the author (ENG)
3:30 PM Ali Öz, photographer
Tarlabaşı: A Defiled Istanbul District– slide show (TR)
4:30 PM Wojtek Doroszuk, artist
The Pharmacist – film screening and a conversation with the author (ENG)
5:30 PM Making Art Projects in “Difficult”
Urban Areas – discussion
Participants: Wojtek Doroszuk, Bogna Świątkowska, Urszula Woźniak and others. Moderator: Max Cegielski (ENG)
25 October 2014 (Saturday)
19:00 – Opening Night, Artistic Interventions at the Adam Mickiewicz Museum
Artists: Slavs and Tatars, Ania Kuczyńska, Janek Simon, Özgür Demirci, Vahit Tuna, Wojtek Doroszuk, Tomasz Szerszeń, Mikołaj Długosz, Tunca Subaşı
*Exhibition will remain open to the public until 16 November 2014. Visiting hours Tue-Sun 9am-4:30pm (MON closed).
To learn more about Adam Mickiewicz, check out these articles:
The Migrating University of Mickiewicz project is organized as part of the cultural programme marking the 600th anniversary of Polish-Turkish diplomatic relations.
Edited by Elçin M. 07/10/2014