ART, CULTURE AND SCIENCE

• Selected works from Sabancı Museum's Ottoman Calligraphy Collection began to be displayed at the Real Alcazar Palace in Seville, Spain on April 4. The exhibition, entitled "Golden Lines: Ottoman Calligraphy from Istanbul's Sakıp Sabancı Museum," spotlights nearly 100 works by Ottoman calligraphers from the 15th to early 20th centuries. It was first put on display last December at Madrid's Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, kicking off a series of cultural events called Turkish Views. The calligraphy collection, assembled over many years by late businessman Sakıp Sabancı, was displayed in 1989 in Moscow, followed by visits to New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Paris, Berlin and Frankfurt. Most of the treasures on display are Korans and prayer books, along with a number of large calligraphy boards from the 19th century. The show will run through June 15.

 

• The 25th annual Ankara Music Festival took place on April 4-26. President Abdullah Gül and Culture and Tourism Minister Ertuğrul Günay attended the festival's opening ceremony. This year's festival featured 23 events with the participation of musicians from 18 countries. Turkish flutist Şefika Kutluer and Swedish pianist Georg Oquist gave concerts during the festival. Foreign guests of the festival included the ensemble Cuban Vocal Sampling, Spanish guitarist Pedro Navarro, Belgian clarinetist Ronald Van Spaendonck, Dutch musicians and blues vocalist Bettie Mae Fikes. Fikes gave a concert on April 11 in the memory of music executive Ahmet Ertegün, the Turkish co-founder of Atlantic Records and chairman of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame who passed away in 2006. The Bilkent Symphony Orchestra and Greek pianist Dimitris Sgouros also performed during the festival.

 

• A new Istanbul Center opened in Brussels, Belgium, on April 8 with the aim of promoting Turkish culture. Istanbul Mayor Kadir Topbaş and European Union Commissioner for Enlargement Olli Rehn inaugurated the center, which includes an exhibition hall, meeting room, conference hall, library and archive. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan sent a message to the opening ceremony saying that the center would strengthen relations between European capitals and Istanbul, which is preparing to be a European Culture Capital in 2010. Speaking at the inauguration, Topbaş said Turkey's EU membership talks will continue in the years to come supported by dialogue and consultations.

 

• Culture and Tourism Minister Ertuğrul Günay flew to Moscow, Russia on April 7 to attend the opening of 2008 Turkish Culture Year events, including concerts by famous Turkish singers Tarkan, Sertab Erener, and Şebnem Ferah, pianist İdil Biret, and others. The events began with a performance by renowned Turkish pianist Fazıl Say, the Presidential Symphony Orchestra and the Polyphonic State Chorus. Numerous events, ranging from dance shows to photo exhibits, will be held in the country throughout the year.

 

• Ankara hosted the 14th International Cartoon Festival on April 18-21. The festival featured the International 7-77 Cartoon Competition to help familiarize children with the art of cartooning and help develop their sense of humor by enriching their world through cartoons.

 

• The Sixth Turkish Films Week was held in Berlin in the first half of April, as organized by the Theatre Aktuel Berlin Association under the auspices of Berlin State Prime Minister Klaus Wowereit. The event began with director Abdullah Oğuz's "Mutluluk," followed by "Mavi Gözlü Dev" (Blue-Eyed Giant), "Yaşamın Kıyısında" (The Edge of Heaven), "Yumurta" (Egg), "Hazan Mevsimi" (Autumn), "Fikret Bey," "Bayrampasa," "Münferit" (Individual), "Hicran Sokağı" (Sadness Street), "Meine Mutter, mein Bruder und ich" (My Mother, My Brother and I), "Rıza," "Ademin Trenleri" (Adem's Trains), "Kader" (Destiny), and "İyi Seneler Londra" (Happy New Year, London) in three separate theatres. Documentaries and short films were also presented during the week.

 

• Paris hosted the fifth Turkish Films Week on April 11-20. The film festival included screenings of director Semih Kaplanoğlu's "Yumurta" (Egg), Abdullah Oğuz's "Mutluluk" (Bliss), Sırrı Süreyya Önder's "Beynelmilel" (The International), Biket İlhan's "Mavi Gozlu Dev" (Blue- Eyed Giant), Özer Kızıltan's "Takva" (A Man's Fear of God), Zeki Demirkubuz's "Kader" (Destiny), Mahsun Kırmızıgül "Beyaz Melek" (The White Angel), Alper Mestçi's "Musallat" (Haunted), and Atilla İnanç's "Zincirbozan." In addition, several meetings were held with the participation of Turkish actors and directors and actors.

 

• A well-known Turkish dance group staged two performances in Slovakia. Thousands of Slovak, Austrian and Hungarian dance lovers saw the performances of "The Fire of Anatolia," a project depicting Anatolian culture through dance and music, in the Slovak capital Bratislava. The group also staged another performance in the Slovak city of Kosice in mid-April. Mustafa Erdoğan, the troupe's art director, said that his latest project "Troy," inspired by the ancient Anatolian civilization, will be staged in Turkey through November before embarking on a world tour.

 

• Turkish pianist-composer Fazıl Say gave a concert at the historical Concert House of Vienna, Austria, accompanied by the symphony orchestra of Vienna's University of Music and Performing Arts. Say performed pieces by Czech composer Antonin Dvorak, American composer George Gershwin and Turkish minstrel and poet Aşık Veysel. He also performed a show with Turkish percussionist Burhan Öcal.

 

• An international theater festival was held in the central Anatolian province of Konya on April 14-24. The festival, organized by the Konya State Theater, brought together numerous actors and actresses from Kosovo, Macedonia, Azerbaijan, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), Bashkortostan (in Russia), the Crimean Tatar region and Kyrgyzstan, all staging plays in Turkish.

 • A Turkish and two German archeologists have published a new book on Turkey. Archeologists Rüstem Aslan, Frank Schweizer and Stephan W.E. Blum, who have been excavating the ancient city of Troy in northwest Turkey, co-authored the book "Turkei" in German. "The book is on Turkey's historical, geographic and archeological riches, and we believe that it is the most extensive volume ever published on the subject," said Aslan. The initial print run of the 700-page book, which includes over 550 photographs, is 10,000 copies.

 

• The Japanese government will build a tumulus-shaped museum in the town of Kaman in the central Anatolian province of Kırşehir. Officials said that excavations in Kaman Kalehöyük had been pursued by Japan's Middle East Culture Center since 1986, and the Japanese government would build a museum there. Culture and Tourism Minister Ertuğrul Günay took part in the April 25 groundbreaking ceremony of the museum. Kalehöyük is situated in the village of Çağırkıran of Kaman.

 

• Istanbul University's (İTÜ) Professor Nedret Tanyolaç Öztokat was awarded France's Palmes Academiques Knight Brand, which is presented to eminent scholars in the fields of education, training, culture, language and literature.

 

• Turkish scientists have recently made remarkable progress in the treatment of damaged bones and cartilage tissues using stem cells. In a European Union-funded project, researchers at Ankara's Middle East Technical University (METU) duplicated the stem cells taken from healthy tissues and transferred them to nearby damaged bones and cartilage tissues. "Our participation in this project shows that we are one of the 20 leading centers in the world concerning tissue engineering of bone and cartilage," METU's Vasıf Hasırcı said on April 15. The new method eliminates contamination risks association with obtaining tissues from cadavers or seashells, scientists said. As the treatment uses stem cells, the patient's body is not expected to reject the new tissues, the researchers added. The project titled "EXPERTISSUES Network of Excellence on Novel Therapeutic Strategies for Tissue Engineering of Bone and Cartilage" envisages the "tissue engineering of bone and cartilage using second-generation biomimetic scaffolds." It brings together 20 partners from 13 countries, and METU is the partner from Turkey. The project, begun three years ago, has a total budget of 7.3 million euros. (PHOTO-metu research)

 

• Bahçeşehir University has set up an education and culture center at Kent State University in the United States. Bahçeşehir said on April 11 that since the day it was founded, it has cooperated with Kent State. The $2.7 million center will meet the needs of Bahçeşehir students with a high-technology infrastructure. Currently Bahçeşehir has 20 students studying at Kent State. The university was founded in Istanbul in 1998.

 

• The Turkish-American Scientists and Scholars Association convened at Boston's Harvard University, on April 12-13 for its fourth annual conference. Academics, scholars, scientists and representatives of the Turkish and US private sectors focused on innovation as driver for social transformation and economic growth. "Turkey and the US are strategic partners sharing the same values, ideals and vision," Turkish Ambassador to the US Nabi Sensoy said in a message to the opening session of the conference. He added that scientific and technological cooperation will help this partnership grow stronger. Speaking to reporters, the association's President Banu Onural said they are thinking of holding a conference in Turkey this December. The Turkish-American Scientists and Scholars Association is an independent, nonprofit and non-political organization founded in June 2004 in Washington DC. The association's vision is to build a sustainable bridge of science between the US and Turkey.

 

• Christie's auction house will sell a painting by Turkish artist Mustafa Günen. After seeing paintings by Günen exhibited at New York's Agora Gallery last month, officials of the auction house chose the painting "Son Dakika" (Last Minute) to sell on July 16. Mustafa Günen was born in the central Anatolian province of Kirsehir in 1956, and his paintings focus on the sea. Agora Gallery had selected Günen to participate in the 2007 Chelsea International Fine Art Competition.

 

• Greek classical pianist Dimitris Sgouros gave a concert on April 12 at Bilkent Concert Hall in Ankara as part of the 25th International Ankara Music Festival. Sgouros performed Sergei Prokofiev's piano concerto no. 3 with the Bilkent Symphony Orchestra. Acclaimed pianist Sgouros has performed in major concert halls throughout the world including Carnegie Hall, Royal Festival Hall (London), Berlin Philharmonic Hall, Sydney Opera House, and Odeon of Herodes Atticus (Athens). Sgouros performed Rachmaninoff's piano concerto no. 3 with the Beijing Symphony Orchestra at the 2008 Beijing Olympics cultural celebrations. Also during the Ankara festival, blues and jazz singer Bettie Mae Fikes gave a concert in Ankara in memory of music executive Ahmet Ertegun, the Turkish co-founder of Atlantic Records and chairman of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.

 

• The Aegean province of Izmir hosted International Arts Days on April 12-20. Deputy Mayor Yusuf Ali Karaman said the Greater Izmir Municipality is organizing the event. Almost 50 artists participated in the 10-day event with 700 works of art. Russia, Bulgaria, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Austria, Japan and Uzbekistan are represented in the international arts days. Bulgarian state violinist Krassimira Zhelyazkova and Azerbaijani state pianist Gulnara Aziz gave a concert at the opening ceremony. The event ended with a recital of cellist Indira Rahmatullaeva and Azerbaijani state pianist Teymur Shemsiev.

 

• Istanbul will host an exhibit featuring works by renowned Spanish cubist Joan Miro. Some 120 of Miro's imprints, paintings and sculptures will be on display at the Suna and Inan Kirac Foundation Pera Museum from May 3 to August 3. The exhibit is co-sponsored by France's first private contemporary art foundation and the Maeght Foundation. Miro (1893-1983) was a Catalan (Spanish) painter, sculptor, and ceramic artist born in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain to the family of a goldsmith and watchmaker. His work has been interpreted as surrealism, a sandbox for the subconscious mind, a recreation of the childlike, and a manifestation of Catalan pride. In interviews dating from the 1930s onwards, Miro expressed contempt for conventional painting methods in favor of more contemporary means of expression.

 

• The International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (IFCC) decided to organize its international congress in Istanbul in 2014. Akdeniz University hosted the general IFCC conference in Kemer, Antalya on April 13-14 where participants voted to hold their international congress in Istanbul in 2014 rather than Sweden, Mexico or India. "Almost 10,000 people are expected to participate in the international congress," said Professor Tomris Özben of Akdeniz University's Medical School. He added that the venue of the congress would be Istanbul's Lutfi Kirdar International Congress and Exhibition Hall. The federation holds its international congress every three years. The group's mission is to be the leading organization in the field of clinical chemistry and laboratory medicine worldwide. Through leadership and innovation in science and education, the federation strives to enhance the scientific level and the quality of diagnosis and therapy for patients throughout the world.

 

• The First International Batman and Environment History and Culture Symposium took place in Batman on April 15-17, marking a first for the southeastern province. Over 90 scholars from countries such as the US, Britain, Israel, Azerbaijan, Iran and Ireland attended. The symposium focused on Batman through the centuries. All presentations at the symposium will later be presented in a book. The symposium was sponsored by the Batman Governor's Office, and Professor Salim Cohce Inonu University assisted it.

 

• Famous Philippines pianist Victor Santiago Asuncion will give a concert at the Third Pera Piano Festival in Istanbul on May 7. Many other musicians will perform as part of the festival on May 7-11, including Bernhard Parz, Marina Horak, Vasif Hasanoglu, Tamara Poddubnaya, Zohrab Adiguzelzade, Ofelya Aleskerova and Samir Mirzayev.

 

• Turkish director Özgür Yıldırım's first film, "Chiko," was released on April 16 at an opening gala in Hamburg, Germany. Yıldırım reflects the desires, dreams and problems of a group of young people living in a ghetto in Hamburg in his film, which is produced by Fatih Akın, a German-born Turkish director. The film's cast includes

Denis Moschitto, Reyhan Sahin, Volkan Ozcan, Moritz Bleibtreu, Lilay Huser, Philipp Baltus, Lucas Gregorowicz and Pheline Roggan.

 

• Award-winning Italian comedian Ennio Marchetto performed a show in Ankara on April 18. Marchetto's show took place as part of the 25th International Music Festival sponsored by the Sevda-Cenap Music Foundation. Marchetto has his own theatrical language mixing impressions, dance, music and quick-change costumes made out of cardboard and paper. Alone on stage and without any help backstage, he changes character almost every minute, often in front of the audience without the need to hide behind drapes. All his costumes are bi-dimensional and made out of paper and cardboard. They flip and fold to change from one character to another. Machetto did impressions of Turkish pop star Ajda Pekkan as well as Elvis Presley, Bob Marley, Jim Morrison, Kylie Minogue and Britney Spears. After the show, Marchetto called the Turkish audience "simply excellent."

 

• Dünya Ensemble, a band based in Boston, gave a concert on April 18 in New York to introduce traditional Turkish Ottoman music to New Yorkers. The ensemble performed their music using contemporary technology with the traditions of Ottoman music in original pieces for instruments and voices. Musicians Mehmet Ali Şanlıkol, Robert Labaree and Cem Mutlu brought new life to the genres of mehter (Janissary music), sema (Sufi devotional music) and ince saz (instrumental music). The concert was co-organized by Carnegie Hall, the Brooklyn Borough, the Turkish Consulate General in New York, and the Moon and Stars Project.

 

• Hundreds of Turks living in Philadelphia and adjacent states attended the Second Philadelphia Turkish Festival on April 19. Wearing red and white, the colors of the Turkish flag, and holding Turkish and American flags, the Turks enjoyed concerts and folk dance shows by Turkish performers.

 

• Culture and Tourism Minister Ertuğrul Günay on April 21 lauded how a recent Turkish film was recognized internationally. "I see these awards as evidence of progress made by the Turkish movie industry," he said, referring to how "Beyaz Melek" (The White Angel), directed by Turkish folk singer Mahsun Kırmızıgül, received the feature film and video Remi awards and special jury award at the 41st WorldFest Houston International Film Festival in the US. The film tells the story of an old man visiting a nursing home in a big city. There he realizes that the care elderly people in his village get is a much kinder, so he invites some nursing home residents to experience the kindness his village offers. WorldFest was founded 48 years ago as Cinema Arts, an International Film Society in 1961. WorldFest became the third competitive international film festival in North America, following San Francisco and New York. WorldFest is the oldest independent film and video festival in the world. It evolved into a competitive International Film Festival in April 1968. It was founded by award-winning producer/director Hunter Todd to present a quality film festival for independent filmmakers.

 

• Professor Yalçın Karakoca won an award in Japan for the "resector balloon" technique he developed two years ago. Karakoca, the head of Medicana Hospital's Lung Disease Department, developed the technique to increase life quality as well as extend the life of patients suffering from lung cancer. At the 15th World Congress for Bronchology in Japan with his resector balloon technique, Karakoca was one of three doctors who won the young researcher award. Karakoca said that he and his team developed the resection technique, in which a special balloon helps resection of endoluminal airway lesions be done safely and successfully. The resector balloon can be applied for both endoluminal and submucosal lesions.

 

• Director Nuri Bilge Ceylan's "Üç Maymun" will compete for the Palme d'Or award at the 61st Cannes Film Festival. American actor/director Sean Penn will chair the jury of this year's festival. Ceylan won the Grand Prix at the 2003 Cannes Festival for his film "Uzak" (Distant).

 

• World-famous Turkish pianist and composer Fazıl Say gave a concert in Madrid, Spain, fulfilling commitments he earlier had to postpone due to health problems. In the concert, Say played Chaconne by Bach and Ferrucio Busoni, Beethoven's Appassionata and Liszt's Sonata in C minor. Born in Ankara in 1970, Say studied piano and composition at Ankara State Conservatory. At age 17, he was awarded a German Academic Exchange Service scholarship that enabled him to study for five years with David Levine at the Robert Schumann Institute in Dusseldorf. From 1992 to 1995, he continued his studies at the Berlin Conservatory. In 1994, he was the winner of the Young Concert Artists International Auditions, which was a catalyst to his international career.

 

• An exhibit of photos of Atatürk, the founder of the Republic of Turkey, took place at a Dutch university on April 22-25. Nearly 50 photos of Ataturk taken in the early years of the republic were displayed at the exhibit, co-organized by the University of Twente of the Dutch city of Enschede and the Turkish Embassy in The Hague. In a speech at the exhibit's opening, Selahattin Alpar, Turkish ambassador in The Hague, said that the modern Republic of Turkey, founded by Atatürk, shared the same values of civilization as the modern West. University of Twente Rector Henk Zijm called Atatürk a unique statesman and politician. A New York-based Turkish group on April 24 launched a festival to promote cultural relations between Turkey and the US. The 10th May fest, by The Moon and Stars Project, features several events of classical and ethnic music, art exhibits and parties. The festival will lasts through June 6.

 

• An exhibit of "Design Cities" has opened at the Istanbul Museum of Modern Art in association with London's Design Museum. The exhibit, crated by Design Museum Director Deyan Sudjic, brings together works by leading world designers that both reflect the history of design from the mid-19th century through the present and transform the concept of universal design. The show features a full range of objects from textiles and fashion to industrial pieces, furniture, prints and drawings, bringing together the key elements of design, mass and individual productions, as well as high technology, and ground-breaking materials. The exhibit includes 109 works by 64 designers such as William Morris, Owen Jones, Christopher Dresser, Adolf Loos, Le Corbusier, Eileen Gray, Achille Castiglioni, Ettore Sottsass, Gio Ponti, Otto Wagner, Josef Hoffman, Paul Smith, Ron Arad, Zaha Hadid and Ross Lovegrove, and 12 products  from  seven  brand  names.   It  focuses  on  seven  cities (London, Vienna, Dessau, Paris, Los Angeles, Milan and Tokyo). The exhibit will remain open till August 10 at the Istanbul Museum of Modern Art before moving to the London's Design Museum starting in September.

 

• The General Assembly of the European Festivals Association (EFA) began on April 24 in the Mediterranean province of Antalya. Speaking at the meeting, Culture and Tourism Minister Ertuğrul Günay said Turkey was represented at EFA with five international festivals. Günay called the festivals "the most joyful way of interacting with other nations," adding that the meeting would issue a declaration on intercultural dialogue. EFA President Darko Brlek, Secretary General Hugo De Greef and 150 delegates from Turkish and European festivals attended the meeting.

 • Six thousand Ukrainians gave a standing ovation in Kiev to famed Turkish dance group "The Fire of Anatolia." The troupe performed an energetic show at the Palace Ukraine on April 20-21. The group is set to take to the stage in Belgium on May 8-13, Egypt on May 15, and in Spain. Presenting a synthesis of hundreds of folk dance figures and music from various regions, "The Fire of Anatolia" is a unique project that draws from Anatolia's ancient mythological and cultural history.