The academy, founded in 2001 in Xinêre under the name Dibistana Şehîd Sefkan by the guerrillas of the Kurdistan Freedom Movement, later took the name Akademiya Şehîd Sefkan. The academy conducts activities in music, cinema, theater, govend (traditional dance), and painting.
Artistic production continues at the academy, to which martyrs such as Yekta Herekol, Halil Dağ, Hêvî Şanoger, Delîla Meyaser, and Daxistan Koçer contributed their efforts.
Working within the academy, guerrilla painter Ararat Ferzat Sema created four paintings focusing on the resistance in Rojava and Rojhilatê Kurdistan.
One of the paintings depicts women’s anger. In the painting, four braids (kezî) are shown strangling the throat of an ISIS killer.
Another painting represents the four parts of Kurdistan. It depicts four hands holding Kurdistan and strengthening it by tying it together with a braid. In her evaluation of the painting, Sema said: “What unites and protects Kurdistan is our unity. What makes Kurdistan one is the woman’s braid. In our revolution, too, women are the pioneers. This is also the case in the Leader’s philosophy.”
Sema stated that she drew her third painting inspired by the struggle of Jina Amînî, Denîz Çiya, and the woman fighter whose braid was cut. “Our people in Rojhilatê Kurdistan rose up against power, male domination, and fascism. They are fighting fearlessly and resolutely. The regime attacks women. First, Jîna Amînî was the symbol of the revolution. Now Deniz Çiya has become the symbol of the revolution. I drew these paintings for Martyr Deniz and for the comrade whose braid was cut,” she said.
The fourth painting depicts Jîna Amînî symbolically. At the center of the painting is a portrait of a woman, surrounded by figures of a little girl, a young man, a mother, and a fighter. The figures are braiding the woman’s hair into four braids.
Speaking in footage that reached us from the mountains of Kurdistan, guerrilla painter Sema also called on artists: “As a woman guerrilla, I wanted to share my paintings with my people. I call on Kurdish, socialist, and conscientious artists to show the truth to society. This is a duty of humanity. Painters in particular should not remain silent in the face of developments in Rojava and Rojhilatê Kurdistan.”
Commenting on the uprising of the people of Kurdistan, Sema added: “The resistance of our people greatly elevated our national feelings. Every comrade gained great enthusiasm and morale. On behalf of the Şehîd Sefkan Academy, we salute all the people of Kurdistan who are resisting, especially in Rojava. I bow with respect before the sacred spirits of the martyrs.”
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