The Diyarbakır (Amed) Metropolitan Municipality has issued an open call to artists as part of the “Memory Route” initiative, aimed at making the city’s collective memory visible. Led by the Department of Culture, Arts and Social Affairs, the project seeks to ensure that events from different periods of the city’s history are not forgotten and that social memory is kept alive. Particular emphasis is placed on the ISIS attack targeting the Peace Rally held at Istasyon Square on 5 June 2015.
The call highlighted that cities are not composed solely of physical structures, emphasizing that lived experiences and collective testimonies are also integral parts of urban identity. Within this framework, the initiative aims to bring projects that transform engagement with the past into an aesthetic and spatial experience into the public sphere.
Confronting the past
Zeynep Yaş, Head of the Department of Culture, Arts and Social Affairs of the Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality, told Mezopotamya Agency (MA) that the Memory Route represents an important initiative to strengthen the city’s connection with its past. Yaş said: “This project was planned to ensure that no element of the city’s memory is lost and that the historical process extending from the past to the present remains alive. The Memory Route aims to transform confronting the past into an aesthetic and spatial experience.”
Meetings and workshops organized
Zeynep Yaş explained that for more than a year, meetings and workshops have been conducted with artists, citizens who witnessed the events, and the families of those who lost their lives. She noted that this process led to the development of a shared approach focusing on site-specific memorialization, collective monuments, and individual artistic productions. Yaş said: “With the contribution of artists, we will identify the artistic spaces that will form the city’s Memory Route. At the same time, we will carry out a supportive process to facilitate these productions.”
Applications to be submitted free of charge
Participation in the open call will be free of charge, and applications will be accepted through the website: http://diyarbakir.bel.tr/anit-basvuru
Applicants are required to complete their identity and contact information in full. In the first stage of the application process, artists will be asked to submit a letter of intent, a text describing their project idea, sketches, and a portfolio. Finalists selected in this stage will proceed to the second phase, where they will present technical drawings, scale models, material details, and a projected budget.
The deadline for the first stage of applications has been set for 20 June, and the finalists are expected to be announced on 30 June.
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