The Grand Opening of “The Past is Present” Exhibition

The Past is Present

September 12 – November 8, 2023
Grand Opening: September 12, 2023, Tuesday, 18:30
Address: Depo | Tütün Deposu, Lüleci Hendek Caddesi No:12 Tophane, İstanbul

Exhibiton Days and Hours: Everyday except Sunday and Monday, 11:00-19:00

“The Past is Present” is the most comprehensive exhibition on the 1980 Coup d’État to date.

The exhibition, whose name references the slogan “The Past is Present” previously used by the Memory Museum for Historical Justice, consists of fragments and content sourced from the Museum’s collections and archival materials, materializing its digital space into a physical one. Focusing on the period between 1960–1991 and made possible thanks to the collective contributions of those targeted by the 1980 Coup, The Past is Present brings together artworks produced collectively or individually in relation to the Memory Museum’s collections, as well as works by writers, journalists and researchers.

The Memory Museum, aims to make rights violations visible by recording crimes against humanity perpetrated during the coup, and sheds light on the 43 years of struggle for justice and practices confronting the past with a human rights archive that includes the Oral History, Court Files, Memory Objects and Seeking Justice collections.

These collections include testimonies about the rise of the revolutionary struggle to student movements, unionization, women’s political struggle and anti-fascist resistance, as well as information on the collective memory regarding the coup, the military regime and its legal system, human rights violations, the struggle for justice, international solidarity, impunity, practices of confrontation and accountability.

The Memory Museum’s permanent collections include 235 digital and 93 physical court files, thousands of pages of legal documents, 40.000 memory objects acquired from 35 different donors, 120 oral history recordings of over 300 hours, 518 physical documents, 65 newspapers and 150 books.

With contributions by various institutions, human rights organizations, rights defenders, lawyers, witnesses, academics and writers, the Memory Museum aims to generate a dynamic process built on a bottom-up narrative of history, open and accessible archives, and the active participation of those who were targeted by the 1980 Coup.

The Past is Present is organized by the Research Institute on Turkey and the Democracy and Memory Research Association, with exhibition concept and curatorial framework by Aylin Tekiner, Eylem Delikanlı, and Sevim Sancaktar, and exhibition design by Sevim Sancaktar, from Karşılaşmalar.

Contributors:

Gültan Kışanak and Osman Kavala have contributed to the exhibition with their texts; Aylin Tekiner, Doğa Yirik, Gülçin Aksoy, Gülsün Karamustafa, Güneş Terkol, Nil Yalter, Özlem Sulak, Sevim Sancaktar and Tan Oral with their artworks; while Alime Yalçın Mitap, Arif Sevinç, Aybike Haydaroğlu, Berin Uyar, Burcu Ballıktaş Bingöllü, Bülent Aydın, Cemile Çakır, Saturday Mothers/People, Deniz Erdem, Emel Ataktürk Sevimli, Eylem Delikanlı, Ezgi Bakçay, Ferhat Kentel, Feyyaz Yaman, Feza Kürkçüoğlu, Fikret Akovalı, Hafıza Merkezi / Hafıza ve Sanat Arşivi (Memory and Art Archive), Hüseyin Yavuz, Mustafa Yükselbaba, Nevzat Açan, Öncü Doğu Gürsoy, Özgül Akıncı, Filiz Fırtına, Nalan Yırtmaç, Özgür Sevgi Göral, Özlem Delikanlı, Tanıl Bora, Reyhan Yalçındağ Baydemir, S. Yalçınkaya, Sevgi Can Yağcı Aksel, Ülfet Taylı, Ümide Çelik Aysu and Zülfikar Tak have helped realise the workshops and the exhibition’s content.

Narrators for the Oral History Collection:

Aydın Çavlan Erdoğan, Aydın Çubukçu, Ayhan Erdoğan, Ayşe Tekiner Çelen, Berin Uyar, Bese Doğan, Bülent Aydın, Bülent Forta, Cevriye Aydın, Demet Demir, Deniz Erdem, Dursun Kırbaş, Emel Ataktürk Sevimli, Ergün Yılmaz, Esra Koç, Faruk Eren, Fatin Kanat, Gülçin Aksoy, Gülten Kaya, Gündüz Vassaf, Hamit Kankılıç, Hamit Kapan, Hediye Bakmaz, Hosrof Dink, Hüseyin Aykol, İbrahim Aydın, İkbal Eren, İlkay Alptekin Demir, Kamil Tekin Sürek, Kazım Bayraktar, Kerem Fırtına, Mahmut Döğer, Mehmet Erdal, Mikail Kırbayır, Mustafa Kemal Kaçaroğlu, Mustafa Özer, Mustafa Yalçıner, Mustafa Yükselbaba, Nebi Barlas, Nevzat Açan, Olgun Delikanlı, Öncü Doğu Gürsoy, Pakrat Estukyan, Rahime Kesici Karakaş, Rahmi Yıldırım, Rıdvan Akar, Sezai Sarıoğlu, Şenal Sarıhan, Ümide Çelik, Ümit Efe.

Concurrent panels with the exhibition:

Thursday, September 14, 2023
Assoc. Prof. İsmet Akça
Historical and Social Context of the 1980 Coup / with Tarih Vakfı
Time 19:00-20:30
Address: Metro Han, Şahkulu Çukur, Erkan Harp Sokak, No: 2, Beyoğlu, Istanbul

Tuesday, September 19, 2023
Roza Erdem
Meeting Once Upon a Time / Autobiographical Narrative
Time 19:00-21:30
Address: Metro Han, Şahkulu Çukur, Erkan Harp Sokak, No: 2, Beyoğlu, Istanbul

Saturday, September 23, 2023
Yeşim Yaprak Yıldız, PhD.
Epistemic Corruption and Social Complicity in State Violence in Turkey
Hours: 16:00-18:00
Address: Metro Han, Şahkulu Çukur, Erkan Harp Sokak, No: 2, Beyoğlu, Istanbul

Memory Museum for Historical Justice website
en.bellekmuzesi.org

Social Media Accounts
instagram.com/bellekmuzesi
twitter.com/BellekMuzesi
facebook.com/BellekMuzesi
youtube.com/BellekMuzesi

Media Inquiries
Özlem Delikanlı
[email protected]  | +90 533 527 50 79

https://sendgb.com/bVQtUYxuO7r

Organized by
Research Institute on Turkey
Democracy and Memory Research Association