‘My Dear’ being the impossible-to-translate endearment ‘iki gözüm’, literally ‘my two eyes’. It was the refrain of an eminent old Turkish gentleman Bülent Rauf whenever he ordered ‘pirzola’ at Haci Abdullah’s in İstanbul: ‘Don’t let them dry out, my two eyes.’
An odyssey into the history of traditional Turkish shadow play at the Yapı Kredi Culture and Arts showcases works by Ragıp Tuğtekin, a prominent exponent of shadow-play, and 20 other artists. Curated by Cengiz Özek, the exhibition investigates the place of Karagöz within the world’s shadow play traditions and the interplay between local myths and oral traditions surrounding it.
Issue 66, December 2023
Turkey’s Centenary Issue
