The cultural programme which celebrates 600 years of Polish-Turkish diplomatic relations was launched on the 6th of March, with the opening of an exhibit entitled “Distant neighbor – Close memories. 600 years of Polish-Turkish relations” at the Sakip Sabanci Museum in Istanbul. The exhibition was prepared by the National Museum in Warsaw in collaboration with the Sakip Sabanci Museum and it runs under the honorary patronage of the Polish and Turkish Presidents, Mr. Bronisław Komorowski and Mr. Abdullah Gül who were both present at the official opening.
More than 300 items are presented in Istanbul. They have been provided by 34 different institutions from across Poland, including national museums, the Czartoryski Counts’ Foundation, archdioceses, churches and convents, libraries and private collections. The exhibit portrays relations between the two countries from a diplomatic, military, mercantile and cultural perspective and it also testifies to the bonds between Polish and Turkish peoples. Original Turkish documents, manuscripts and prints serve as a reminder of the most significant historic events.
The 600th anniversary is an excellent occasion for discovering elements which are shared by the two cultures and it also provides a chance to review what we know about each other. As part of the bilateral programme, Poland will present 100 different projects in Turkey. Through the mutual exchange and presentations of top-quality works, Polish and Turkish artists are going to take on the role of cultural ambassadors for the two countries.
The Polish cultural programme in Turkey is coordinated by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, and it encompasses projects instigated by the AMI which have been selected by the Polish Minister of Culture and National Heritage as part of the Turkey 2014 - Promesa programme. It also includes events organised by state cultural institutions, non-governmental organisations and diplomatic posts of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Turkey.
The programme is opened and closed with two exhibitions that illustrate a common Polish-Turkish heritage. “Distant neighbor – Close memories. 600 years of Polish-Turkish relations” is the opening event of the programme, while the closing display is entitled “Orientalism in Polish painting, drawing, and graphics” and it is organised by the Pera Museum in collaboration with the National Museum of Warsaw. The final exhibition aims to acquaint its viewers with the developments of Polish artistic taste from the 18th through to the 20th centuries. 150 works from the collections of various Polish museums will be displayed by the Pera Museum. The items displayed at the exhibition will be mainly evocative of the Ottoman Turkish culture, and, to a lesser degree, of Middle Eastern and North African cultures. A separate place and special attention will also be drawn to the works by Stanisław Chlebowski, who was the court painter of Sultan Abdülaziz.
The main part of the cultural programme in Turkey will be presented between the months of April and September, 2014. The programme shows off triumphant moments of Polish classical music, as well as works by contemporary composers and the most recent projects in modern music. It presents an array of new forms in visual arts and design, as well as the highs of Polish theatre, dance, and cinema. Mentioning only a few of the most significant, we can list: Piotr Anderszewski, the special guest of Istanbul’s 42nd International Festival of Classical Music, Grzegorz Jarzyna, who will open the 19th International Theatre Festival in Istanbul with his staging of No Matter How Hard We Tried, Krzysztof Kieślowski, whose entire film oeuvre will enjoy a premiere Turkish presentation as part of the review at Istanbul Modern, Krzysztof Penderecki, the recent recipient of a lifetime achievement award, who will perform concerts as part of the Festivals of Classical Music in Istanbul and Izmir, the Sinfonia Varsovia as a guest orchestra of the Festival, Anda Rottenberg who will acquaint Turkish audiences with Polish contemporary art in a talk with Fulya Erdemci, the curator of the 13th Biennale of Contemporary Art, Maciej Obara and Janusz Prusinowski who are special guests of the 21st International Jazz Festival in Izmir, and Rafał Olbiński who will present a series of special covers for the Jazz Forum magazine at the Jazz Festival. The achievements of the Polish Poster School are to be presented as part of the International Graphic Week in Istanbul, with the oeuvre of Henryk Tomaszewski as its main theme this year.
The programme also includes the theatre co-productions of Krzysztof Garbaczewski with Emre Koyncuoglu and Radosław Rychcik with Adýhan Şentürk. There will also be educational programmes which are very significant for the building of long-term future collaboration. Turkish audiences will be offered a chance to experience Polish culture also by participating in additional events, such as music, choreography and film workshops. Various projects will also be conducted in the public space of Turkish cities and they include performance art pieces, artistic actions and happenings and street art installations.
During the Meetings on the Bridge initiative, held as part of the 32nd International Film Festival in Istanbul, Polish professionals from the film industry will have a chance at familiarising themselves with potential partners. Polish designer will present their latest projects at the 2nd Design Biennale as well as at the Istanbul Design Week.
Thanks to the Promesa – Turkey programme of the Polish Minister of Culture and National Heritage,
the events will take place across Turkey, not only in Istanbul, Izmir, Bursa and Ankarra, but also in Adana, Antalya, Eskişehir, Mardin, and Mersin.
More information about the programme is provided through the website Turkiye.culture.pl