Girne Municipality, have organised a first in the country, with a musical game and children’s playwriting competition. A press conference was held on 4th November in the Girne Municipality Service Building Meeting Hall regarding the Girne Municipality’s 1st Musical Play and Musical Play Writing Competition and the Girne Municipality’s 1st “Alikko and Caher” Children’s Play Writing Competitions.
Girne Mayor Nidai Güngördü, Girne Municipality General Art Director Derman Atik, Girne Municipality Council Members Pelin Aydın Kutluba and Ziya Egemen Sencer attended the press conference held in the Girne Municipality Meeting Hall.
Nidai Güngördü pointed out that important work has been done to develop cultural art in the city since the first day of the 6½ year tenure, and that cultural and artistic activities have gained momentum in this process.
After taking office, Güngördü reminded that story writing competitions and painting competitions were held in high schools, middle and primary schools, that the Turkish Art Music Society of the municipality, adult and children theater groups were active, and painting, ceramics and photography courses for adults and children were continuing, as a principle as the municipality. He also noted that they also organised two stone sculpture symposiums.
Expressing that the Girne Municipality Art Gallery has been brought to the city, the work is continuing for the city museum that will transfer the city’s memory and its past to future generations, Güngördü pointed out that the International Olive Caricature Competition organised within the scope of the Olive Festival has become an important competition in its field.
Expressing that they always aim to encourage production in art, Güngördü noted that the playwriting contest, which came to the agenda 5 years ago, was implemented in this period.
Noting that although there are many private theater groups operating on the side of the municipalities and the state in the country, Güngördü emphasised that the number of playwrights and local works is very low, and that the aim of these two competitions is to encourage local writers, increase the number of local plays and contribute to the staging of local plays in the country.
Güngördü stated that the subject of the Girne Municipality 1st Musical Play and Musical Play Writing Contest was determined as “Northern Cyprus”, and that the subject was released in the Girne Municipality “Alikko and Caher” Children’s Play Writing Competition. Applications for the competition will be between 15 November 2020 and 15 February 2021.
Güngördü said that the two competitions will have a total of 27,000 Turkish Lira awards, and that the works to be evaluated will be turned into a printed book, adding that the jury will consist of artists, writers, poets, and child psychologists who will also participate in the evaluation of children’s games.
Girne Municipality General Art Director Derman Atik emphasised that even though the state does not have an art policy in the country, Girne Municipality has an art policy and stated that they have been struggling for 6½ years to encourage art culture in Girne.
Stating that the theater has 3 legs consisting of directors, actors and writers, although there are many directors and actors in the country, the number of writers is very low, Atik stated that their aim is to contribute to the development of this. Reminding that a musical and children’s playwriting contest has been organised for the first time in the country, Atik pointed out that the studies for these competitions were started 5 years ago.
Stating that participation in the competitions will be accepted from abroad on condition that they are written in Turkish, Atik stated that while the subject of the Musical competition was determined as “Northern Cyprus”, the subject of the children’s playwriting competition was “free”. Reminding that the sketches of “Alikko and Caher” played an important role in the development of the western theater in the country, Atik added that this name was given to the children’s games contest.
Reminding that 90 percent of both competition juries will be local, and names from abroad will also take part in the jury, Atik drew attention to the importance of the participation of child psychologists in the 1st “Alikko and Caher” Children’s Game writing competition in order to determine the suitability of the games for child development.
Referring to the competition awards, Atik said that applications can be made between 15th November 2020 and 15th February 2021, and emphasised that the competition specifications can be accessed on social media and newspapers.
Source (Turkish) : Girne Municipality
