Döngü – The Cycle – A photo exhibition at Bayrak Radio and Television

By Heidi Trautmann…..

A photo exhibition of a different kind, a project to lift the curtain and show us another part of society, a society that exists but is often ignored by many. 40 photographs tell the story of prisoners in the Central Prison, photographs taken by the former warden Hüseyin Çekirdek. The director of BRT, Meryem Özkurt, made it her project to show this documentation and she managed to get the many permissions that were necessary to carry the project through.

Apparently, it was not easy. Ayhatun Ateşın, who is also the curator of the BRT Museum, has organised the exhibition, and the photographer Mehmet Gökyiğit edited the photographic material. What an extraordinarily good project. I took my time to study all photos and the many letters and drawings by male and female prisoners.

Society is a mixture of all shades of humanity, good and bad, rich and poor, and all shades in between, from black to white are many grey shades. Many who pay in prison for their mistakes should however be given the chance to re-enter society and take part in the normal life circle again. I believe this is the message that the project intended to come to the open. I have included here a link with many opinions and statements by public and political figures on the day of the opening. The exhibition will be open for another month and below is video link showing more of the exhibition.

https://brtk.net/dongu-sergisinin-acilisi-bugun…/

I have often asked myself why prison inmates are not invited to take part in social and environmental works, such as help cleaning public spaces under supervision; perhaps it would make them more connected to the outer world again, small payments to make good for their mistakes.

Addendum:

Here is a text from Ayhatun Ateşın, which she sent to me, a background story and some further thoughts…. which makes me say that we all should have our thoughts about this criterion of society, about parts of society that hardly appear in our daily lives.

“Cycle” – It’s actually a prisoner-prison story.

What is happening in prison life in the TRNC on Guards Day?

In the photography exhibition hosted by BRTK, we will witness the life cycle of the TRNC prison, which has a 40-year history, transferred to 40 photographs.

Photographs of the guard Hüseyin Çekirdek can be viewed in the BRTK HD Entrance hall exhibition area.

The court decides: ‘Your freedom will be restricted and you will be detained for so many years.’

Prison begins. You are in a place, a place, that is, a prison, where all the rules are determined outside of you. So now you can even say hello to your loved ones, there is a day, a time and a framework for what you can talk about. Prisons have a life cycle within themselves, and you join this cycle the moment you step inside the prison..

No matter what the conditions are in the prison, there is life out there!

Even if it is between iron bars and gray

concrete walls, even if one side of it always accumulates longings full of sadness… Prisoners can lead meaningful lives for themselves! Guards or convicted prisoners? You may fall into conflict.

For someone whose path has not crossed this side of the iron bars, although it is only a question of how the hours, days, and years passed between the four walls.

After all, how does a person live within four walls for 24 hours, days, months and years?

How did he spend his time?

However, dozens of questions, starting with what he did in the middle of prohibition and deprivation, are lined up one after another.

However, it should be known that even in the worst times, in addition to resisting and dreaming on the run, the prisoners also managed to build beautiful and productive daily lives, create a lot of joy, big and small, and laugh a lot.

So being in jail, and living in a prison is not the end of the world as it seems from the outside!

The lives that have almost turned into a “cycle” are not shaped separately from the relationship and life philosophies of the prisoners with life.

Taking its essence from these places and the tradition of resistance, daily life takes on a form that aims to change those conditions within the given conditions.

How do they spend their days between four walls?

Their joy, friendship, life among those narrow gray concrete walls…

The common lives they have built for themselves!

And more plausible questions…

We“Loop” tells a story of a prisoner, guard, or support staff.

You can examine the hidden graffiti in the cells, see and smell the prison kitchen, and even take a closer look at the prison infirmary.

In prison, the stories begin every day as the same as the next, and their lives go on in a loop, day after day. The life cycle is actually a period of time that lasts from the moment people are born until they die. During this time period, there are some phases that people go through and life is completed with these phases.

Every person takes part in a life cycle.

Editors note: Heidi says this is a must exhibition to visit at Bayrak Radio and Television and also see their own exhibition of past BRT equipment and memorabilia. To see more pictures click here