60 Years of Freedom celebrated with an Exhibition “Bayrak’ta Sulh/Peace to our Flag”

By Heidi Trautmann….

On the occasion of the 43rd anniversary of “The Voice of Freedom” I wrote an article for Cyprus Today on 23 Dec 2007 including several interviews with radio people of the first hour, and this article was later included in my artbook “Art and Creativity in North Cyprus, Volume I”.

Please find the whole story under the link:

http://www.heiditrautmann.com/category.aspx?CID=6517551256 which I published on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of “The Voice of Freedom”.

This year, the anniversary of “The Voice of Freedom” was celebrated on 19 July, “The Day of Freedom” with a very special exhibition “Bayrak’ta Sulh/Peace to our Flag”, an exhibition curated by our artist Ayhatun Ateşin, who already in the past has worked for the further valuable extension of the BRT Museum. In the exhibition there are 60 works to remind of the 60 years, North Cypriots have been living in freedom and safety.

Over the many years a lot of tools and material of the radio technology – through further electronic development – had been kept in stores as objects of memory, memories of the past which are connected with pain but also with pride.

So, it was the idea of Ayhatun Ateşin to bring these objects of the past forward and have them combined with art to give them a new life, a new meaning, starting with those days when desperate Cypriots were trying to raise their voices to the outside world, a cry for help, a voice for communication among the citizens.

Ayhatun approached six artists including herself:

Eser Keçeci Malyalı, Kemal Behçet Caymaz, Mine Okur, Omid Kalantar-Motamedi, Roya Alegheband, Ruhiye Onurel, Ayhatun Ateşin; Academics: Buğu Şah, Ece Kahraman Bulut, Esra Aydın Kılıç, Fevzi Kasap, Levent Duranlı, Nuran Öze, Pelin Agocuk; Assistants: Shamsullah Shams, Ada Ateşin, Aybüke Soybelli, Eylül Zaim, Hüseyin Oğulcan Getirmez, İhsan Özdemir, Mücella Kıran who helped to realize her vision, creating their images and interpretations with the parts they selected from the archive.

On 19 July 2023, following a festive ceremony at BRT in one part of the museum, we could see for ourselves the meaningful sculptures, images, I would even say ‘monuments’ and photos and other forms of presentation. The exhibition will be open until 19 October this year.

It is a cooperation of BRTK, represented by Director Meryem Özkurt and Chairman Salih Can Doratlı, and Ministry of Tourism, Culture, Youth and Environment, represented by Fikri Ataoğlu.

The exhibition was sponsored by TELSIM, and Sefer Tüz, its General Manager said at the opening, how important BRT is for the country in many ways.

The exhibition with the theme “Peace to our Flag”, was opened with ceremonial speeches by many politicians and dignitaries who had come to bring their congratulations, good wishes and their thoughts to BRT and to the attention of the guests.

Ayhatun Ateşin, the curator explained that they wanted to create a long-term memory with the project. She said: “With recycling/upcycling, we have ensured that forgotten technology remains in our minds. There are fingerprints on every device and we set out to share the knowledge and experience of the artists who added lasting values to our society”.

“Peace to our Flag” …Peace is a Power in itself. Hold my hand, don’t let go. Clasping of all hands together, will with time strengthen Peace.

President Ersin Tatar, who attended the opening, said in his speech that in the past 60 years Bayrak Radio contributed to the strengthening of the organizational structure of the Turkish Cypriots within the island, and the BRT institution has succeeded in making the voice of the Turkish Cypriots heard all over the world with the support of Turkey and TRT.

Following the opening speeches, plaques and certificates of appreciation were presented to those who contributed to the exhibition.

The works in the exhibition, which will be open until October 19, will then be transferred into the archive of the BRT Publishing History Museum.

For those who are interested in old tools and technology of radio, television, music industry and communication, it is a goldmine to research…

To see more pictures please visit my Facebook page