“After the warm welcome we got in Athens, another surprising response comes from the Turkish cultural society . Simone Perotti said – We are honoured because Turkey is a great country, the heir of a centuries-old civilisation and culture, which is not turned in on its past but rather very modern, focused on present and future issues and opportunities. As the European part of our journey continues, our desire to listen increases. The public success of the interviews published up to date on media and internet flatters us, and we are asked a lot about Turkey. Also in this great country we will try to stop speaking about the Mediterranean in order to speak with the Mediterranean, listening to the Mediterranean, living among Mediterranean people. As that is what actually inspires our expedition.”
In cooperation with the Italian Cultural Institute in Istanbul, the writer Simone Perotti and the members of the expedition are going to meet Turkish intellectuals either at the Institute and in ateliers and studios of a number of artists who have been invited to participate in the cultural events.
On February the 24th, a press conference at the Italian Cultural Institute in Istanbul will introduce the sailing expedition and the cultural programme, which will open theday after at the prestigious seat of the Teatro della Casa d’Italia with a round table on “Understanding. Complicity. Listening. Communication (and love) in the Third Millennium”, with the participation of writers Buket Uzuner and Oya Baydar, Burhan Sonmez and Simone Perotti, and Nermin Mollaoğlu (Literary agency Kalem) as a moderator.
Here some of the leading figures taking part in the cultural events organised by Progetto Mediterranea and the Italian Cultural Institute in Istanbul until the end of March:
Buket Uzuner, writer, Oya Baydar, writer, Ayfer Tunç, writer, Omer Zulfu Livaneli, musician; Ferdan Yusufi, gallery manager; Yasemin Taşkın, journalist; Burhan Sönmez, writer ; Bedri Baykam, painter; Nermin Mollaoğlu, literary agent; Prof. Ufuk Kocabaş, archaeologist, Murat Belge, journalist, the Venetian painter Luigi Ballarin, Vana Stellou, journalist, Giuseppe Mancini, journalist, Ayfer Tuzcu Ünsal, food blogger, and Nedim Bora Hazar, film director and musician.
Leave A Comment