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Funded by British Council Turkey; “Pedestrians on the Stoney Bridge” is a multi-faceted / inter-disciplinary project designed by Şafak Ersözlü and produced by Sarp Keskiner that includes a series of public contemporary performances executed on historical public bridges in five towns of Manisa, Izmir, Balıkesir and Frankfurt between February and October 2023, whilst including photo-memory interviews made with displaced people, based in various cities and countries.
Regarding historical heritage and public memory, stone bridges are taken as trans-cultural assets that harbor the collective memory of communities as enabling random encounter of peoples, while creating tolerance and curiosity. Nevertheless, public bridges are chosen on purpose in order to enable a maximum of accessibility of locals with various backgrounds, ages and genders while serving a chance to emphasize equality, diversity and transition of identities. Family photos are taken as media that bridge the gap between yesterday and today, and mediate the sensations that memory awakens in the body.
Sound designs composed by Sarp Keskiner based on interviews; recordings of poems of Ünal Ersözlü and soundtracks composed by Nick Rothwell (UK) establish the sonic groundwork of performances curated by Metehan Kayan and Yazı Ece Köz.
The program is finalized with exhibitions held in Izmir, Frankfurt, Pristine and Istanbul between February 2023 – 2024 and the video documentary directed by Jack Nelson (UK) is launched on streaming channels in August 2023.
The production of the art book of the project is published in December 2023 is funded by SAHA Association.
