2012 Chinese Culture Year in Turkey closes on a high note

ANKARA - Anatolia News Agency

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The 2012 Chinese Culture Year in Turkey celebrations ended with a gala concert in Ankara, “Tunes from the Silk Road.” The program included Chinese Opera and Dance Drama Theater, a folkloric instrument orchestra and Chinese opera artists.

Culture and Tourism Minister Ertuğrul Günay, who attended the program, said: “We have seen many examples of Chinese culture during the celebration of the Chinese Culture Year in Turkey. We have seen that there is very important culture in the East.”

The event was sponsored by the Culture and Tourism Ministry, the China Culture Ministry, the Chinese Writers and Artists Federation and the Chinese Embassy in Ankara.

Events for Chinese Culture Year in Turkey kicked off Dec. 12, 2011 with the “Silk Road through the Brush of Famous Chinese Artists” exhibit at CerModern, Ankara’s modern art museum.
 
Reciprocal visits

Many Chinese artists and representatives visited different provinces in Turkey such as Ankara, Istanbul, İzmir, Bursa, Antalya and Samsun as part of the year-long cultural events. Next year, Turkish artists will also visit China. With China’s “Year of Turkey” in 2013, Chinese artists will have the chance to follow developments in Turkish art.

Throughout 2012, events across Turkey featured Chinese art, literature, cultural heritage, radio, cinema, acrobatics and puppet shows in provinces including Istanbul, Ankara, İzmir, Bursa, Antalya, Mersin and Trabzon. Chinese orchestra performances as well as a Chinese film week were featured as part of the cultural exchange.

Aiming to strengthen the ties between Turkey and China, the events of the Chinese Cultural Year in Turkey hosted a gala night, “A new message from the Silk Road,” on Dec. 15, 2011 at TİM Maslak show center in Istanbul. The Culture and Tourism Ministry sponsored the events, which included dancers and musicians from China.

The 18th Istanbul Theater Festival organized by İKSV kicked off with events to honor Turkey’s year of Chinese culture, including the Shanghai Song and Dance Ensemble and Beijing Opera.

The dance ensemble, which was established in 1979 after the Cultural Revolution, focused on ethnic dance theater, rediscovering Chinese dance forms and benefitting from other genres. The Beijing Opera (Jingju), also known as “Eastern Opera,” performed at the Fulya Art Center. The opera’s repertoire included pieces titled, “Farewell My Concubine,” “The Drunken Imperial Concubine,” “Night Fight at an Inn,” and “Planning for a Brief Reunion.”

An exhibition, “Islamic Culture and Artwork in China,” was held in Istanbul as well. The exhibition included a Quran printed on silk, displayed for the first time outside of China. Several of the famous Chinese Terracotta Army sculptures, part of UNESCO’s World Heritage List and only exhibited outside of China five at a time, are currently on display at the Topkapı Palace Museum. The exhibition also features 101 pieces of art from various Chinese museums.

The 2012 Chinese Culture Year was the longest and the most comprehensive Chinese event in Turkey.