700-year-old 'Karagöz' shadow play goes into the future

BURSA

The 700-year-old traditional "Karagöz" shadow play, which UNESCO recorded on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2009 and which constitutes the starting point of cinema with its feature of representing Turkish theater, is being carried to the future at Uludağ University.

The shadow play heritage is preserved at the Karagöz and Puppet Games Application Research Center, which was established at Uludağ University in the northwestern province of Bursa.

Karagöz is also represented in the academic field in the center where students studying at the Faculty of Education are given training on the history of shadow play, depiction design and playback.

“Karagöz and Hacivat,” whose technique is based on the puppet play performed in tents by nomadic Turks living in Central Asia found its place in Turkish theater in Bursa during the Ottoman period about 700 years ago, sheds light on the political and social events of the period and reflects their criticisms on the screen.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. İbrahim Öztahtalı, the director of the research center, said, “Karagöz is known as Turkish theater in Europe during the Ottoman period. Many travelers came to Anatolia and Istanbul to watch Karagöz.

“Karagöz is a slightly more primitive version of television and cinema. There is a light in the background and moving pictures on the screen… In fact, Karagöz was the starting point of today's cinema,” he added.

“Karagöz is also an icon of our critical view. Because people let Karagöz say what they cannot say. As the common sense of the people, Karagöz is also the voice of all people,” he said.