Visibility project unites artistic disciplines

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

‘Entrusted Objects Going Downhill,’ organized by Altıdan Sonra Theater will start at Kumbaracı Yokuşu and end at Kumbaracı 50 stage.

The eighth annual Visibility Project, created and executed by Galata Perform, aims to bring a new point of view to classical theater by bringing together artists from different disciplines.

Each Saturday in November there will be Visibility Project events in the Galata district of Istanbul. The events will start Nov. 3 at 1 p.m. with the performance “The Rust in Time,” followed by performances of “Entrusted Objects Going Downhill,” “Welcome to the Dollhouse,” “Singing Stories on Speaking Mountain” and “Impasse,” as well as a presentation, “Thinking about Alternative Artistic Opposition Forms,” over the coming weeks.

This year, the Visibility Project aims to create stories according to the cultural heritage of Galata. The vendors, craftsmen, shopkeepers and artists in the district will join together for the projects.

The concept of the opening performance, “The Rust in Time,” was created and developed by Aydın Teker and the masks used were designed by Anna Teliere. Teker documented her long trip in the U.S. during the summer of 2012 carrying a mask of her own face in photographs, video and a journal.

Inspired by this interesting project, she prepared an installation and performance for Visibility Project 8 in which the rust of the past and the future coincide. On Nov. 3 the audience will meet at 1 p.m. at the Taksim subway exit to walk from Teker’s studio in Şişli to Galata Square. The artist will arrive at Galata Square around 1:30 p.m.

Another event, “Entrusted Objects Going Downhill,” organized by Altıdan Sonra Theater in collaboration with German theater group Lokstoff! as part of the TANDEM project, will start at Kumbaracı Yokuşu and end at Kumbaracı50 stage. The performance follows the gathering of a group that must give away the keys to their homes and leave Istanbul to be transported to a new place where they are now to live as part of the urban transformation project. However, if no one is willing to depart on the journey, it may not go as planned.

Performance of Caravansarai

On the same day, a performance at Caravansarai will start with a circus show featuring a woman and her two daughters inspired by the movie “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg.” This 30-minute performance, called “Welcome to the Dollhouse,” in which the viewers will see a silk rope, foot juggling, static trapeze and dance, is an extract from the artist’s new show with trapeze dancer Sevinç Gürmen and Kate Beckel. The performance continues with a brief tour of Galata craftsmen’s shops where the props and equipment used in the circus show were produced. The tour will be in English, and the text will be distributed in Turkish. The “Singing Stories on Speaking Mountain” performance will also take place that day at 5 p.m. Produced in collaboration with SALT Galata and performed for the first time at Visibility Project 8, Aslı Bostancı’s performance was inspired by the popular myths rooted in collective memories and lesser-known local myths in which otherworldly characters take part.

Dingo’nun Ahırı Company’s new play, “Impasse,” is made up of chaotic, tragic, sometimes funny and surreal stories about Istanbul. Through this performance, the audience will witness lively street literature built on such notions as getting lost along life’s path, loneliness, standing on your feet, trying to find your way and hanging on. After their play “Istanbul Istanbul,” which was performed in Haydarpaşa Train Station as part of the events for the “2010 Istanbul European Cultural Capital,” the group will debut their new performance in Istanbul. Dingo’nun Ahırı is a theater company based in Amsterdam and Istanbul that performs site-specific plays all over the world.