Aşık Veysel’s family collection on display
ISTANBUL
On the 50th anniversary of his death, folk singer Aşık Veysel Şatıroğlu’s family collection, including the mask taken from his face, will be exhibited at the Atatürk Cultural Center (AKM).
Şatıroğlu, widely known as Aşık Veysel, is an essential representative of Turkish folk poetry bard culture, who is still remembered for his verses championing peace, harmony and unity in society. At the age of only seven, he lost the use of one of his eyes due to smallpox and was left completely blind after losing the other in an accident.
The exhibition, titled “Veysel Gider, Adı Kalır” (Veysel leaves, his name remains), organized with the contribution of the Culture and Tourism Ministry on the occasion of the declaration of 2023 as the “Year of Aşık Veysel” by UNESCO, opens today at the AKM Istanbul Gallery.
Curated by Erkan Doğanay, the exhibition features the family collection of Nazender Süzer Gökçe and Gürsel Gökçe, family members of Aşık Veysel.
Displaying Aşık Veysel’s life and interviews, articles and news about him, the exhibition features photographs by Ara Güler, Fikret Otyam, Ozan Sağdıç, Mustafa Türkyılmaz, Ergun Çağatay and photojournalists of the period.
The paintings by Eren and Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu and Orhan Peker, the statue of Alper Çınar, the mask taken from the face of Aşık Veysel by the painter Yusuf Toprak when he passed away are among the important works of the exhibition.
The exhibition will also present the four-volume book “Basında Aşık Veysel” (Aşık Veysel in the Press), prepared in Braille alphabet for the visually impaired. The audio version of the same book, performed by theater artists, will also be introduced in the show.
The 1952 film “Karanlık Dünya” (Dark World), which reflects the life in Anatolia and Aşık Veysel, will meet the audience for the first time in the exhibition, which will also move to Ankara and İzmir.
