Records in Gaziantep protected with grants

GAZİANTEP - Doğan News Agency

DHA photo

A new project that is being undertaken thanks to an EU-Turkey grant program is helping to protect the gramophone records of the southeastern province of Gaziantep.

The Gramophone World Project will develop and protect cultural heritage, said Özgür Demirezer, the president of the TAŞEV Education Culture and Youth Foundation and the person responsible for the project.

Events to be held as part of the project will open the doors to the music industry as it was between 1870 and 1970.

 “The project will reveal the musical careers of musicians such as Safiye Ayla, Hafız Burhan, Tamburi Cemil Bey, Edith Piaf and Louis Armstrong,” said Demirezer. “Approximately 6,000 gramophone records will be displayed.”

The undertaking will also preserve works of art, said Demirezer, adding that 80 percent of the project’s 111,239-euro budget is provided by the European Union.

The project is being pursued by Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality, the Österreichisches VolksLiedWerk from Austria and Pides from Spain.

A center at the Millet Hanı in Gaziantep will host the exhibition of gramophone records. “The exhibition hall will become a museum in the long term,” said Demirezer.

The project will also include a display of old gramophone records from the Ottoman Empire, he said.
There will be also participants from Austria and Spain, he added.

The collection covers 400 gramophone records and was aided by record collector İbrahim Halil Birecikligil, who donated his entire collection to the museums.

“Some of the records have 100 years of history. There are records of Tanburi Cemil Bey, Münir Nurettin Selçuk, Müzeyyen Senar, Sabite Tur Gülerman and Zeki Müren,” he said in reference to legends of Turkish classical music.

“It is also possible to hear Chopin, Mozart and classical Western artists,” he added.