Turkish Festival in Boston continues

As part of the 16th Boston Turkish Culture and Arts Festival, famous Turkish painter and academic Devrim Erbil opened on Nov. 15 an exhibition titled “Poetic Abstraction - Istanbul” at the Boston University Howard Thurman Culture Center.

According to a statement made by festival director Erkut Gömülü, Erbil opened an exhibition for the first time in the city. The statement said many academics from Boston University, diplomats, NGO representatives, artists and students attended the reception held for the opening of the exhibition.

At the reception, Boston University Howard Thurman Culture Center Director Katherine Kennedy said the Boston Turkish Culture and Arts Festival made great contributions to the art and cultural life of the city.

Erbil’s daughter Evrim Erbil attended the opening reception on behalf of her father.

Also, as part of the festival, 3-D photos from the Ottoman period are being displayed for the first time in a digital environment at the Boston Fine Arts Museum.

Gömülü said the 3-D photos, which are based on photos taken between 1855 and 1900 in Istanbul, Syria and Palestine, were transferred to the digital environment by Professor George Mutter and historian Bernard Fishman.

According to the statement, the photos, which require special glasses to be viewed in 3-D, are drawing great attention since they present the striking transformations in Istanbul’s architectural and urban structure in the 19th century and changes in social life. The digital archive includes 5,000 photos.

The Boston Turkish Culture and Arts Festival, which has been organized every year since 1996, will continue until Dec. 15 around the theme of “Colors of Anatolia.”