The magical past and present of Istanbul through Yekpare project

It’s been a long time since we at Yatzer wanted to publish something about all the art fervor that there’s been going on lately in fellow city Istanbul, so close to Greece and in a way so far away. It seems that the time has finally come and we must admit that we couldn’t find a better excuse than the “Yekpare” Urbanscreening Projection Mapping by Deniz Kader and Candaş Şişman. Coinciding with the celebrations of the Istanbul European Capital of Culture 2010, Deniz and Candaş, two Turkish visual artists, put all of their passion in order to celebrate their city and its history.

These young talents used the Haydarpaşa Train Station of Istanbul, an emblem of the city, in the cleverest way, not only as a simple screen for their projection but as a vivid element of it. Through constant transformations, Haydarpaşa Train Station becomes a metaphorical map. "Yekpare", as they explain us, was conceived as a storyteller who narrates the 8500 years chronicle of Istanbul. The installation embraces symbols from Pagans to Roman Empire, from Byzantine Empire to Latin Empire, and finally from Ottoman Empire to Istanbul at present. The result is a stunning experience, a never ending wonder to time and form, a pure visual journey to the heart of a city and its millions of stories, blended together in the most surprising way.

Haydarpaşa Train Station, according to Wikipedia, was built on water in 1906 – 1908 by German architects and was presented as a gift to the Ottoman Emperor by his contemporary German Emperor, Kaiser Willem II.  It is a very significant historical, architectural, cultural and sociological monument for Istanbul–and especially for migrants from Anatolia, the Eastern part of Turkey because for decades it has been the entry point of those migrants to Istanbul. The project's historical and political connotations, Haydarpaşa Train Station’s geographical positioning/depth of field and the fact that the entire show can be watched from Kadıköy coast make "Yekpare" a breathtaking experience. Unfortunately, Yekpare was screened only during three days, but all of you that didn’t have the luck to watch it live can enjoy it through Vimeo.



Deniz and Candaş notice that the first day of the performance also coincided with the 47th anniversary of the death of Nazım Hikmet Ran, the famous Turkish poet. And they say goodbye with a quote from his epic novel Human Landscapes from "My Country that served them as their inspiration": “At Haydarpaşa Train Station, in the spring of 1941, it is 3 o’clock. Sun, exhaustion and rush lay on the stairs...” What more could we say?



CREDITS
Art Direction & Visuals:
 Deniz Kader – Candaş Şişman


Music & Sound Design:
 Görkem Şen


Project Management:
 Erdem Dilbaz



Technical Advisors: Refik Anadol - Alican Aktürk (GRIDUO.com)

Modelling: Gökhan Uzun – Can Dinlenmiş (prospektif.org)


Special Thanks to: Efor Production, Visio – Vox, Sinevizyon, Yakup Çetinkaya, Gökhan Kurtuluş, Lokman Doğmuş, Baran Güleşen, Ümit Özdemir, Tolga Dizmen, Yunus Dölen, Murat Durusoy, Ahmet Türkoğlu, Mustafa Nurdoğdu, Burhan Ersan.
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from  yatzer