The project

Celebrations, everyday life, joys, sorrows ...

How are they remembered by the people born on one side of the Aegean and growing up on its other side, due to politics?

In an attempt to study and rescue our common intangible cultural heritage, the non-profit civil organization Diadrasis from Greece and the Selcuk Efes Collective Memory Center from Turkey will create a short documentary with oral testimonies of their ceremonial celebrations.

The present project aims at tracing and documenting, through oral history, the intangible heritage of Turks and Greeks, focusing on the culture of celebrations of the area of Selcuk, which the Greeks called Άγιος Θεολόγος (Agios Theologos) and the Ottomans Ayasoluk, in the province of Izmir and its village  Sirince (Κιρκιντζές), located 6 km east of the town.

Turkey and Greece have a long common history, as both populations inhabited the same areas for centuries. This cohabitation was interrupted violently and people tend to forget that they have more similarities than differences.

Whispers of a Common Past was awarded as the Best Cross - Border Project 2014 in the category of Heritage for Tandem project.

Contents

Within the framework of  EU-funded program TANDEM-Cultural Managers Exchange Turkey-EU, the non-profit civil organization DIADRASIS from Greece and Selcuk Efes Collective Memory Center from Turkey created the Whispers of a Common Past activity, which will begin in October 2013 and it will last one year. The aim of this action is to explore and record the similarities in ceremonial celebrations between Turks and Greeks who once shared the same land, in Selcuk (Agios Theologos) in the province of Smyrna.

Turkey and Greece have a long common history, as both populations inhabited the same areas for centuries. This cohabitation was interrupted violently and people tend to forget that they have more similarities than differences. The impact of these traditions and the influence they exert on the younger generations will be the subject of the survey, which will be conducted through interviews.

Aim of this project is to analyze the existing archives, literature and films so as to bring out, through interviews,  the reflection of traditions on the new generations. At its completion we wish to create a documentary  on shared customs in celebrations, projected in two events , one in Turkey and one in Greece, promoting Greek-Turkish reconciliation.

The project will run from October 2013 – October 2014