Public Theater Experiences and Opportunities from Turkey
October 2023 - May 2024
BALIKESIR, ISTANBUL, IZMIR, EDIRNE, HATAY, DIYARBAKIR
Theater institutions in Turkey are classified into two categories as “state-funded” and “private,” where private theaters, which have a public function and seek public benefit, are treated as “companies” and deprived of financial support by the State. With more than 90 percent of their budgets comprising of public resources, state-funded theaters gain advantage against private theaters, which are fully treated as “companies” and left to the rules of the market. This causes theater communities, which carry out pluralistic, multicultural and rights-oriented activities, to face serious economic difficulties.
The goal of the project is to raise awareness about the contents, experiences and financial status of private theaters with public qualities, thereby contributing to democratization and pluralism in Turkey in the field of art for theater artists, spectators and local governments, as well as consideration of culture as a basic human right.
Eight video programs and a comprehensive special news were prepared within the scope of the project in order to make visible the approach of communities that work in a rights-oriented manner in the field of theater, ensure representation of disadvantaged groups and attach importance to the public identity of theater.
