Reverse
November 2023 - April 2024
IZMIR
With gender equality workshops that discussed how to change the structures that arise from gender differences and lead to an unequal power relationship, as well as seminars, artist presentations, theater plays, exhibitions and artist speeches, the “Reverse” project brought together activities in many different disciplines. With events taking place every month from November to April, the project aimed to raise awareness to reverse perceptions that constitute basis for inequality and become social norms. It bred the hope for change against reproduction of patriarchy in all areas of our lives, and created an environment of dialogue with events demonstrating the possibility to look at the world from a different perspective.
“Reverse” discussed gender equality through culture and art activities in different areas suffering masculine domination in our daily lives, emphasizing its political, cultural and social importance.
The project opened in November with Murat Göç Bilgin’s “Men, Masculinity and Violence” seminar, where various aspects of the relationship between masculinity, patriarchy and violence were discussed. It continued in December with Azadeh Ramezani Tabrizi’s artist speech and Umut Aslan’s "Fatherhood Role and Perception of Fatherhood" seminar, which broke stereotyped judgments and address the concept of equal parenthood.
January schedule consisted of “A Beautiful Day in the Park,” theater play by Tiyatropolis discussing the issues of individual and freedom, where politics and comedy are intertwined, Ceren Suntekin’s “Equality Detectives” workshop for children of various age groups, and Nurgül Öz’s gender equality workshop, which discusses opening room for variability and uncertainty in a concept like gender, which is fixed, specific and based on contrasts. Ömer Tevfik Erten’s artist speech and Pınar Boztepe Mutlu’s “Ecofeminist Discourse and Artistic Narrative” seminars were in the February schedule.
In addition to workshops and seminars, the presentations “Feminist Criticism and Art” by Günseli Baki and “Feminist Theater” by Aysel Yıldırım, as well as the play “A Woman Awakens” by Boğaziçi Performing Arts Society were among the activities held within March. The exhibition of the art workshop of the project, “Walking the Night,” which began in December, opened its doors to the audience at the Odeon Pergamon Culture and Art Venue on 8 March. Bora Çınar’s artist speech and the play “Bir Meddah Yolculuğu” (A Meddah Journey) a different interpretation by Neslihan Arol to the male-dominated tradition of meddah, marked the end of the activities in April.
