Poet Arjen Arî, whose work occupies a significant place in modern Kurdish poetry and literature, will be commemorated on the 13th anniversary of his death with a series of events.

Arjen Arî, who passed away from cancer in Diyarbakır on 30 October 2012, will be remembered on the 13th anniversary of his death through various activities. This year, exhibitions, an award ceremony, a workshop, a panel and a concert organised by Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality’s Department of Culture and Social Affairs, Sor Publishing and the Arî family will be held on 22–23 November at the Çand Amed Culture and Congress Centre.

Arjen Arî Poetry Competition

The Arjen Arî Poetry Competition, organised every year by Sor Publishing and the Arî family in order to honour the Kurdish language and literature to which Arî devoted his life and to uphold the universal values of art, will this year present its main award to Mehmet Çalişçi, while the honorary award will go to the music collective Kardeş Türküler.

Exhibition, workshop and panel

On 22 November, between 13:00 and 18:00, the Arjen Arî Poetry Workshop will be led by Şehmus Kurt. Those wishing to take part can register by filling in the form available at https://forms.gle/rcFJYaG2EZCKvfqv5.

On 23 November at 17:00, a group exhibition entitled “Flowers of a Belated Spring” will open, featuring works by Beritan Aykut, Besna Acu, Dilan Yel, Ercan Altuntaş, Evin Çiftsüren, Fatime Ece, Hasan Basri Ankut, Hüseyin Kaplan, İlknur Çağır, Nuşen Özün, Özlem Yıldırım, Pîra Botan, Şevin Yel and Yusuf Can Sadık.

At 19:00, a panel discussion entitled “What Does Arjen Arî Tell Us?” will be held, with Sidîq Gorîcan, Dr Roger Acun and Rêdûr Dîjle as speakers.

Kardeş Türküler concert

The award ceremony, to be hosted by Zeynep Sultan Atlı and Armanc Dayan, will feature a short film on the life of Arjen Arî and a series of speeches, followed by a free concert by Kardeş Türküler and Agit Işık, bringing the programme to a close.