At the opening of painter Gökhan Aslan’s exhibition Projection of Silent Memory, Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality Co-Mayor Serra Bucak stressed that it is an important responsibility to tell the stories not only of the women shaped by Mesopotamia’s thousands of years of history, resistance and labour, but also of the women who are leading the way today.

The exhibition Projection of Silent Memory, featuring paintings and sculptures by Gökhan Aslan, opened at the Diyarbakır Promotion, Culture and Solidarity Foundation (DİTAV) Culture and Arts House. Dedicated to International Working Women’s Day on 8 March, the opening was attended by Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality Co-Mayor Serra Bucak, municipal council members, DİTAV Diyarbakır Branch Chair Şeyhmus Diken, and many art lovers.

Speaking at the opening, painter Gökhan Aslan said they had decided to organise such an event to mark International Working Women’s Day. Curator Özlem Atalay said that the exhibition aims to tell the story of the resistance of Mesopotamian women.

Co-Mayor Bucak: Valuable for our city

Thanking those who contributed to the exhibition, Co-Mayor Serra Bucak said that art has the power to transform, to challenge and to open up discussion. In this sense, she noted that it is valuable for the city that DİTAV hosts exhibitions of this kind and takes the lead in artistic gatherings that contribute to public debate, plurality, multilingualism and multiculturalism.

‘Amed is a city of culture and the arts’

Stressing that Amed is a city of culture and the arts, Co-Mayor Bucak said this is far from being an empty phrase and drew attention to the city’s deep experience and accumulated heritage in this field. She added that they do not view the concept of local governance as limited to municipalities alone, but see civil society, individual artists working in the field of culture and the arts, and all organised structures active in this area as part of that understanding.

‘It is not easy to tell the story of Mesopotamian women’

Co-Mayor Bucak said that telling the story of Mesopotamian women is no easy task. She stressed that it is an important responsibility to tell the stories not only of the women shaped by Mesopotamia’s thousands of years of history, resistance and labour, but also of the women who are leading the way today. Congratulating all women on International Working Women’s Day on 8 March, Bucak also thanked the artists who make visible through art the values brought to light by pioneering women, as well as the art lovers who took part in the gathering.

The exhibition will remain open to visitors for one month.