The 11th International Amed Theatre Festival, to be held by Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality from 22 April to 2 May, will bring together theatre companies from 19 countries under the theme “Dialogue for Peace”, turning the city into a multilingual and multicultural meeting point for the arts.

Operating under the Department of Culture, Arts and Social Affairs, Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality City Theatre (DBŞT) will host this year’s festival with the theme “Dialogue for Peace”. Running from 22 April to 2 May, the festival will welcome theatre companies from 19 countries to Diyarbakır. A total of 22 plays will be staged during the festival. Most performances will take place at the Çand Amed Culture and Congress Centre, while some will be presented in open-air venues. Alongside the performances, the programme will also feature talks, panels, workshops and artist meet-ups.

Theatre companies from a wide range of countries, including Italy, Switzerland, Iran, Syria, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine and Uganda, will share the same stage and contribute to intercultural exchange. Through artistic production, the festival aims to foster dialogue between different geographies.

“Dialogue for Peace” takes centre stage

Held under the banner of “Dialogue for Peace”, the festival places at its heart theatre’s power to build bridges between cultures, keep collective memory alive and create a voice in times of crisis. It also aims to strengthen theatre as a shared language, a space of solidarity and a field of collective memory.

İstersen bunu şimdi daha haber diliyle, daha akıcı ve daha “native” bir basın bülteni formatında yeniden kurayım.

‘We aim to bring artists’ experiences into view’

Festival Coordinator Berfin Emektar said the event aims in particular to make visible the experiences of artists producing work in war and crisis zones. “We see theatre not merely as an art form, but as a space where collective memory, women’s voices, cultural diversity and the will to live together find expression,” Emektar said.

She noted that the festival had received applications from 33 countries, but that participation was kept limited due to the duration of the event. She added that the programme had been prepared with a rich and intensive content.

Academic participation

In addition to international artists, the festival will also bring together academic circles. Participants will attend from theatre departments at universities in Berlin, Sudan, Ukraine, Sulaymaniyah and Duhok. Productions staged in different languages will feature surtitles in Turkish, Kurdish and English.

Master’s students from universities in Berlin will also follow the festival as part of their academic studies.

Invitation to audiences

Inviting all residents to attend, Festival Coordinator Berfin Emektar said: “It will be a multilingual, multicultural and multi-voiced gathering. We invite all our people to take part in this important festival.”

Festival programme

The full festival programme is available at the following link:

https://amedtheatrefest.org/program.html?festival_id=1&festival=11.+Festival