First theater festival in Rojava
QAMIŞLO (DİHA) - The city of Qamişlo is hosting Rojava's first theater festival this week.
The festival, taking place over seven days at the Mihemed Şexo Culture and Art Center, had its opening ceremony recently on March 27, World Theater Day. Actors from as far away as the city of Ranya, in Southern Kurdistan, headed to the city in Cizîrê Canton for the festival. 10 theater troupes are competing in the festival.
The festival is dedicated to the memory of the Kurdish actor Erdoğan Kahraman (nom de guerre Yekta Herekol). After a long period in the theater in Turkey in which he experienced discrimination and difficulty, Yekta joined the HPG ranks. In 2004, on World Theater Day, Yekta lit himself on fire in the Syrian city of Aleppo.Yekta's sacrificial action has become a symbol for Kurdish artists working in the field of theater in the context of nation-state oppression.
"As culture and art workers in Qamişlo, we are holding this festival to give a space to Kurdish theater," said Daliya Mistefa, co-chair of grassroots culture and art movement Tev-Çand.
(cm/nt)
