To chase up a genocide: Cry of Silence
ŞERİFE ORUÇ
DİYARBAKIR (DİHA) - Antoine Agoudjian, a French artist of Armenian origin, has opened a photograph exhibition called “The cry of silence, traces of an Armenian memory” in a part of the old city walls in the main Kurdish city of Diyarbakır, called Keciburnu.
Antoine Agoudjian has dedicated his 27 years to following the traces of memories left by his grandparents who survived the genocide and took refuge in Marseille in 1923. Antoine travelled to make a photographic documentation of Armenian people in Syria, Aleppo, Georgia and Armenia.
He put the evocative images he took together in an exhibition he named “The Cry of Silence”. He opened an exhibition in 2011 in Istanbul. This was the first exhibition in Turkey on Armenian cultural memory and identity to be exhibited in the country since the 1915 genocide. His 2011 exhibition attracted great attention both in Turkey and France.
In March 2015, he published a book encapsulating 27 years of his photography, entitled Le cri du silence: traces d’une mémoire arménienne (The Cry of Silence, Traces of Armenian Memory). This body of work is currently exhibited in several venues around France, as well as and above all now in Amed in Keciburnu, for the centenary of the Armenian genocide.
The exhibition in Diyarbakır has been organised jointly by the Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality and Diyarbakır Trade Organisation. Antoine Agoudjian said he was pleased to be in Diyarbakır for the exhibition, adding that he opened the exhibition as he wanted people to see these historic images and that important projects can be pursued from a humane viewpoint.
'Kurds suffered Armenian Genocide in 90s'
Agoudjian said, "When I first stepped on the lands of Turkey and Armenia, I was deeply affected. It was not possible to come both Turkey and Armenia before. Life was fairly difficult for the people here. The 90s years of the Kurdish people was like that of Armenian Genocide in 1915. That is to say, the Kurds suffered Armenian Genocide in 90s."
The exhibition will remain open until 31 May.
(nt)
