How many of us pay attention to the subway singers or dancing gypsies at the pier? What about the graffiti that some considers as vandalism? We could all agree on the fact that art brings us together. What about the art on the street? Does art have to be signed by Picasso to be appreciated?
If you have taken the ferry to get to Kadıkoy lately, you have probably been amazed by things other than the beautiful view of Bosphorus. A group of friends and I took the ferry from Beşiktaş to Kadıkoy to celebrate the amazing weather on Sunday, March 13th and came across even a greater celebration. People of Istanbul surely bumped into the gypsy dancers before at the pier; but what about the dancing college students, businessmen and all the others who cheer for the performers in a circle? We were shockingly impressed by the enthusiasm in Kadıkoy on Sunday that brought people together at a time like this, considering people were fighting at Taksim Square, about the same time for the journalism protest.
High school students dancing at the Kadikoy pier
The dancers got me thinking. Street art is
everywhere in İstanbul waiting to be spotted by its audience, trying to get us to question and criticize or simply appreciate things that are taken for granted such as a beautiful day after the days of harsh storm or a high school kid spraying the walls of Cihangir to tell the adults that something is just not right.
Many of us should be familiar with the Thriller performance that was held in Fall 2009 at Taksim Square. The over crowded city centre was filled with laughter and cheers and many were simply acting like crazy fans while watching the college student performance at the Square. The show was an actual thrill for many people who were watching the first live performance of their lives. I thought, again. İstanbul does have a nice voice sometimes.
College students doing Michael Jackson’s famous Thriller routine at Taksim Square
Coming back to the hot debate: Graffiti: street art or vandalism, taking a trip to Cihangir on Saturday cleared it out for me. I have realized that there was no problematic in this situation; just problems that are created by the elite residents of Cihangir whom could not bear the fact that teenagers were trying to ask questions to the well educated intellectuals of Istanbul. Some of the very promising graffiti I got to see on Saturday were designed by high school students. Extremely gifted teenagers sparing time to talk to us through art, I would love to be a part of vandalism of this kind. As a citizen of İstanbul, it truly makes me happy to see that İstanbul still has voice besides the fights in traffic or the beggar children. İstanbul also talks through dance, art and music. I would recommend everyone to take a weekend off just to see the street art and maybe join the street performers. Who knows? You might end up hearing something a lot different from the music itself. Graffiti on Başkurt Street, Cihangir.
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