Caricatures of Nazım Hikmet Exhibition Opens in Moscow
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The Caricatures of Nazım Hikmet exhibition has been opened in Russia's capital city of Moscow by the Chamber of Architects Ankara Branch, Association of Cartoonists, the Union of Russian-Turkish Businessmen and Nazım Hikmet Commemoration Committee.
With the opening of this exhibition, the events organized in Moscow to commemorate the late poet have also started.
The exhibition has been opened by Executive Board Chair of Chamber of Architects Ankara Branch Tezcan Karakuş Candan, Association of Cartoonists Chair Metin Peker, writer and musician Zülfü Livaneli, Nazım Hikmet Foundation representative Zeynep Oral, Nazım Hikmet Commemoration Committee Chair Ali Galip Savaşır, Russian-Turkish Businessmen Unions's Executive Board Co-Chair Sabahattin Yavuz, journalist Deniz Zeyrek, Republican People's Party (CHP) former MP Zeynep Altıok and cartoonist Igor Smirnov from Russia.
'We have an unbreakable relation with Nazım'
The opening speeches of the exhibition have been held by Tezcan Karakuş Candan and Metin Peker. In her speech, Candan has stated:
"Nazım says the following in his article 'I am Imagining' published on Soviet Architecture magazine: 'I am a writer and, as my profession requires, there is a strong blood relation between me and architecture. Architectural thought and principle of composition underpin artworks of every stripe, be that in music, painting or literature.'
"We have an unbreakable blood relation with Nazım Hikmet. Nazım's imagination, thoughts, resistance, love of his country and poems have built a future going beyond the boundaries and a bridge of fraternity. He is a great architect as well. The opening of Caricatures of Nazım Hikmet exhibition is one of the steps of this bridge."
'I remember him with respect'
Association of Cartoonists Chair Metin Peker has also said,
"Cartoonists from different countries of the world drew Nazım Hikmet. This time, the universality and thoughts of Nazım Hikmet have been expressed with caricatures. I remember the grandmaster Nazım Hikmet with respect."
Nazım Hikmet commemorated at his grave
In the commemorative event held after the opening of exhibition, Nazım Hikmet Commemoration Committee Chair Ali Galip Savaşır, Chair of Russian-Turkish Businessmen Association Naki Karaaslan and Zeynep Oral made the opening speeches.
Afterwards, musician Edip Akbayram and translator Dmitry Dmitrievich, who translated Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's "Nutuk" (The Great Speech) into Russian, were presented Friendship awards.
Nazım Hikmet has also been commemorated at his grave in Moscow in the 56th year of his death on June 3.
About Nazım HikmetNazım Hikmet Ran was born in Salonika in 1902. He was educated at "Mekteb-i Sultani", "The Nişantaşı Numune Mektebi" and then "The Heybeliada Naval Academy". But he left The Naval Academy due to poor health in 1920. He published his first poems in this period. At the beginning of 1921, he went to Anatolia to take part in the war of independence. His interest in the October Revolution in Russia took him to the USSR and he returned to Turkey as a committed marxist. Nazım Hikmet was imprisoned many times because of his poetry. The last charges brought against him resulted in a 28 year prison sentence in 1938 for inciting mutiny in the navy. A campaign in support of Nazım Hikmet's innocence started in 1949 in protest of his imprisonment and created significant reverberations abroad. With the passing of a general amnesty in 1950, Nâzım Hikmet was released from prison. Following his acquittal, Hikmet left the country because political pressure . He was extradited from Turkish citizenship in 1951. He died in Moscow where lived until 1963. * Source: Nazım Hikmet Culture and Art Foundation |
(EMK/SD)