Şimdi Now, Berlin (27 August–4 September 2004)

The festival series, which started in Berlin in 2004 with the title “Şimdi Now”, continued with “Şimdi Stuttgart” organised in Stuttgart in 2005 and “Turkey Now” organised in Amsterdam and Rotterdam in 2007.

Aimed at having a journey in time and space, these festivals are musical journeys that range from classical to popular music, world music to new musical styles, traditional to contemporary art, and moves from a rich past to today’s dynamic and modern Turkey.

As the first leg of the festival series, Şimdi Now offered art lovers around 50 activities including concerts, exhibitions, theatre and dance performances, comedy shows, conferences and film screenings in Berlin’s 20 prominent venues during 9 days in 2004.

With this festival, Berlin had another chance to know about one of the most dynamic and rich cultures of Europe. The festival program, which reflects a creative potential that brings together the traditional with the new through humour and with a cheerful approach, managed to exhibit this most significant characteristic of the Turkish culture which embodies a lively and continuous interaction between Eastern and Western cultures.

The climax of the program was Tarkan’s Arena concert, Sertab Erener and Sezen Aksu’s concerts at the Tempodrom, Fazil Say’s project with Sertab Erener, which was held at the Konzerthaus, Guher and Suher Pakinel’s concert with Die Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen conducted by Paavo Järvi, as well as Ferhan and Ferzan Önder’s and Toros Can’s recitals at the Philharmonie.

Along with these, jazz master and percussionist Burhan Ocal’s performance with Trakya All Stars and Paco de Lucia at the Tränenpalast, versatile musician, composer and DJ Mercan Dede’s performance, İlhan Ersahin’s Wax Poetic project and Sultan Tunç’s concert with Aziza A. and Eastenders also stand out.

In the conference titled “How far Europe can go?” held at the Neuhardenberg Palace, Turkey’s accession to the European Union was discussed. A series of films from award-winning contemporary Turkish directors, which had been shown in Turkey but not in Berlin until that time, were offered to viewers at the Arsenal Movie Theatre. Writers, not yet discovered by Germany, read excerpts from their works at Literarisches Colloquium Berlin. Moreover, German-Turkish stand-up artists entertained their audience at the Werkstatt der Kulturen with their special shows.

First performed in 2003, a co-production of Tanztheater Wuppertal-Pina Bausch and Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts, Pina Bausch’s work titled Nefes, which is about Istanbul, was performed at Volksbühne, Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz.