Leaving a colorful mark on the future
LUSİ TEK
On Saturday, December 28th, I participated in the children’s workshop titled "Breathing with Colors," led by artist Neslihan Koyuncu Bali, at the 23.5 Hrant Dink Memory Site. As an educator who will work with children in the future, I joined this workshop to gain insight. This workshop was first held on April 20th, again at the Memory Site, as part of the event series titled "Call to Remember and Build an Alternative Future: Join us at the 23.5 Hrant Dink Site of Memory."
After introducing the site, the workshop began with a discussion about the works and art of the conceptual artist Sarkis. The children then had the opportunity to leave their marks on Sarkis’ second permanent artwork at the site, “Children’s Rain Invocation with the Colors of the Rainbow at 23.5”.
Such events provide children opportunities to have an encounter with art, connect with the past, develop social awareness, enhance emotional expression skills, and strengthen their social abilities. They also contribute to raising creative, empathetic, and conscious individuals. As January 19th approaches, the children who participated in the "Breathing with Colors" event held at Sebat Apartment will remember Sarkis’ works, which offer profound meanings to viewers, even years from now.
The 23.5 Hrant Dink Memory Site was opened to visitors in 2019 at Agos newspaper’s former office in Sebat Apartment. Designed with the memory and symbolic significance of the building in mind, the space offers visitors a unique emotional and experiential journey with the realistic texture of its materials. During each visit, the area that moves me the most is Hrant Dink’s office and the balcony behind it, which houses the artwork Salt and Light.
Sarkis’s first permanent work at the site, Salt and Light, was designed to create a chapel-like atmosphere. On a balcony surrounded by wide windows covered with red and blue stained glass, there is a church vessel filled with salt and, above it, a "T"-shaped light that rhythmically fades and brightens. Sarkis created this work inspired by light and with the philosophy of "turning suffering into a treasure." The artwork also represents Kamp Armen and the children there. In the room titled "Atlantis Civilization" adjacent to the office, the story of Kamp Armen is shared with visitors.
During the workshop, the children left their fingerprints with paints in the seven colors of the rainbow on a round-edged mirror placed in the multipurpose event area, harmonizing with the windows of the building. This experience was enjoyable for both the children and their parents. The rainbow motif stood out as a symbol of a hopeful future and peace.
Bringing children together around a work of art, transforming them from mere spectators into individuals who engage with and even create art, was just one of the experiences the workshop offered them. This “engagement” and “creation” might seem like a simple activity involving finger painting. However, a fingerprint is unique; each mark left on the mirror with different colors carries a hopeful message to the future through the rainbow chosen as a metaphor. Just as Salt and Light represents the children of Kamp Armen, today’s children also left their marks on the future in different colors.
This workshop was inspired by the artist’s Respiro (Breath), exhibited at the Venice Biennale in 2015. Following the Biennale,Respiro was also exhibited at ARTER and Dirimart. Sarkis emphasizes the concepts of time, space, and memory in his works, using elements like light, color, and sound. The neon lights and fingerprints in Respiro take us back to the beginning of time, to the moment light first refracted, encouraging transformation, creation, breathing, and feeling.
At the start of the workshop, each child chose a color and left their fingerprint on the mirror, with some later deciding to change their color. Although they had never met before, the children collaborated with tolerance, respect for each other’s boundaries, and enjoyment. This workshop, held with seven children aged 11–13 from different backgrounds, showed me that people can work and create together in harmony.
In addition to the workshops and events held at the Memory Site, a series of talks titled “Conversations for Truth” will continue until January 18th to commemorate Hrant Dink and reconsider the historical context of his time. Details about the events can be found on the site’s social media accounts.
