MEDİNE MAMEDOĞLU

 Amed (Diyarbakır)- The 9th Amed Theater Festival, which kicked off in Amed on April 18, will end on April 28. Theatre plays in Kurdish and its dialects, Armenian and Turkish have been performed at the festival. In addition to the theatre plays, many panels and cultural activities have been held at the festival.

NuJINHA spoke to theatre players, who participated in the festival from Saqqez and Urmia, cities in Rojhilat Kurdistan (Eastern Kurdistan or Iranian Kurdistan). In the interview with NuJINHA, they emphasized the unifying power of art.

 Sümbül Suceiy, one of the members of the Koma Argeş theatre group from Urmia who staged a theatre play called “Efsaneya hespên azad (English: The Legend of Free Horses) at the festival, was happy because their performance was watched by hundreds of people.

‘Cultural amalgamation is good for all of us’

Sümbül Suceiy thinks that the festival is very important to preserve the Kurdish theatre. “We came here to perform at the Amed Theater Festival. We performed our play and watched many plays. We have gained many experiences. Being here and witnessing this moment are very valuable for us. Such a multilingual festival is held only in Amed in Turkey. We performed our play in Sorani (A Kurdish dialect). We have met theatre players from Amed and Batman. Cultural amalgamation is good for all of us. Amed is a beautiful city and its people are very hospitable.”

‘We should carry out many activities together’

Such festivals should be held more to bring Kurdish artists and culture together, Sümbül Suceiy stated, adding, “More festivals should be organized not only in the field of theatre but also all fields of art to preserve Kurdish culture and language. We should always stand with each other and carry out many activities together.”

Koma Ronya, a theatre group from the city of Saqqez, performed a play called, “ODIP” twice at the festival.

‘This festival was very productive for us’

“We are happy to be here,” said Sheypanuy Hadim, a member of the Koma Ronya. “Our group has participated in many programs in Rojhilat but this festival was very productive for us. We felt very excited while performing our play. Art has a binding and unifying power. We feel this power at this festival. People need such festivals. We have had very nice moments here. Kurdish people should stand with each other with their art and language. We came here to grow the unifying power of art. We are happy to preserve Kurdish theatre.”