Chapul’LA: Turkish American Gezi Program Exhibit

Chapul’LA: an evening of art, music, food, and chapulling @ Highways Performance Space and Gallery | 1651 18th St. Santa Monica, CA 90404
September 14, 2013 | 6 PM-10PM

The Los Angeles Gezi Platform, in association with Highways Performance Space and Gallery, brings together artists from the Turkish-American community in California for an evening of art, music, food, and chapulling at 1651 18th St. in Santa Monica, CA. Chapul’LA will feature a travelling exhibit of photos curated by the Turkish American Gezi Platform in San Francisco, as well as original artwork, interactive performances, and various inter-media installations by local artists in support of the ongoing Gezi Park protests in Turkey.

The Gezi Park protests, which started in defense of the few remaining green spaces in Istanbul on May 28, 2013, gave rise to a massive social movement in Turkey against the ruling AK Party and Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s increasingly autocratic measures. Interest groups include public employees, workers, students, academics, journalists, several LGBQT and women’s rights NGOs, and ordinary citizens who unite under the common urgency to restore basic human rights. Since the break of the peaceful protests, five demonstrators have been killed by direct police hit and hundreds have been injured by excessive police force and tear gas. The title of the exhibition, Chapul’LA, calls for global solidarity as it playfully combines LA—for Los Angeles—and the Turkish word, çapulcu—meaning hoodlum, good-for-nothing, looter—which Erdogan used in an attempt to denigrate the protesters.

Participating artists and performers include Imge Akcakaya, Senem Aktuccar, Renee T. Coulombe, Ilknur Demirkoparan, Vuslat Demirkoparan, Beliz Iristay, Arzu Arda Kosar, Arzu Ozkal, Jamex de la Torre, and Yarn Bombing Los Angeles. The evening will also kick off the second round of the traveling photo series, Gezen Gezi, originally exhibited on June 29, 2013, by the Turkish American Gezi Platform in San Francisco.

Highways Performance Space is Southern California’s boldest center for new performance. Approaching its 25th year, Highways continues to be an important alternative cultural center in Los Angeles that encourages radical artists from diverse communities to develop and present innovative new works. Highways is dedicated to promoting interaction among people of diverse cultural backgrounds, and to engaging artists and the communities they serve in cross-cultural dialogues about social, cultural, and artistic issues.

The Los Angeles Gezi Platform is a non-profit independent group formed organically by concerned citizens of the Turkish-American community in Southern California toward improved democracy worldwide. It is committed to open-dialogue, free debate, and information on issues that concern the events taking place in Turkey. Chapul’LA is partially supported by the generous donations of the Pulse Arrhythmia Group and Yarn Bombing Los Angeles.

General Information:

Tickets: $10, suggested minimum donation, available at the door and online. Sponsorship opportunities with special donation packages are also offered. All proceeds go toward funding the activities of the LA Gezi Platform. For more information please click here.

Email: chapulLA2013@gmail.com
Website: http://lageziforum.weebly.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chapulLA2013

Date and Time:
September 14, 2013 | 6 PM – 10 PM

Address:
Highways Performance Space @18th St. Arts Center
1651 18th St. Santa Monica, CA 90404
1/2 block north of Olympic Blvd.