As part of READ (Regional Network for Cultural Diversity) residency programme, a project funded by the EU, in October Qendra Multimedia from Kosovo welcomed the Turkish curator
Şafak Ersözlü, project director/sound designer Sarp Keskiner, and poet Ünal Ersözlü as artistic residents in Prishtina to present their project“Pedestrians on the Stoney Bridge”.
Funded by British Council Turkey; “Pedestrians on the Stoney bridge” is a multi-faceted / inter-disciplinary project designed and curated by Şafak Ersözlü and produced by Sarp Keskiner that
includes public contemporary performances executed on historical public bridges in five towns of Izmir, Turkey and harbors photo- memory interviews made with displacedpeople based in various cities and countries.
Regarding historical heritage and public memory, stone bridges are taken as trans-cultural assets that harbor the collective memory of communities as enabling random
encounter of peoples, while creating tolerance and curiosity. Nevertheless, public bridges are chosen on purpose in order to enable a maximum of accessibility of locals with various backgrounds, ages and genders while serving a chance to emphasize equality, diversity and transition of identities. Family photos are taken as media that bridge the gap between yesterday and today, and mediate the sensations that memory awakens in the body.
Sound designs composed by Sarp Keskiner based on interviews; pre-recorded poems of Ünal Ersözlü and soundtracks composed by Nick Rothwell establish the sonic groundwork of performances
curated by Metehan Kayan and Yazı Ece Köz. The production phase of the project is finalized with the launch of the exhibition in April in Izmir, at K2 Performance art space and video documentary of the project directed by Jack Nelson was launched in August 2023.
Sarp Keskiner
