Turkey Now 2012 embodies four centuries of interaction
The celebration in 2012 of 400 years of diplomatic relations between the Netherlands and Turkey is the perfect occasion for the fourth edition of Turkey Now!, presenting spectacular programmes that highlight this special relationship.
Turkey Now! starts with an extraordinary opening concert in Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Eindhoven: the Metropole Orkest accompanies a special trio of popular, outstanding singers from Turkey – Leman Sam, the doyenne of Anatolian folk music and her daughters Sevval Sam and Sehnaz Sam. Together they sing the praises of Turkey’s musical history. In this special event they will share the stage with the Dutch pop singer Giovanca who has lived in Istanbul and has a strong connection with Turkish music, resulting in an exquisite cross-over.
Cross-pollination in theatre, music and dance
Pioneers of Turkish theatre in the Netherlands offer their humorous view of Turkish-Dutch relations in comedy cafés such as Toomlers. 400 years of Turkey–Netherlands is also expressed in the adventurous cross-overs of the Amsterdam Klezmer Band and the Turkish/Greek rebetika player Buzuki Orhan from Istanbul. For some time now there has been a lively coming and going of DJ’s between Istanbul, Amsterdam and Rotterdam. Turkey Now includes an “Istanbul route” with DJ’s from Istanbul and Dutch-Turkish DJ’s. The audience visits five different clubs to experience the Istanbul Night. We also focus on fifty years of immigration of Turkish citizens to the Netherlands. We now have three generation of Turks in the Netherlands, who during Turkey Now have exciting musical encounters with their colleagues from Turkey. One example is the concert of the band Arifa, co-founded by Turkish Dutchman Sjahin During, with the Kurdish-Turkish singer Aynur.
The road of Haga in 1612
What does it mean when you have two countries, two hands, two eyes, two ears and one mouth? The Dutch-Turkish jazz singer Esra Dalfidan and the popular writer Joke van Leeuwen explore this question in an appealing musical theatre production with a literary slant, De H van adem. Kervan shows the caravanserais on the Silk Road through Turkey. Weary travellers of Dutch caravans too were entertained with music and dance. The Turkish National Ballet presents a show telling the story of Evliya Celebi, the famous explorer and chronicler from Istanbul who is sometimes called the Marco Polo of the Orient and who travelled both east and west. Celebi offers us an attractive view of the road that was also travelled by Cornelis Haga in 1612, when he was appointed as the Dutch Republic’s first ambassador to the Ottoman court in Istanbul.