Humorous and Iconic Memory of an Art Event

Assos International Performing Arts Festival, which§was held between the years 1995 and 1999 in Assos, in§a small village in the Western Turkey, is the topic§of this study. The festival was based on§site-specific art works which were produced in three§weeks in Assos and most of the time with the§collaboration of the local people. Local people§participated in the festival sometimes just by§openning their garden to theatre rehearsals or by§acting in the plays, or by helping to sew the§costumes.Through interviewing with the participants§of the festival, both with the artists and the local§people of Assos, it is asked how the festival was§remembered. The implications of commemorating the art§director of the festival, Hüseyin Kat rc o lu, who§died untimely in 1999, shows itself in various ways§including a reflection on his role between the§artists and the local people of Assos. Through§tracing the exciting, humorous and joyful moments in§the festival narratives, the interaction between the§festival and the everyday life in the village was§explored. Through the memoirs of the festival, this§study also discusses the emergence of contemporary§performing arts in Turkey in 1990s.