Within the Scope of the 27th International Istanbul Puppet Festival – Interview

The Karagöz Tradition in Turkish Theatre

In this talk, we will discuss Karagöz in detail and how we can better understand the art of Karagöz. We will discuss this in depth and discuss how we can better understand it. On November 2nd at 1:00 PM at the Altunizade Cultural Center.

Cengiz Özek:

Born in Istanbul in 1964, he graduated from the Theater Department of the Istanbul Municipal Conservatory. He studied illumination, miniature, hand-carved ornamentation, and restoration at the Department of Traditional Turkish Decorative Arts at Mimar Sinan University and at the Turkish Decorative Arts Course organized by Ord. Prof. Dr. Süheyl Ünver. He served as a consultant and ornamentalist in the restoration of numerous historical artifacts.
He learned how to make Karagöz figures from his middle school art teacher, Ali Kıyak. He expanded his knowledge and experience by researching various museums and collections. Today, the Karagöz figures he crafted from camel leather are in the collections of various museums, including the Netherlands National Museum.
He performed Karagöz plays, held exhibitions, and gave seminars at numerous international festivals. He participated in the founding of the Turkish Performing Arts Museum and served as the museum’s advisor on Traditional Turkish Theater. He worked as a manager, actor, assistant director, and director at various theaters in Istanbul. He created the sets and posters for many plays. He founded the “Kenter Gallery” in the foyer of the Kenter Theater, where young artists could exhibit their works, and served as its artistic director.