War is the last thing anyone wants in our modern age. From past to present, Karagöz has existed across Greece, almost the entire Balkans, Cyprus, the part of North Africa up to Morocco, and the region including Lebanon, Palestine, and Israel, enduring into the 20th century and living on as an element of entertainment in the daily lives of the people there. Karagöz became a space of peace where different communities came together—an interactive arena in which they laughed at and appreciated each other’s differences and reached happiness together. Today we face the possibility of war in many of the lands where Karagöz has existed. Right now, Karagöz is sorrowful because of the war being experienced on those lands. We believe that war will in no way benefit any land or any people, and that we must move away from the idea of war as soon as possible. We wholeheartedly wish for the unifying effect of Karagöz to spread throughout the world so that peace may be achieved for everyone.
I present to you our festival, which to date has brought more than 200 performances from all around the world to our country and has brought together art lovers with some of the most distinguished examples of the art of puppetry, both traditional and modern. We think and hope that our festival will, to some extent, offer a breath of relief from the unhappiness we are currently experiencing for the entire Istanbul audience.
Kind regards
Cengiz Özek
Festival Director