Shermin Langhoff, Fatih Akin and other supporters answer this question in a solidarity campaign for Osman Kavala
What did Kavala do?
Shermin Langhoff, Fatih Akin and other supporters answer this question in a solidarity campaign for Osman Kavala, a cultural benefactor imprisoned in Turkey.
Under the banner of “Artists United for Osman Kavala,” notable representatives from the arts, politics and civil society have begun an initiative to raise international awareness about Osman Kavala’s case and support his allies in Turkey.
In addition to Kavala’s friends and collaborators, the supporters of “What did Kavala do?” include artists, intellectuals, activists and more. They include the filmmakers Fatih Akin and Atom Egoyan, composer Zülfü Livaneli and artist Banu Cennetoğlu, author Sibylle Berg and actress Katja Riemann, human rights activist Peter Steudtner and the general secretary of the German section of Amnesty International Markus N. Beeko, Maxim Gorki Theatre Artistic Director Shermin Langhoff and Goethe Institute Secretary General Johannes Ebert, other friends of Turkey such as businessman Edzard Reuter, as well as politicians including Berlin Deputy Governing Mayor and Senator for Culture and Europe Klaus Lederer, Members of the Bundestag Claudia Roth and Cem Özdemir, and many more.
Under the title “What did Kavala do?” they will illustrate, in daily video messages on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, Osman Kavala’s devotion to culture and social understanding, as well as his significance for civil society in Turkey—and beyond its borders.
“Artists United for Osman Kavala” is an initiative from filmmaker Fatih Akin and theatre-maker Shermin Langhoff.
Shermin Langhoff, Maxim Gorki Theatre artistic director: “This moral courage, this belief in art as a possibility for encounters and dialogue, the spaces of opportunity that Osman Kavala created for art and utopian thought about peace, freedom and equality, also motivate us to keep going. He is our role model. Through our initiative we want to raise awareness about Kavala’s case on an international level and persuade more people to support his cause.”
Filmmaker Fatih Akin: “This action is a bond of friendship from all participants, dedicated to Osman Kavala, a humanitarian in prison.”
For the last 946 days, the Turkish benefactor and supporter of art and culture Osman Kavala has been imprisoned in Silivri’s high-security wing. Founder of the Anadolu Kültür cultural foundation, he was charged with co-organising the Gezi protests in 2013. After more than two years in pretrial detention, Osman Kavala was initially discharged in February of this year only to be arrested again, just a few hours later, for participating in the attempted coup in July 2016. The European Court of Human Rights found his imprisonment to be illegal and called for Kavala’s release. On May 12, 2020, Ankara’s appeal against the Strasbourg Court’s ruling was rejected.
More about the campaign can be found on www.artistsunitedforosmankavala.com.
Please contact us at berlinforkavala [at] theater-findet-stadt.de with any questions.