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Türkiye: where art forms converge

Detention confronts freedom through poetry and photography

Turkey Long-term prisoners Health Facilities Torture
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Insights Focus

Inspected (Görülmüştür) is a Turkish organisation aiming to shed light on prisons in the country. Its name is a nod to the stamp used by penitentiary staff who mark prison mail for inspection. Each year, the organisation selects a theme, and prisoners are invited to produce art, including, stories, poems, paintings and cartoons on the topic. The works are then exhibited in cities across the country, as well as in Germany, Austria and France.

Inspected has teamed up with Redfotograf to facilitate a collaboration between 50 photographers and 50 political prisoners. Each prisoner submits a short story or a poem for which a photographer provides a photo to accompany and illustrate the submission. This partnership may involve several back-and-forth discussions to ensure the text and image speak to one another. The project culminates in the exhibition: ‘The Voice of Freedom’.

Adil Okay is a photographer and curator of the exhibition. Prison Insider met with him in February 2024 at the exhibitions’ venues in Paris, where he immersed us in the words and images of the project’s partnerships. Focus.

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I count the years inside with rosary beads
And also this disease of this age
Without letting the friends and comrades perceive
I pass through the doors of cruelty
Thresholds of pain I keep it beautiful
In front of the eyes …

And we love life enough to die for it
We live and resist Because resisting for freedom is living.

Halil Güneş

I was heartbroken. Even though I had never met him, I felt as if I had lost a family member.

A Word from the Photographer

Yüksel Uygun is a Turkish photographer, who primarily works with Sokak Fotoğrafçısı.

When I took this photo, we were crowded inside the entrance of the Association of Human Rights (İnsan Hakları Derneği - IHD)’s office in Istanbul. They prevented us from leaving through the entryway and by midday, all doors were blocked. We were unable to gather in Galatasaray Square to make a press statement, a right enshrined in our Constitution, in support of those who are sick or missing in detention.

I worked with Halil Güneş through the group Redfotograf, and by collaborating with him on the ‘The Voice of Freedom’ project. When I read his poem, the line ‘We love life enough to die for it’ deeply moved me. Some time later, I learnt that Halil had died in prison, and I was heartbroken. Even though I had never met him, I felt as if I had lost a family member.

Yüksel Uygun is a Turkish photographer, who primarily works with Sokak Fotoğrafçısı.

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The Price of Negligence

Halil Güneş was incarcerated for 29 years in Diyarbakır prison, an open, Category D facility.

In the early 2000s, doctors detected dozens of tumours in his lungs. He later underwent surgery for broken ribs after being tortured in prison. Güneş was also diagnosed with bone cancer. He suffered from glaucoma, epilepsy and kidney stones. He was constantly on a saline drip. At night, he wore a respirator due to his sleep apnoea. He had difficulty walking and speaking. His cellmates provided his personal care.

In November 2013, a report form Diyarbakır hospital stated that Güneş could no longer remain in detention, as he could not receive appropriate treatment in prison. Over the course of his sentence, Güneş’ lawyer made several requests for his release, noting that his condition was deteriorating day by day.

Halil Güneş died in prison on 15 December 2021. He never had the chance to see the culmination of this project.

Interviewed by Mehdi Faïez

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Collectif Vu

Le Collectif Vu (Görülmüştür) est une organisation turque qui vise à mettre en lumière les prisons du pays. Le nom de l’organisation fait référence au tampon de contrôle apposé par les autorités pénitentiaires sur les enveloppes de correspondance. Chaque année, un thème est choisi et des personnes détenues sont invitées à produire des œuvres d’art telles que des peintures, des histoires, des poèmes et des caricatures. Les œuvres sont ensuite exposées dans plusieurs villes du pays, ainsi qu’en Europe.

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