Turkish authorities have reportedly shut down an art exhibition dedicated to Transgender history in the country.
The news was first reported by Art Newspaper on Thursday. Titled “Turn and See Back: Revisiting Trans Revolutions in Turkey”, the exhibition aimed to show the history of transpeople in the country. Amidst a strong anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment by the government, the show was not overtly advertised but only spread through word-of-mouth; despite this, hundreds of people showed up at the event. However, even as the event was going on, Turkish authorities came in and shut down the show on the orders of a district governor, who said that the show “incited… hatred”.
Anti-LGBTQ+ sentiments are not new in Turkey. The country’s populist president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s, has held a strong anti-LGBTQ+ stance throughout his regime, going as far as to call them “deviants”. The Istanbul Pride, the annual pride parade in the country, has been banned since 2015 on his orders.
Jiyan Andiç, co-curator of the show, said: “Calling people ‘illegal’ is part of a process that now aims to dehumanize and criminalize LGBT+ people. This exhibition was a way of saying: ‘We are not a threat, perverts or groups managed from abroad, but we have always been here.’” The show also drew ire for being held at the Depo Istanbul, established by Osman Kavala. Kavala was arrested in 2017 under terrorism charges after being accused of complicity in the 2016 attempted coup in Turkey.
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Despite the anti-LGBTQ+ sentiments, censorship like banning an art show has been rare in the country. Kültigin Kağan Akbulut, a Turkish media watchdog, said that this was the first art show banned in the country in over a decade.
