IMM President Ekrem İmamoğluopened the exhibition, which was prepared with the photographs of Ergun Çağatay, as part of the 60th anniversary of labor migration to Germany, together with Johannes Regenbrecht, Consul General of Germany in Istanbul. In his speech at the opening, İmamoğlu stated that the world is facing a major migration problem and said, “Leaving the issue of migration only to the addressee, to those who suffer, means not understanding the world. It is the common responsibility of the whole world to improve the factors that cause people to migrate and to stop the migration," he said.
Taksim Art Gallery, with the support of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and in cooperation with the Goethe Institute – Ruhr Museum, “We are here. Turkish – German life 1990. Ergun Çağatay Photographs” started to host the exhibition. The opening of the exhibition consisting of 116 pieces of photographs, IMM President Ekrem İmamoğlu, Istanbul Germany Consul General Johannes Regenbrecht and Goethe Institute Director Mani Pournagi Azar, the wife of Ergun Çağatay, the creator of the exhibition selections, Kari Çağatay, and representatives from the Ruhr Museum.
JOHANNES REGENBRECHT : “LIFE OF GUESTS WAS NEVER EASY AT THE BEGINNING”
Starting his speech in Turkish with the phrase "Values are guests, my dear friend", Istanbul German Consul General Johannes Regenbrecht said, "The lives of the guests who came to the country were not easy at first. They worked as unskilled workers in difficult conditions. His children and grandchildren have an indisputable place in German society today. Children of former workers are today academics and athletes. turned into politicians, writers, artists.”
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said about Turks in the country, “You are not people with a migration story. Reminiscent of the sentence "Germany is a country with a migration story", Consul General Regenbrecht said, "For the last 60 years, we have been working for openness, tolerance and tolerance. We hope to continue this with Mr. İmamoğlu for the next 60 years.”
İMAMOĞLU: “THE EXHIBITION WILL LEAVE DEEP TRACES”
Joining his guest's wish with the words "We need to work for more than 60 years", İmamoğlu said that they have published a book on immigration to Germany and they have screened films. Sharing his wishes to Didem Şahin, the director of the movie "Bitter and Sweet", which was screened as part of the event, due to his illness, İmamoğlu said that he felt that the exhibition would leave a deep impression.
“COMMON RESPONSIBILITY TO STOP MIGRATIONS”
Emphasizing that the immigration problem is one of the most important issues in the world, İmamoğlu said, “I will not stop reminding this everywhere. Leaving this problem only to the person who is dealing with or suffering means not understanding the world. It is the common responsibility of the whole world to improve the factors that cause people to migrate and to stop migration. I invite all countries to look at the process from this perspective. The experience, of course, will be capital migration. These are the migrations of people from time to time with their own preferences. I wish that no one in the world has to migrate due to war, famine or other tragedies.”
Mani Pournagi Azar, Director of the Goethe Institute, who made the opening speech of the exhibition, was the President of IMM for their support to the exhibition. Ekrem İmamoğluthanked him. IMM President Ekrem İmamoğlu After the speech, he examined the works in the exhibition together with Ruhr Museum Project Manager Meltem Küçükyılmaz and Goethe Institute Director Mani Pournagi Azar and got information about the content.
TWO MONTH FREE VISIT
“We are here. Turkish – German life 1990. Ergun Çağatay Photographs” exhibition consists of 116 pieces of photographs. In the exhibition, which will be open to visitors free of charge for two months, frames about the business and daily lives of Turks who immigrated to Germany are shared with the visitors.
Ergun Çağatay, whose exhibition selections were prepared from thousands of frames he immortalized for decades, was born in Izmir in 1937. He graduated from Istanbul Robert College. He started journalism by interrupting his education at Istanbul University Faculty of Law.
Çağatay started working as a photojournalist in 1974 by entering the GAMMA photography agency in Paris. In 1980, he signed many important collaborations with the Time/Life group in New York. Çağatay, who was seriously injured in the bomb attack of ASALA at Paris / Orly Airport in 1983, received burn treatment for a long time. The attack was a turning point in his life, and after this period he turned to intensive research, especially in the field of history.
His work on rare manuscripts in the Topkapı Palace Library has been published in many countries around the world, from Japan to Brazil. He prepared the book TURKEY for Nathan Publishing House in Paris. His most comprehensive project, “Turkic Speaking Peoples – Turkish Speakers” became one of his most influential works.
For the book he completed in 14 years, he traveled 110 kilometers and took 35 thousand photographs. The Turkish translation of the book was published in Istanbul in 2008. His other published book is 'Once Upon a Time in Central Asia'. Various exhibitions related to his book were opened.
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