HYMNES OF THE STREET NO. 38
MEDIUM: AUDIO
“Hymnes of the Street No. 38 finds its roots in street music, ones that are deeply intertwined with both Anatolian scales and also European tango. Its nature is to be appreciated and recognized by the general public and is commonly accompanied by an accordion. Although this piece was primarily not written as a protest song, its geographical position transformed it with time to be so. As a heavy enthusiast for solitude, I have always preferred waltzing around empty streets and from time to time, being accompanied by the voice of an accordion playing Hatırla Sevgili. At times when this waltz was first composed, that remoteness was what freedom meant to me, yet right now it's streets filled with protest, filled with crowds screaming for justice. We live in a state where law has failed us, failed its youth and elderly, failed those who were murdered by men whom the fuero is eager to protect, failed by a regime that's determined to alienate its people from the concept of hope itself. That hopelessness is the biggest loss that the Turkish people experience, because it brings silence with itself. Yet the young are still eager to fight for the future they were forsaken. Numerous university students are being arrested at the light of dawn for simply protesting. While children cannot spend the holiday with their families because they were arrested without constitutional justification, our culture is not a religious holiday that the youth are not given the chance to attend; it is synonymous with protest. The fight for freedom was always a part of the political climate here and as a result, the art we created for love and self-expression is bound to be a part of that tradition. My art, whether amateur or not, was not written with my mind on the revolution, but my mind waltzed itself back to the streets and the folklore they tell us.”
Asya (or Reverie), 19, İstanbul - Turkey ✯ IG: @asyaorl_
“Hey, I'm Asya (or Reverie) and I'm a 19-year-old girl from İstanbul who's hoping to become a film scoring composer one day.”