Vocational School of Justice
‘FROM DARK ROADS TO A COLORFUL LIFE’
‘FROM DARK ROADS TO A COLORFUL LIFE’
Syrian Refugees, who had to leave their homeland to start a new life unbeknownst to them, became an inspiration in projects of students of IUE Faculty of Fine Arts and Design. Seniors Emir Kalaycı and Volkan Şekerli, from Department of Interior Architecture and Environmental Design, reflected the drama of the Syrian refugees, who sailed from shores of Çeşme to Greece, in their “Renkli pencerelerden simsiyah gerçeklere bakmak (looking at pitch black realities through colorful windows)’’ titled project. Kalaycı and Şekerli pointed out that the refugees had to go through pitch black roads to get to a colorful life.
Kalaycı and Şekerli, who prepared their project under the guidance of lecturers Markus Wilsing, Thomas Keogh, Orlin Pontremoli, Didem Kan Kılıç, and Selin Gülden, stated that they found objects they used in their project at shores of Ceşme. Kalaycı, who gave information about the project, said, “Alaçatı, Güvercinlik Cove used to be a getaway place for us especially in summer time. When we visited in February, we came across something unexpected. There were tens, even hundreds of clothing, shoes, bags, etc. on the beach. Some were totally wasted, burnt, stuck in the sand. They had to burn some of the clothes to stay warm in the cold of February to protect themselves from harsh winds of Çeşme.”
‘Journey of hope’
Kalaycı said that they witnessed first-hand, everything they watched on TV about the refugees and that the shore was assigned a new meaning. He stated the following:
“Wondering whether those people made it across the shore in a stormy weather and thinking about all the drama they went through made us develop a whole new perspective. It made us witness pitch black realities through a colorful window. The first thing came into our minds was their struggle to hold onto their lives. We used left over objects of the refugees in our project. They planned to run away from war and live a peaceful, quiet life. Therefore, we named our project ‘looking at pitch black realities through colorful windows’”.