Organized by the Diyarbakır Photography Amateurs Association (DIFAK) in partnership with Diyarbakır Arts Center and in collaboration with Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality, ‘The Power of Emptiness’ exhibition was held within the scope of the 3rd Diyarbakır International Photography Days, which took place in Diyarbakır October 16-18, 2015, with the support of Anadolu Kültür and Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. The event kicked off on October 16, 2015, Friday at 18:00 at the Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality Exhibition Hall with the opening of the exhibition ‘The Power of Emptiness’ by São Paulo-born photographer Norair Chahinian. As a fourth-generation descendant of an Armenian family displaced from Anatolia, Chahinian returned to Anatolia from Brazil and traced his family’s history back to his family’s hometowns of Maraş and Urfa, as well as many other places in Anatolia where Armenians lived. ‘The Power of Emptiness,’ which was exhibited at İstanbul Depo May 2015, explored the possibilities and impossibilities of returning to one’s roots and bearing witness from the ‘inside’.

Organized around the theme of ‘border’ and bringing together photography artists, journalists and academics from Turkey, Armenia, Iraqi Kurdistan, the United States and Brazil, the Photography Days program included exhibitions, talks, screenings, portfolio readings and workshops. As part of the program, Stanley Greene, a master photographer known internationally for his work in conflict zones, held a portfolio reading event with Diyarbakır photographers at the Diyarbakır Arts Center October 15, 2015. Alongside the panels held with photographers including Bnar Sardar, Aram Karim, Savaş Boyraz, and Anush Babajanian, the main exhibition at the Sümerpark Amed Art Gallery featured the works of We Photos from Diyarbakır; Sabiha Gökçe, Yusuf Aslan and İsmail Gökçe from Turkey; Armenian artists Anush Babajanian and Berge Arabian; Ali Arkady, Bnar Sardar and Aram Karim from the Kurdistan region; as well as DIFAK. The exhibition and panel discussions held during the 3rd Diyarbakır International Photography Days were organized in partnership with Diyarbakır Arts Center, Nar Photos, Anadolu Kültür, and Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.