Agir û Dawet/The Fire and the Wedding’ video exhibition that featured the videos produced by Artıkişler and Karahaber Video Collective over the last decade together with Colemêrgî (people from Hakkâri) waste paper collectors was held at Sümerpark Amed Art Gallery January 20-February 5, 2013. Agir û Dawet/The Fire and the Wedding videos documented the struggles faced by the villagers of Kotranis in Hakkari, who were forced to migrate after the state evacuation in 1994 to Türközü, the shantytown near the big garbage dump in Ankara, to survive and preserve their identities by collecting waste paper in the city center in the late 90s. The exhibition constituted a visual memory in a new living space after forced migration, recorded by videographers and the paper collectors themselves at weddings, funerals, fights, on the street, and at home since 2001.

At the opening of the exhibition Agir û Dawet/The Fire and the Wedding on January 20, 2013, a panel and forum were organized in conjunction with the exhibition to discuss forced migration in Turkey and its aftermath. At the event, journalist İrfan Aktan, artist and academic Pelin Tan, sociologist Ruken Ergüneş, video activists Oktay İnce and Alper Şen, Özge Çelikaslan from Koza Visual Culture and Art Association, paper collector activist Şanlıbey Alabay from Katık Magazine, paper collector wedding videographers Emin Çelikok (Ankara) and Selami Çelikok (Colemêrg) and paper collector wedding video editor Lokman Temel (Ankara) shared their experiences.

Held March 18-April 21, 2012 at Istanbul DEPO, the Diyarbakır exhibition Agir û Dawet/The Fire and the Wedding was re-curated for Diyarbakır by Artıkişler and Karahaber Video Collective. The exhibition was organized by Koza Visual Culture and Art Association in collaboration with Diyarbakır Arts Center and Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality, and supported by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung and Anadolu Kültür.

The Fire And The Wedding Booklet