GRUP YORUM

In the organizer's words:

1985, Istanbul: After the military coup of 1980, fear has a firm grip on the city and politicians want to depoliticize the people. But a group of students resist and found the band Grup Yorum - as a response to repression and silence, inspired by the resistance of the TAYAD movement, which fights against solitary confinement, torture and for the release of political prisoners. Their musical roots reach deep into Anatolia, to the voices and lyrics of persecuted poets and bards such as Ruhi Su, Mahzuni Şerif and Aşık İhsan. With changing line-ups, the band released over 23 albums and performed worldwide until they were banned from performing in Turkey in 2016 and then staged a protest in Istanbul in 2019: singer Hêlîn Bölek and her comrades-in-armsput their lives on the line in a hunger strike to end the censorship and persecution of artists. The strike ends with her death and burial under police violence. These experiences are reflected in Grup Yorum's art: In films such as TYP-F, which we are showing directly before the concert in the Alabama Cinema, and in songs that tell of life - of suffering and hunger, but also of dignity, joy and hope. When the bağlama sounds and dozens of voices sing together, there is an urgency that cannot be forbidden.

Price information:

VVK 20 Euro / B.O. 23 Euro (50 % discount with festival ticket)