WinterStations 2018 – RIOT, Toronto Beaches, Canada (Participant)
Yağmur Yenice, Sabahattin Sakallı, Hande Kalender, Burak Can
Social movements and uprisings have made it possible for cities and streets to form a political culture that has turned into an occupation.
Nowadays, with the development of communication technologies, social movements have been able to escape from local limitations to spread transnational influence.
These movements are significant to common interests (anti-capitalism, minority, eco-political, anti-war and anti-racist movements, women’s movements) and collective memory.
Hardt and Negri have mentioned diversity in new social movements in their book, Commonwealth.
“…protests, the anger of the protesters is intertwined with the joy they receive from Carnival a street Festival” (Hardt and Negri, 2004:12).
Described as a street festival, “Carnival” creates a path to the streets of Turkey. These streets can be observed by looking through the recycled cardboard tubes or by following the shadows of the images on the ground with the sun’s movement throughout the day. The refreshment of the collective memory lets visitors remember the conflicts in Taksim square on the 1st of May celebrations protests against hydroelectric power plants, Taksim Gezi Park occupations.
The street is the instrument and the space for defending existing rights, demanding new ones, and interfering in public policy.