Appreciating Istanbul in Lille

"Europe Extra Large," or Europe XXL, a four month-long cultural and artistic activity started last weekend in Lille, the capital of northern France. The event is the making of "Lille 3000," a body created following the success of Lille in 2004 as European Capital of Culture.

A praiseworthy organization brought to life thanks to efficient cooperation of local administration, private sector and cultural organizations; the kind of structure "Istanbul 2010" needs.

The European Union did not celebrate the enlargement of May 1, 2004 which closed the parenthesis opened in Yalta in 1945 and reunited the divided continent. Europe XXL is somewhat a small, yet meaningful, response to this disloyalty.

To the more, its slogan and content are surely provocative. A set of cultural and artistic activities to cock a snook at politicians who keep uttering European borders and to focus on the invisibility and fluidity of borders.

Artists from the three Baltic states and the Balkans, in addition to East German, Czech, Russian, Hungarian, Lech, Turkish, Romanian, Slovene and even Kazakh artists participated in the shindig.

It was quite meaningful to allow artists of post-communist-neo-European societies express the feelings and expectations of their environment, at just half an hour away from Brussels

Mayor of Lille Martine Aubry rebuffs the criticism of "having art during crisis." Mass celebrations are salutary practices of developed societies that have become the slaves of economy and money, to question themselves, in addition to collective joy, excitement and hope these celebrations generate. Sharing and dilapidating against accumulating!

Mayor said, "We set out the road by asking the question ’if Europe has still a message to the world’ and here is the result." She deserves to be proud. Europe XXL is a strong expression of a sharing and solidaristic Europe of these crisis times.

’Season of Turkey in France’ is actually given a start in Lille

Aubry is at the same time the first secretary of the French Socialist Party, namely she is the leader of the party. In her opening speech, she pointed at the ignorance and arrogance of the French right regarding Turkey. In France, you rarely hear a sentence like "Istanbul has also something to teach us," as she said.

In fact, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, trying to avoid Turks and Turkey fooling around right before the European Parliament elections of June had moved the "Season of Turkey in France" to July.

However, thanks to Europe XXL, which is an independent organization, the "Season" is given a de facto early start. At least you can be sure that Turks and Turkey will be talked a lot through Europe XXL in the north of France.

In the context of "Istanbul TraversŽe" or "Istanbul All Through", Ali Kazma, İnci Eviner, Sarkis, TsŽ-TsŽ, Osman Bozkurt, Hale Tenger, Atom Egoyan, Hussein Chalayan, Kutluğ Ataman, Burak Delier, Hüseyin Alptekin, Ceren Oykut, Ara Güler, Eric Gongrich, Corey Mc Corkle, Katja Eydel, Deniz Gül, Şener Özmen, Erkan Özgen, Erinç Seymen, Serkan Özkaya unite their creativeness in the second largest Fine Arts Museum of Europe in Lille.

You can check out Europe XXL at www.lille3000.com where you can find the calendar of events, as well as the pics of the stunning opening parade. In any case don’t miss it if you travel to Brussels or Paris; it is just next door.

Otherwise for those in Istanbul, the curator of "Istanbul TraversŽe," Caroline NaphŽgyi, will be at Meyra CafŽ in Cihangir today between 11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. to give an idea about the event.