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  • Manage No, Sortation, Country, Writer ,Date, Copyright
    Manage No EE00000138
    Country Turkey
    ICH Domain Oral traditions and representations Performing Arts Social practices, rituals, festive events
    Address
    While Karagöz is widely known across Turkey, artists are more concentrated in cities such as Istanbul, Bursa, Ankara, Adana, Gaziantep and Izmir, where the audience potential is higher.
Description Karagöz is a form of shadow theatre where human, animal or object figures, known as “tasvir”s, are held in front of a light source and cast their shadows on a camel or ox-hide screen using horizontal rods. Karagöz is a mosaic of various art forms including poetry, narration, music and dance. All the elements of oral literature (tekerlemes (tongue-twister), bilmeces (riddles), supernatural stories, kılıklamas, repartees, exaggerations, puns, and so on) continue throughout the performance. The rhythm in which both dialogue and action proceed creating a form of expression that even those who do not know Turkish can appreciate. Once the play begins, an introductory figure, called “göstermelik” is placed on the screen in order to give the audience an idea as to the major themes of the play. The “göstermelik” can be either related to the play or not. “Scenery göstermelik” is shown till the end of play whereas “main göstermelik” removed just before the prologue. When the play begins, the göstermelik vanishes to the shrill sound of a whistle called “narake”. The characters in Karagöz are played by means of the tasvirs. The main characters are common for each play, yet the new characters are added by cutting new tasvirs. The main characters are Karagöz and Hacivat along with the others as Zenne, Çelebi, Tiryaki, Beberuhi, Laz, Kayserili, Kastamonulu, Rumelili Arap, Kürt, Arnavut, Frenk/Rum, Ermeni, Yahudi, Matiz, Külhanbeyi and some other entertaining characters (çengi –dancer-, köçek –dancer in woman’s garment, kantocu- fin-de-siècle cabaret chanteuse-,hokkabaz –illusionist- and cambaz- acrobat). “Hayali” is the person who actually runs the performance. He is the creative artist who directs and animates the whole proceeding, regulating the entire show on his own. During the play, he may make changes in the play depending on the audience atmosphere, such as updating topics, shortening or prolonging the scenes, adjusting the order of the scenes or completely taking them out. Karagöz artist can have one or more assistants, who are also called “hayali” or “hayalbaz”. “Sandıkkâr” is in charge of the instruments, while “yardak” sings and “dayrezen” plays the tef (tambourine). Karagöz artists come from a master-apprentice discipline. Apprenticeship begins with the actual attachment of rods to tasvirs and lasts until reaching the maturity to run a whole play. “The one who falls behind to be a good “yardak” cannot be a master Karagöz artist” clearly expresses the importance of master-apprentice relation in Karagöz. The comic elements are emphasized in Karagöz plays involving exaggerations, puns, and imitations of the regional accents.
Social and cultural significance Karagöz plays are always in a changing process in terms of its scenario, the music and the tasvirs as well. During the renewing process, the sense of identity is strengthened by the emphasis on the traditional and the content of the play texts underlining the values of humanity and nature is highly appreciated by the families, which bears the wish to safeguard Karagöz art. Karagöz art, along with creating intangible cultural heritage, has a crucial role in preventing generation gaps by the transmission of the art through master-apprentice relation to other generations. Karagöz has brought many young people on a shared cultural platform for decades through being transmitted by master-apprentice relation to next generations and Karagöz houses established by the associations, foundations and centers where performances and training courses on tasvir making are presented. The courses aforesaid are very important for the transmission of the art to other generations. Karagöz was played in coffee houses, gardens, circumcision feasts, houses and open areas during Ramazan in the past, which was limited as the means of communication. As for today especially in Ramazan, Karagöz is being performed at the squares of big shopping malls apart from performances at theatres, the halls of schools and the respective associations. The performances presented in those places draw the interest of the people visiting. Therefore, the interest towards Karagöz increases thanks to the awareness created through those public performances. Karagöz brings people closer while entertaining them through farce, music, dance, poetry and performance, hence contribute to world peace by motivating people towards good deeds, virtue and honesty. Karagöz art is also significant for the “handcrafts tradition” since it is performed employing tasvir -a kind of flat puppet- made of hide. Hence, Karagöz art contributes to cultural diversity and cultural creativity.
Transmission method It has been preserved in various provinces across Turkey, primarily in İstanbul and Bursa. Master- apprentice training has a vital role in safeguarding and developing this art. Nowadays, the number of the families wishing to train their children in this art has been increasing thanks to the perception of Karagöz art as a valuable art form both in economic and cultural sense. Karagöz courses and seminars, at times, are realized by Public Education and Training Centers affiliated by the Ministry of National Education in all provinces of Turkey and the young artists trained in those centers perform Karagöz plays at schools, particularly in primary and high schools. Karagöz has been drawing more interest by the help of newly flourishing shadow theatres, associations established to publicize this art and the performances at schools. The youth, applied for apprenticeship, have improved their skills as regards to not only playing Karagöz but also making tasvis by means of the courses and seminars. Karagöz Museum in Bursa displays the traditional plays and the plays at present adding new tasvirs and plays according to the present conditions, which helps creating awareness in the significance of safeguarding this traditional art. Shadow theaters are opened in Ankara, Gaziantep and Samsun. UNIMA, founded in Ankara and comprised of Karagöz artists and puppeteers, has an important role in both ensuring mutual support and sharing cultural and artistic experiences. The studies and implementations carried out by folk culture departments of universities, research centers and institutes aim to create social awareness. The media contributes to the development and dissemination of this art by employing some images of Karagöz in several TV productions as advertisements and serials. In order to increase the contributions of the art regarding cultural identity, Ministry of Culture and Tourism included 3 Karagöz artists within the scope of Living Human Treasures in 2008 and decided to encourage those artists to proceed their master-apprentice training.
Community All Regions of Turkey
Type of UNESCO List Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
Incribed year in UNESCO List 2009

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