Context

Hopa is a town situated in Artvin, in the East Black Sea Region and this town is the far north-east point of Turkey, close to Batumi, Georgia. Hopa is a cosmopolitan border-town and a central point of passage. The East Black Sea Region may be considered as an area of deprivation in many different aspects. After the fall of the Soviet Union, extraordinary disruptions have started to appear in the region: change of longstanding economic balances, crisis in social life and mostly the problems in participation of women in the social life. As a consequence of these problems, citizens of the region, especially youth, have not really had any opportunity of education and production in the field of culture and art. It is obvious that here is a lack of cultural and artistic projects of high quality in the East Black Sea Region. In the region there is an obvious need for a more diversified and vivid culture life. Awareness about the connections between art, culture, ecology and life must be raised among the citizens of the region. In Artvin, civil society organizations mostly operate in the field of environment, folk dance and traditional music. In Artvin, there are only 2 movie theatres: one in the city centre, the other one in Arhavi. In nearby Artvin, there isn’t a single school or university offering arts training. Equally, in Hopa there is neither a cultural centre nor a central art gallery. Another point is that most of the cultural and artistic events in the region include classical and traditional art works rather than modern or contemporary approach to arts and culture. Under these circumstances the contemporary art is a very new issue for the people of the region. Therefore, the exposition of this field can bring new questions and discussions opening new ways to freedom and dialogue. Especially, youth of the region need different cultural and artistic projects in order to widen their world vision. Youth, children and women need to exploit their capacities in cultural and artistic works. In a region of deprivation, youth need positive role models who will call them the existence of various possibilities and different worlds. It is evident that Batumi has very similar problems with Hopa.