This paper explores the divisive impact of official collective memory upon the position of the Kurdish minority in the Turkish society. Contextualized in the recent upsurge of violence in Turkey,...Show moreThis paper explores the divisive impact of official collective memory upon the position of the Kurdish minority in the Turkish society. Contextualized in the recent upsurge of violence in Turkey, this paper emphasises the role of memory in constructing conflict. Turkish official collective memory cultivates anxiety concerning the ‘other’ through emphasising religious or ethnic differences with the majority, ethnic Turks. The impact of Turkish official collective memory does not go unchallenged, Halil Altindere, a Turkish Kurdish artist presents a counter-memory to the state in his critical artwork «Welcome to the Land of the Lost ». Altindere’s artwork in the form of postage stamps, depicts the missing faces and names of twelve victims of the 17,000 missing under state custody in the 1990s. Unrecognised and unremembered, Altindere undermines official collective memory by depicting state violence to the Turkish audience. This paper outlines how Altindere’s work diverges from official collective memory, by calling for commemoration, recognition, and acceptance of minorities in Turkish society. Altindere’s protest against official collective memory engages the Turkish public, by questioning their anxiety in their identity and the ‘other’.Show less
