AR-Safe Haven Helsinki Resident Kemal Ulusoy at the Eläintarhan Villa

 

We are happy to announce the arrival of AR-Resident Kemal ULOSOY.  He is staying at Eläintarha Villa from the 3rd of February to the 1st of May, hosted by the AR-Safe Haven Helsinki.

BIO

Kemal was born on February 8th 1968 in Kiğı, Bingöl (Eastern Anatolia). In 1987 he moved to Istanbul for both political and economic reasons, and had to take a break from education before finishing high school.

In 1990 he began participating in Kurdish language theatre at the regional association KAYY-DER playing in towns across Eastern Anatolia, such as Kiğı, Adaklı, Yayladere, and Yedisu. In one of his initial roles he played a part in the production Xwezgînî: this was, perhaps, the first Kurdish theatre production ever seen by the Kurds living in Northern Kurdistan, as well as for people living in Istanbul. Later, in 1991, he joined the Mesopotamia Culture Center at Teatra Jiyana Nû (New Life Theatre) to continue his artistic career playing theatre in the Kurdish language – despite many struggles and difficulties, discrimination, political persecution. In 1997, he was arrested on stage during a play at Mersin. After two months of imprisonment he was released and he returned to the Mesopotamia Culture Center to continue his work.

In 2004 Kemal started to work for Turikê Derwêş, a touring documentary for television shown on Roj TV and Gün TV. In 2008 he joined Diyarbakir Metropolitan Theater where he continued his work in Kurdish theater. In 2010 he played a part on the sitcom AX û Jiyan, on Roj TV. In 2012 played a role in the sitcom Malîno shown on Sterk Tv and Gün TV. Until today he has participated in many International Theater Festivals as an actor. Kemal has also played different roles in documentaries and cinema films and has worked dubbing in Kurdish for cartoons on the Zarok TV network. In April 2016 he was fired by a Turkish government trustee appointed to the municipality that ended all work in Kurdish theater. In 2017 he took part in the formation of Amed City Theater.

AR-Safe Haven Helsinki is curated by Artists at Risk (AR)/Perpetuum Mobile(PM) and co-hosted by PM, Eläintarha Villa and HIAP – Helsinki International Artists Programme. It is funded by the City of Helsinki, Department of Culture.

 


 

 

 

 

The AR Secretariat is generously funded by the Kone Foundation:

 

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