Kurdish Cultural Festival in Paris continues

Serdar Mutlu's exhibition titled “Mothers and Migration” which portrays mothers’ experience with migration attracts a great deal of attention.

The Kurdish Cultural Festival in Paris, which kicked off on May 14, continues. The festival jointly organized by the Kurdish Democratic Council in France (CDK-F), the Institute for Reflection and Studies on Kurdistan (IREK), the Kurdistan Arts and Culture Association (ACK) and the Danielle Mitterrand Foundation continued on Thursday evening with an art exhibition by Serdar Mutlu.

The Thursday’s part of the festival was held in the 10th Paris City Hall, the district where the first Kurdish migrants arrived.

Mayor of the 10th arrondissement, Alexandra Cordebard, Paris Municipality Cultural Council member, Laurence Patrice and many municipal officials attended Serdar Mutlu's exhibition titled “Mothers and Migration” which attracted a great deal of attention.

The exhibition started with a speech delivered by mayor Cordebard, who stated that she had good relations with the Kurds living in his arrondissement, saying, “Our municipality maintains constant contact with the Kurds. We follow the Kurdish issue closely. This is your home. We are honoured to host you.”

Berivan Firat spoke on behalf of the CDK-F (Democratic Kurdish Council in France) and emphasized that the 10th arrondissement of Paris is a special district where the first Kurdish migrants arrived.

Fırat recalled that the Kurds have settled in this district since the 80s and now the 4th generation of the Kurds live there. She emphasized that it is important that the municipality hosts the exhibition as part of the festival.

Artist Serdar Mutlu expressed that it is important to bring his works to Paris through this festival. The artist told art-lovers: “Discover the exhibition yourself.” Mutlu articulates Kurdish mothers’ agonizing experience with migration through his art.

After a short music concert following the opening event, an open buffet served the guests. The festival will continue with the Jiyana Nu theather piece by Beru Teatra on Friday evening. The play will be performed at 19.00 in the 1 Place de la Liberation 93150 Le Blanc Mesnil.

The festival will continue until 28 May and today's program can be found here.