The Mediterranean Academy, an important cultural and intellectual platform of the Izmir Metropolitan Municipality, has started to host a new and alternative lecture series called “Democracy School”. The first lecture of the series was held at the Atlas Pavilion of Kültürpark with the participation of academician Ulaş Bayraktar and art-culture theorist and sociologist Ezgi Bakçay. Gathering under the title of “Justice and Equality: Deep Issues with Short Films”, the young people had the opportunity to discuss the concept of democracy from different perspectives.
Mediterranean Academy: “We Have the Aim to Become a City Academy”
Mediterranean Academy Branch Manager Zeynep Özen Barkot, who hosted the event and experienced the excitement of the first lesson of the Democracy School, made the opening speech of the meeting. Stating that the Mediterranean Academy was a unit established in 2012, Barkot touched on the institution's efforts to strengthen relations between Mediterranean cities. Barkot emphasized the importance of the participation of young people with the following words: “We also have a concern to become a city academy. What we call an academy is not within the four walls of universities. We thought of the democracy school in this way. We want to build this place as an area where we can use our right to freedom of thought and expression. It is not independent of young people. If there is no young people, there is no academy.”
Ezgi Bakçay: “The Intersection of Art, Opposition and Politics”
The art and culture theorist and sociologist Ezgi Bakçay, who gave the opening speech of the course, shared her own interests and the content of the course with the participants. “I am someone who talks about art, thinks about it, and tries to act on it. I work especially with young artists. Today, we will talk about art, social opposition, politics, and the intersection of aesthetics and politics. Today, we will watch a movie together. We will also chat after the movies,” she said, signaling that the course will be conducted with an interactive and visually focused approach.
Ulaş Bayraktar: “Democracy is Not Just Election Results”
Academician Ulaş Bayraktar also drew attention to the global problems facing the world today and emphasized that the concept of democracy should be reconsidered in his speech. “We are thinking about the possibility of establishing another life. Everything we know is either losing ground or changing nature. This period is called the age of many crises. There are disasters, economic problems, migration, hunger. Even food and bread have become such a big problem. What we call democracy is not just the election results. A number of principles and methods need to be reconsidered,” he said, pointing out the importance of considering democracy from a broader perspective.
Great Interest and Productive Discussions in the First Lesson
The first lesson, which attracted great interest from university students, young people and art lovers, was the scene of productive discussions on the relationship between democracy, the city and art. The event, which aimed to develop young people's thinking and evaluation skills on public issues and to expand their access to critical and scientific information, was brainstormed through the short films shown. Participants had the opportunity to deeply analyze the concepts of justice and equality and understand different perspectives through the thoughts triggered by the films. This new initiative of the Mediterranean Academy aims to make a significant contribution to the development of young people's active citizenship awareness and their internalization of democratic values.
