AZIZ MURAT ASLAN’S INTERVIEW

BACKSTORY

A 14th-century rascal (Karagoz) introduced me to a 21st-century hayali (Aziz).

The date was October 21, 2020. Along with my friend (and AWB co-founder) Athena ‘Tina’ Longoria visiting from New York City, I attended Karagözüm Iki Gözüm (Karagoz My Dear), an exhibition at Istanbul’s prestigious Yapi Kredi Culture & Art Center. One of the artists referenced was Istanbul resident Aziz Murat Aslan. It didn’t take me long to track Aziz down. And so began our many artistic collaborations, including exhibitions and Karagoz performances in my home.

RE-INTERPRETING CULTURAL HERITAGE

WLM=Walter L Meyer
AMA=Aziz Murat Aslan

WLM Aziz, I know you’ve got an advanced engineering degree. But I know you as a serious devotee of Turkish Karagöz shadow puppet theater, a UNESCO Living Cultural Heritage. How did that happen?
AMA Well, after years of working as an engineer, and lecturing at universities, I realized engineering just wasn’t my passion. So in my mid-thirties, I took a leap into the world of art and creativity. It was a bit risky. But it was probably the most important decision of my life.

WLM How did you learn about Karagöz, and make this major life transition?
AMA At the time I was living in Germany where I’d gotten my engineering degree. I visited museums there, and saw several collections of Karagöz puppets. I also researched books by Orientalists and other scholars.

WLM But you ultimately started making Karagöz figures—tasvir.
AMA Yes, when I returned to Turkey, I met with several Karagöz artists. They taught me how to carve puppets from leather—usually camel leather—using traditional techniques. I also researched historical performance practice. With time, my engagement with Karagöz spanned multiple inter-related roles: tasvir (puppet maker), hali (performer), and even a playwright who wants to re-interpret the traditional Karagöz play canon.

WLM And that led to your writing your first original play—Seven Deadly Sins—which I’m proud to say had its debut in my home.
AMA My goal has always been to treat Karagöz shadow theater as a living, evolving art form. Not a fixed heritage tradition. After I became comfortable and knowledgeable about the traditional Karagöz play structure, I had the courage to write my own play. I wanted to move the needle a little, so to speak.

WLM What do you mean by that, Aziz?
AMA Seven Deadly Sins is similar to the traditional canon in some ways. For example, it uses stock characters and rhythmic dialogue. But it’s different in that it leans toward a more philosophical and cyclical narrative. This intersection of traditional and contemporary theatrical forms results in Seven Deadly Sins being a more layered metaphor. Rather than presenting a simplistic binary of good versus evil, the play explores a more complex morality.

WLM Let’s focus now on the subject of the painting in my collection: Muhteris (Greed).
AMA In writing Seven Deadly Sins, I decided that all of the sins should be based on classical Karagöz demons. Muhteris is based on the female demon Canan.

WLM I find it fascinating that you were able to transform Greed from a three-dimensional leather figure to a one-dimensional painting.
AMA As a painter, the challenge was translating shadow aesthetics into contemporary painting. I wanted to remain loyal somehow to the traditional technique used to create the puppet figures. Of course, I couldn’t use the same knives I use to carve the leather figures, but I did use paper-cutting knives.

WLM The figure of Muhteris—Greed—is pretty grotesque looking. Can you explain her frightening body?
AMA Muhteris represents the sin of Greed as a distortion of desire. Muhteris’ entire body is covered with different faces, different souls. The two snakes she holds represent the duality of greed: acquisition and control (or lack thereof). The monster wrapped around her waist is the embodiment of possessiveness. What is owned constrains. And the creatures on her kneecaps symbolize her body being taken over by the desire to own even more. Greed’s body is a site of over-accumulation.

WLM You used a lot of gold in this painting. I’m sure that has symbolic meaning.
AMA Gold is an imperial aesthetic. Gold also reflects greed’s paradox. What shines also eventually corrupts. Perhaps from an ironic point of view, it also refers to illumination. Sacred iconography. Normally, I can’t use gold when I make leather figures because it isn’t transparent. So I enjoyed being able to use it here.

WLM I understand, Aziz, that you’re planning to adapt Seven Deadly Sins into an opera. That’s going to be amazing. I’d be thrilled to host that debut!
AMA Thank you, Walter! I’ll keep you apprised of its progress. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, we, we are currently working on just, I just wanna say this, uh, because this is our upcoming project, hopefully next year, maybe a little bit later. Uh, as you know that we are currently working on transforming, uh, this musical play, uh, into an opera form, uh, by the support of Ale Mass. And in parallel, uh, to all of this process, our work has attracted the, the academic attention on the 20th and 21st of, uh, April, uh, we are invited to I Nan Menez, uh, university, uh, faculty of Communication Design. Uh, uh, within the framework of, uh, categories and the seventh day lessons, uh, we will explore, uh, how cultural heritage, uh, can function as a contemporary communication, uh, design tool while preserving its, uh, traditional, uh, structure and integrity at the university. So, uh, by the end of this month, uh, we have a multi-layered program at this university in Ile. On the Asian side of Turkey, there's going to be a regional exhibition, a stage performance, a workshop, and an academic call. Uh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Uh, I, I have to, uh, I need to have a communication with the Greek artists, so I need to first learn exactly since she, he said on May. But, uh, I, I need to learn when exactly he will be here. So that's, uh, I will let you know the time span. Yeah, sure, sure, sure. I, I'm, uh, okay. Okay. I'll text him, uh, shortly and I'll let you know, uh, when, if the time span is clear from, uh, his point, uh, I'll let you know what the time span's like. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. He, he supported, he supported the same way, uh, from, uh, time perspective. Uh, it's not going to be like too long, like two hours, same, uh, scope. Uh, so transitions between different techniques in the same, uh, scope, uh, would be more interesting. For me, it sounded the same. And when I told him, uh, he, he gave the same, similar reaction, only one, only one issue is a technical issue because they mostly need a larger, uh, curtain. Uh, but we will adapt the technique as well. She's, she's fine. She, she's sitting by the csa. She was, uh, two weeks, uh, she was in ra, established an exhibition. Uh, she, uh, collected, uh, you know, that we are going to make the shipping. Yeah. Yeah. And she's back. And I was in and es so this is the, uh, first couple of days that we see. We saw each other after two weeks. Okay. You're welcome. Have a have a beautiful day. Good. Good luck. Thank you so much. Good luck for the rest of the meetings. Bye bye. Goodbye.

Muhteri (Greed)

Aziz Murat Aslan

Muhteri tasvir, Seven Deadly Sins

My goal has always been to treat Karagöz as a living, evolving art form. Muhteris is based on the female demon Canan.

Behind the scenes, Seven Deadly Sins

Karagöz and Hacivat, Seven Deadly Sins