Doğan Holding Becomes the Main Sponsor of Baksı Culture and Arts Foundation's Anatolia Awards

A special award for cultural projects inspired by Anatolia

Baksı Culture and Arts Foundation is launching the Anatolia Awards so as to draw attention to cultural production upholding the shared identity of Anatolia. Doğan Holding has become the main sponsor of these annual awards under 5 categories, namely Museology, Periodical Activities, Performing Arts, Archeology and Restoration. The first Anatolia Awards will be granted in November 2020.

Blending tradition with future upon the barren heights of Anatolia, Baksı Culture and Arts Foundation is organizing the “Anatolia Awards” so as to encourage the multiplication and enhancement of similar projects. The Selection Committee for the awards consists of Prof. Ali Akay, Prof. Esra Aliçavuşoğlu, Prof. Nurhan Atasoy, Nezih Başgelen, Levent Çalıkoğlu, Doğan Hızlan, Arhan Kayar, Assoc. Prof. Ayşe H. Köksal, Bülent Ortaçgil, Prof. Süha Özkan, Faruk Pekin, Dr. Nusret Polat, Prof. Metin Sözen, Murat Tabanlıoğlu, Görgün Taner, Saffet Emre Tonguç and Prof. Fikret K. Yegül. Osman Dinç will forge the award sculpture. The logo and visual identity of Anatolia Awards have been designed by Savaş Çekiç.

The founder of Baksı Culture and Arts Foundation and Baksı Museum, Prof. Hüsamettin Koçan states, “Our aim is to highlight, dignify and encourage individual and institutional projects that draw upon Anatolia's cultural heritage and creativity, and emphasize its shared identity,” and adds, “In today's rapidly changing, digitalized world which we struggle to keep up with, safeguarding local heritage, urban and rural memory is becoming increasingly important. We hope that the Anatolia Awards may make meaningful contributions to the creation of a sustainable cultural environment.”

Begüm Doğan Faralyalı, Chairwoman of Doğan Holding, which is the main sponsor of Anatolia Awards, expresses their happiness in contributing to this project: “The story of Baksı Culture and Arts Foundation is the story of an artist who embraces his roots and the shared values of Anatolia. In a period when cultural life is increasingly centralized, Professor Hüsamettin Koçan has proved that Anatolia's steppes also harbor cultural richness and the potential for a positive transformation, with the Baksı Museum which he has established in the village where he was born in Bayburt. Setting off from the idea that art is fundamentally 'an effort to understand', Baksı Museum has been active for 10 years, fully aware and respectful of the values of the people of this land."

As a group of companies which believes in values-centered management, upholds the values of our country, people, land, nature and roots, and continues its activities in accordance with these values, we are delighted to become the main sponsor of the Anatolia Awards, which will reinforce the shared identity of Anatolia.

Doğan Group's roots go back to the millennia-old values of ancient Anatolian peoples. We recognize the importance of the values we inherit, work to keep them alive and add value to our country. We thus continue our efforts at Aydın Doğan Foundation, a reflection of our focus on social benefit, and the Common Values Movement which we have launched in 2016 to help our country unite around a common dream of Turkey, while also supporting Anatolia Awards so as to bring forward and encourage those individuals who embrace our roots and people, and perpetuate our shared values. We appreciate Baksı Culture and Arts Foundation's activities and Baksı Museum's efforts to embrace the people and civilization, and feel honored to take a robust step together along this path.”

The starting point for the Anatolia Awards is described as follows in its charter: “We consider Anatolia to be the main source of the diversity and wealth underlying the shared identity of today. We believe that the responsibility for blending this heritage with current day dynamics belongs primarily to the people living in this region; and that we must bolster cultural production that emphasizes, refreshes, enriches and preserves this identity.”

Anatolia Awards will be given in the categories Museology, Periodical Activities, Performing Arts, Archeology and Restoration. Exhibitions, biennials and similar projects will compete in the category Periodical Activities, and events such as concert, theater and festival in the category of Performing Arts. All categories of the award program will be open to applications from both individuals and organizations. Candidate projects will have to be completed in the last five years. Applicants will fill out a form on www.baksi.org and upload the necessary documents to the application system. Applications will begin on July 10th, 2020 and end on October 10th, 2020.

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