Winners of the Anatolia Awards organized by the Baksı Culture and Arts Foundation announced at the awards ceremony: The Anatolia Awards pays homage to masters and gives new space to young people

The Baksı Culture and Arts Foundation announced the winners of the second edition of the Anatolia Awards. In the 2021 awards program titled "Raising Our Hats to the Past", Refik Halit Karay won an Anatolia Award in the "Literature” category, Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu in the "Visual Arts” category, Emre Arolat in the "Architecture” category, Muzaffer Sarısözen in the "Music" category and Lütfi Akad in the "Cinema” category. In the Anatolia Awards program, organized under the main sponsorship of Doğan Holding, the Honorary Award, which was given for the first time this year and named “Doğan Value Award”, went to Hasan Saltık, who was the founder of Kalan Music and passed away last year. The jury of the architecture category granted the Support Award to Melike Altınışık and Ömer Selçuk Baz.

The Anatolia Awards, which were created by the Baksı Culture and Arts Foundation with a view to putting the spotlight on works that contribute to the shared identity of Anatolia, are granted to organizations in even years and to individuals in odd years. Organized in 2021 with the title “Raising Our Hats to the Past”, the Anatolia Awards was aimed at recognizing artists who produced works in the last century and whose works offer the highest level of representation of Anatolia's cultural heritage. The nominees were determined with the recommendations of the members of the selection committee formed separately for the five different categories.

Artists will produce works at Baksı

The Baksı Culture and Arts Foundation also launched the first edition of its Artist Residency Program as part of the Anatolia Awards this year. Within the framework of the 2021 awards program, a young talent was invited to the Artist Residency Program for each artist who won an award in the five different categories. The very first participants of this program were Yılmaz Bulut in Visual Arts, Selman Nacar in Cinema, Mehmet Ali Şimayli in Music, Çağla Meknuze Kırant in Literature and Berin Erikçi in Architecture. These young artists will be hosted at Baksı this year as part of a special program and they will produce their works there.

Founded on collective heritage to rise with the energy of today

The results of the 2021 Anatolia Awards program were announced on January 19 at Hilton Bosphorus Hotel. Speaking at the ceremony, the founder of Baksı Culture and Arts Foundation Prof. Dr. Hüsamettin Koçan said, “With the 2020 Anatolian Awards, valuable projects in the fields of Archeology, Performing Arts, Museology, Restoration, and Periodic Events were enshrined in our memory. The 2021 Awards recognized the individual contributions that were created in the last century and that honor Anatolia in the fields of Literature, Visual Arts, Architecture, Music and Cinema.” Koçan also added: “We believe that the most defining characteristic of our identity in the Turkey of today is the Anatolian heritage. To serve this end, we should make the life struggles of the Anatolian people more visible, we should be able to see the wisdom in stories of people and how they help us grow for the better, and instead of looking at Anatolia as a garbage dump of cultures, we should be able to speak of it as the land of a world of values it really is and with pride and love. Accordingly, at the Baksı Culture and Arts Foundation, we would like to invite the world again and again to look at Anatolia as a region of peace, culture and arts that is steeped in past wisdom and the energy of the present day.”

Honoring Anatolia's values

Stating that they were honored to be the main sponsor of the Anatolia Awards, which undertakes an important mission to pass the rich heritage of Anatolia on to future generations, Doğan Holding Chair Begüm Doğan Faralyalı said: “Today, the main problem that grows with each passing day around the world and in our country and that renders societies and humanity incapable of acting in solidarity is polarization. The cure for this increasingly intense polarization is preserving our shared values. At Doğan Group, we started the Shared Values Movement in 2017 as a stance against polarization. The research we conducted as part of this movement showed that we were all united in our dream for Turkey, towering on shared values. Anatolia provides us with a multi-layered and rich mosaic of culture, embellished with values that serve a fairer and equal world full of love. Both Mevlana and Yunus Emre are the people of these lands. Values that have been passed on for generations are coded in the DNA of these lands. In addition to being a place where our shared values flourish, Anatolia is among our most important shared values. At Doğan Group, we hold tightly on to what Anatolia teaches and tells us, and to our values accumulating through generations. As protecting Anatolia and recognizing what belongs to all of us are very close to our hearts, we are honored to support the Anatolia Awards. Starting this year, we are also very pleased to introduce the Doğan Value Award, an honorary award. I hope the Anatolia Awards will make organizations and people who have made significant contributions to our collective cultural memory more visible and inspire many more to come.”

Inspiration and vision

In her speech, Prof. Dr. Esra Aliçavuşoğlu, Head of the Organizing Committee and member of the Selection Committee, said: “ It is safe to say that these people have accomplished works that have marked the history of our Republic, and that they have made highly valuable contributions to the creation of our country's shared cultural memory... Beyond the jury's concern to recognize local merit at the Anatolia Awards, it is worth emphasizing that they are also focusing on people who touch our lives in one way or another, who make our day-to-day more meaningful, who inspire us, and who offer a unique vision on an individual or mass scale.”

The Anatolia Awards, the main sponsor of which has been Doğan Holding since its inception, is also sponsored by Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi. The award statuette representing a tumbrel wheel is the artistic work of Osman Dinç.

The members of the 2021 Selection Committee are listed as follows: Doğan Hızlan (Head), Beşir Ayvazoğlu, Mario Levi, Metin Celal, Sunay Akın in “Literature”; Prof. Dr. Zeynep İnankur (Head), Prof. Dr. Burcu Pelvanoğlu, Prof. Dr. Esra Aliçavuşoğlu, Dr. İpek Duben, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zeynep Yasa Yaman in “Visual Arts"; Baki Duyarlar (Head), Cem Mansur, Cihat Aşkın, Erdal Erzincan, Evin İlyasoğlu in “Music”; Prof. Dr. Bülent Vardar (Head), Alin Taşçıyan, Atilla Dorsay, Derviş Zaim, Yeşim Ustaoğlu in “Cinema”; Prof. Dr. Suha Özkan (Head), Celal Abdi Güzer, Melkan Gürsel, Kerem Piker, Prof. Dr. Uğur Tanyeli in “Architecture”.

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