French Cultural Center Hosting Exhibition On Battle Of Gallipoli

The French Cultural Center in İstanbul is currently hosting an exhibition featuring postcards French soldiers sent to their families and acquaintances from Bozcaaada during the Battle of Gallipoli, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of World War I.

On view until Dec. 10, the show “Burası Sakin, Karşı Kıyıda Cephe Var” (It Is Good to Breathe Far From the Cannonballs and the Cannons) has nearly 300 Bozcaaada postcards, shedding light on the brutal face of the war in addition to the daily lives of soldiers. The postcards were selected from the collection of Hakan Gürüney, the founder of the Bozcaada Local History Research Center.

“The soldiers wrote about the battle ... and their thoughts about the ones they loved," according to a press release the publicist of the event issued this week.

A joint effort between the French Cultural Center, French Institute of Anatolian Studies (IFEA) and Bozcaada Local History Research Center, “Burası Sakin, Karşı Kıyıda Cephe Var” was curated by historians Alexandre Toumarkine from Orient-Institut Istanbul and Loubna Lamrhari from IFEA. The exhibition was designed by İzzeddin Çalışlar.

(Cihan/Today's Zaman)