Zehra Doğan

Zehra Doğan (born April 14, 1989) is a Kurdish artist and journalist and author from Amed, Turkey. In 2017, she was sentenced to 2 years, 9 months and 22 days in prison for “terrorist propaganda” because of her news coverage, social media posts, and sharing a painting of hers on social media.[2] Her painting depicts the destruction of the Nusaybin, town in southeastern Turkey, after the clashes between state security forces and Kurdish insurgents. After she finished her sentence, she was released from imprisonment from Tarsus Prison on 24 February 2019.[3][4]

Zehra Doğan
Dogan in 2016
Born1989 (age 31–32) [1]
CitizenshipTurkish
OccupationArtist, journalist
Known forPainting of the destruction of Nusaybin

Career

She was a founder and the editor of Jinha, a feminist Kurdish news agency with an all-female staff.[1] Jinha was closed on 29 October 2016 by Turkish authorities, as one of over 100 media outlets shut down since the failed coup d'état in July 2016.[5] In February 2016, Doğan moved to and began reporting from Nusaybin.[6]

Arrest and imprisonment

On 21 July 2016, she was detained at a café in Nusaybin and then incarcerated on 23 July in Mardin prison.[6] Her release pending trial was ordered on the 9 December of the same year.[7] On 2 March 2017, she was acquitted of the charge of "belonging to an illegal organisation", but was sentenced to 2 years, 9 months and 22 days in jail for her news reporting and posting a painting to social media.[8][9] She appealed the sentence but it was confirmed and she was arrested on 12 July 2017.[7]

“I was given two years and 10 months [jail time] only because I painted Turkish flags on destroyed buildings. However, they (Turkish government) caused this. I only painted it,” Doğan wrote on Twitter following the sentencing.

In prison, she and other women created the newspaper Özgür Gündem Zindan[10] (Free Agenda Dungeon), whose name is a wordplay on Özgür Gündem (Free Agenda), an Istanbul-based publication that catered to Kurdish audiences.[9][11] Zehra Doğan was released from prison in February 2019.[12]

International reaction to the imprisonment

In November 2017, Chinese dissident artist Ai WeiWei published a letter he wrote in solidarity with Doğan's case, drawing parallels between Chinese and Turkish repression of artistic expression.[13] Zehra Doğan answers the artist from prison: “Art is the best instrument for the struggle”.[14]

Zehra Doğan receiving the Metin Göktepe Award

On 16 March 2018, England-based graffiti artist, Banksy unveiled a mural in New York, measuring 70 feet long, showing black tally marks for the days of Doğan's imprisonment, with one set becoming bars behind which Doğan's face looks out from jail. Speaking to The New York Times, Banksy said, "I really feel for her... I’ve painted things much more worthy of a custodial sentence.”[15][16]

In 2019, Creative Nomads, an Italian production, will release a documentary film featuring three women: "Terrorist. Zehra and the others". The novelist Aslı Erdoğan, and the forensic doctor and human rights defender Şebnem Korur Fincancı are interviewed, Zehra Doğan participates by correspondence from the prison, and she is represented by animated sequences with the voice of the actress Kasia Smoutniak. The documentary is directed by Marica Casalinuovo, Francesca Nava, Vichie Chinaglia, Marella Bombini.[17]

Recognition

Exhibitions
  • December 2020, "Hassas Müdahale", collective exhibition, Kıraathane İstanbul Edebiyat Evi, Istanbul, Turkey.[29]
  • December 2020, Art Basel, "OVR: Miami Beach".[30]
  • September–October 2020, "Nehatîye Dîtın / Görülmemiştir", Kıraathane İstanbul Edebiyat Evi, Istanbul, Turkey.[31][32][33][34]
  • September 2020, Art in Protest by Human Rights Foundation (HRF).[35]
  • September 2020, Prometeo Gallery, Milan. Italy. Exhibition entitled "Beyond", with a performance.[36][37]
  • September 2020, Palazzi dell'Arte Rimini - PART, Italy. Collective exhibition. Collection of the San Patrignano Foundation.[38]
  • September 2020, Barcelona, Spain, La Panera Art Centre, mixed exhibition on censorship, "Línies vermelles. La censura en la col", with the digital work "Nusaybin".[39]
  • September 2020, Berlin Biennale, Germany.[40][41]
  • August 2020, Lucca Italia, group show, "A volte penso che...", Ex Chiesa di San Matteo, Piazza San Matteo, Lucca.[42][43]
  • On July 21, 2020, Zehra Doğan pays homage to the city of Brescia, in Italy, with a large mural artwork for coronavirus resistance.[44][45]
  • July 2020, Ravenna Festival, Italy, two performances during the "Roads of Friendship" concerts, with the Kurdish singer Aynur Doğan, the Giovanile Luigi Cherubini Orchestra and the Syrian Expat Philharmonic Orchestra (SEPO) conducted by Riccardo Muti.[46]
  • June 2020, she begins a wall newspaper project entitled "The Hard Times" with a first issue dedicated to George Floyd, on a wall around Parc Rosa Parks in Paris.[47]
  • January 2020, Nassauischer Kunstverein in Wiesbaden "To each Age its art –To Art its Freedom"[48][49]
  • January 2020, Peace Forum 2020 in Basel, Switzerland [50]
  • December 2019, Middle East Institute (MEI) Art Gallery, Washington, United States. "Speaking Across Mountains: Kurdish Artists in Dialogue".[51]
  • November–January 2019, Santa Giulia Museum, Brescia, Italy, "Avremo anche giorni migliori. Opere dalle carceri turche" as part of the Brescia Peace Festival.[52][53][54]
  • November 2019, Galerie de l'Espace des femmes – Editions des femmes, Paris, France "Œuvres évadées"[55]
  • November 2019, Drawing Center, New York, United States "The Pencil is a Key - Drawings by Incarcerated Artists"[56]
  • May 2019, Tate Modern, London, Great-Britain, installation titled "Ê Li Dû Man" (What is left behind)[57][58]
  • March 2019, Rennes Opera House, France, exhibition titled "Eyes wide open" (Les yeux grands ouverts) [59]
  • December 2018 "Kurdish Art Fair" 2nd edition, London, United Kingdom [60]
  • January 2018, Tour Saint Aubin in Angers, France, exhibition titled "Les yeux grands ouverts" (Eyes wide open) [61]
  • September 2018, Pays de Morlaix, France "Festival des Autres Mondes" (Festival of the Other Worlds) [62][63]
  • August 2017, Festival de cinéma de Douarnenez, France, exhibition titled "Les yeux grands ouverts" (Eyes wide open) [64]
  • February 2017, Diyarbakir, Turkey, exhibition titled "141".[65]

Bibliography
  • Zehra Doğan "Prison N°5", graphic novel, Delcourt, translated/adapted by Naz Oke, Daniel Fleury, March 2021. ISBN 9782413038481
  • Zehra Doğan "Avremo anche giorni migliori. Opere dalle carceri turche" (We shall also know better days. Works from Turkish prisons) Art Catalogue, Skira Publishing ISBN 8857243303
  • Zehra Doğan, "Nous aurons aussi de beaux jours : écrits de prison" (We shall also know better days: prison writings), translated by Naz Oke, Daniel Fleury, Editions des femmes, October 2019 ISBN 978-2849754894
  • Zehra Doğan, "Les Yeux grands ouverts', (Eyes Wide Open) translated by Naz Oke, Fage Editions, July 2017 ISBN 978-2849754894

References
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  3. "Journalist Zehra Doğan released from prison". ANF News. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
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  6. "Zehra Dogan thrown in jail: react!". Kedistan. 23 July 2016.
  7. Kepenek, Evrim (30 January 2019). "Journalist and Painter Zehra Doğan Sends Pictures That She Draws in Prison". Bianet. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  8. "Free Zehra Doğan - Voice Project". Voice Project. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
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  11. "Zehra Doğan, artist, journalist and activist released pending trial - IFEX". IFEX. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
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  14. "Zehra Doğan to Ai Weiwei, "Art is the best instrument for the struggle"". Kedistan. 15 March 2016.
  15. Reporters, Telegraph (16 March 2018). "Banksy creates mural in New York in support of jailed Turkish artist". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
  16. "Banksy just unveiled a new mural in New York City and this is what it means". The Independent. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
  17. ""Terroriste": donne che resistono nella Turchia di Erdogan". la Repubblica (in Italian). 17 November 2019. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
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