Dr. Aysen Darcan
Karagöz Shadow Puppet Theatre is a lasting tradition and an invaluable cultural legacy for the world. It is in fact recognized by UNESCO as the intangible cultural heritage of humanity in 2009. Karagöz Shadow Theatre is considered as one of the most important branches of traditional Turkish Theatre.
Developed during the early years of the Ottoman Empire and making its way along the old Silk Road routes, east and west, Karagöz theater and Karagöz puppeteers became familiar and established beloved sites from Istanbul to Tashkent, Kashgar and beyond.
As ambassadors from an age long past, Karagöz, Hacivat, and their friends have the ability to powerfully cross cultural borders and touch the hearts of people who might never have had the chance to meet them. A Karagöz Puppet Show is fresh and alive – not in any way a dusty, faded memory from a museum storeroom- with seven hundred years of grand tradition behind it ready to meet the needs and expectations of a modern audience. Focusing on the two main puppets, Karagöz and Hacivat, a traditional Karagöz shadow play was first and foremost fun and entertaining, and it almost always carried a relatable moral of the story.
The audience can expect to laugh, learn, and appreciate this cultural treasure. Today, Karagöz shadow puppet theater is no less valuable or necessary as a tool of cultural understanding than it once was; perhaps even more so. Laughter is an indispensable universal medicine, and Karagöz shadow play is both a tangible and intangible treasure that has lasted for more than seven centuries. It now has the potential to be a gift to the world. A Karagöz Puppet Show gives not only children, but people of all ages the opportunity to experience and understand the cultural diversity of the puppets, the importance of compassion, and living in peace with your neighbors. We offer these puppets as a bridge to cross cultural understanding and as a powerful means to help diminish and destroy hate, bigotry, and fear in the hopes of contributing to a more peaceful and compassionate world for all humanity.
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