An unforgettable event with poems, songs, and children’s drawings

Nazım Hikmet, the world-renowned master of Turkish literature, was commemorated on his birthday with poetry, music, and art through an event organized by Bornova Municipality in cooperation with the Nazım Hikmet Culture and Arts Foundation. The program gained deeper meaning with talks, songs, and an exhibition featuring peace-themed drawings by children from different countries, inspired by Hikmet’s poem “The Little Girl.” Bornova Mayor Ömer Eşki emphasized that Nazım Hikmet is a symbol of peace, freedom, and conscience.

Hosted by Bornova Municipality and organized in collaboration with the Nazım Hikmet Culture and Arts Foundation, the commemoration took place at the Uğur Mumcu Culture and Arts Center. Enriched with poetry, music, and visual art, the program once again highlighted the great poet’s revolutionary identity and his enduring legacy of peace.

Nazım’s revolutionary stance discussed in a panel
As part of the event, a panel discussion featured Zeynep Oral and Özcan Arca, founding members of the Nazım Hikmet Culture and Arts Foundation. They spoke about Nazım Hikmet’s revolutionary character, the struggle he sustained at great personal cost, and the continuing relevance of his ideas. The discussion was followed with great interest by participants.

Nazım’s light against the darkness of January
In the opening speech, Zeynep Altıok, a Board Member of the Nazım Hikmet Culture and Arts Foundation, drew attention to January as a heavy period in Turkey’s history, marked by journalist assassinations and massacres.
Altıok underlined the strong connection between Nazım Hikmet’s revolutionary identity and the struggles of journalists such as Metin Göktepe, Hrant Dink, Uğur Mumcu, and Muammer Aksoy, emphasizing that such commemorations represent a tradition of responsibility and resistance.

“The Little Girl” poem transformed into peace in Bornova
At the entrance of the venue, an exhibition showcased artworks inspired by Nazım Hikmet’s anti-war poem “The Little Girl.”
Organized in cooperation with the International Association of Plastic Arts, the exhibition featured drawings reflecting the dreams of peace imagined by children from different countries to which the poem had traveled. The exhibition met art lovers in İzmir for the first time in Bornova.

Nazım Hikmet through poems and songs
The commemoration program, attended by Bornova Deputy Mayor Cem Arıkan, included emotional moments where Nazım Hikmet’s poems met music through works by Ruhi Su, Zülfü Livaneli, Timur Selçuk, and Cem Karaca. Songs and poems filled the hall with a sense of hope and solidarity.

Mayor Eşki: “Nazım Hikmet is the conscience of this land”
Bornova Mayor Ömer Eşki emphasized that Nazım Hikmet is not only a poet but also a symbol of peace, freedom, and human dignity, stating:
“Nazım Hikmet is the conscience of this land. His verses continue to light our way in dark times. I find this commemoration—where children draw peace and poetry and music meet hope in Bornova—extremely valuable.”