A celebration program for Kassia’s 1,211th birthday

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The İstanbul Women's Museum organizes a series of events in cooperation with other organizations from Germany and Poland to mark the 1,211th birthday of Kassia, who is considered the first woman composer worldwide whose works have come down to us today.

Introducing the celebration program "KASSIA & THE NEW ISTANBUL CONVENT/OPERA-TION" to its audience, the Museum briefly says:

'We hear your voice'

"Kassia: beautiful, intelligent, educated - and so emancipated that she dared to contradict Emperor Theophilos of Constantinople showing theological acumen during the 'bride show' organized for him in 823. When in 843 Kassia was 33 she founded a monastery, which she presided over until her death in 865. 300 years before Hildegard von Bingen, she composed hymns that are still sung in Eastern Church today.

"Although biographical data are hardly available and only a part of her writings has survived, her personality is particularly evident in her non-liturgical poems. These poems suggest that Kassia was a highly educated and intellectually gifted woman. A person who writes a poem where every line starts with 'I hate' cannot have been a shy person.

She knew how to express her thoughts to demonstrate her position. At a time and in a society that tried to keep women silent, Kassia refused to keep quiet. As a result, in her writings we have a unique female voice that has endured over ages.

"From Turkey, Germany and Poland, a women's museum, a theatre company, a composer with his orchestra, a women's initiative, and the departments of graphics, animation and art history from two universities and many individuals have come together to celebrate Kassia's 1211th birthday.

"We hear Kassia's voice and carry it on into the present so that women's voices get louder across the borders. As a hymnographer, Kassia is celebrated in general for her piety and profound expression of religious devotion. We believe that she deserves to be remembered in her entire personality: as a composer, poet, philosopher, campaigner, networker, activist, innovator, even as a feminist. In dialogue with Kassia we want to talk about our lives, our political and social interference for a self-determined life, and encourage and empower one another.

"Our project is an encounter through music, dance, stories, poems, illustrations, graphics, animations. This variety opens up space to express our dreams and life plans for a just society and makes feminist debate visible beyond the borders. Especially in a year when Turkey announced her withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention and when a similar step is being discussed in Poland, such communication is imperative and important.

"Finally, the project planned includes several premieres: for the first time since her death Kassia's birthday will be celebrated; the first opera in honour of Kassia is being composed; the first videos and graphics are being created that reinterpret her secular poems as artwork; professional actors will interpret her poems in (Byzantine) historical places, the performance will be made available as a documentary; and for the first-time researchers on Kassia will come together for scholarly exchange."

PROGRAM

21 October 20.00 (CEST) ON SPEAKING & BEING. FEMALE SPACES OF LANGUAGE - Host: kainkollektiv, Bochum - German/Turkish/Polish simultaneous translation provided -Registration: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_WQcCBP5WQV-3kD3UKWo3hg

23 October 16.30 (CEST) KASSIA REVISITED, RESEARCHERS ON KASSIA'S POEMS AND MUSIC - Host: İstanbul Women's Museum - English/Turkish/Polish simultaneous translation provided- Registration: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_WlniNxmES4GMWrsLoF9row  

19.30 (CEST) ACT LIKE YOU CARE – Talk with Sasha Waltz, Burak Özdemir, Yeşim Gürer Oymak Host: kainkollektiv & friends, Bochum - English/Turkish/Polish simultaneous translation provided Registration: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_gUmfbf1OTfmJVP6UPIXBoQ -https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_gUmfbf1OTfmJVP6UPIXBoQ

24 October 14.00 (CEST) SEARCHING FOR KASSIA – PROTEST POEMS YESTERDAY AND TODAY - Host: İstanbul Women's Museum - English/Turkish/Polish simultaneous translation provided - Registration: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_2eCLR17tSWKlm0jx88lqtg 

(EMK/SD)