Hrant Dink Foundation has won another prestigious award this time for the 23.5 Hrant Dink Site of Memory. (For another prestigious award that Hrant Dink Foundation won please se my Monologue titled “Hrant Dink’s Legacy Lives On” dated November 26 2017)

Here is how the Hrant Dink Foundation’s website describes the 23.5 Hrant Dink Site of Memory.

“The name of the site was inspired by Hrant Dink’s article “23,5 Nisan” (23.5 April) published in Agos’s 23 April 1996 issue. The article called on the Turkish society to embrace the enthusiasm and the sorrow of the past with an emphasis on living together. Here, the expression “23.5 April” underlined the need to reframe the different social/political events that have a foundational role in the country’s history. April 23 is the day when the National Sovereignty and Children’s Day was declared in 1920 to commemorate the establishment of the 1st Grand National Assembly of Turkey. April 24, 2015, on the other hand, is globally recognized as the day when the genocide began as Armenian intellectuals, writers, artists, medical doctors, teachers, and MPs were taken from their homes to never return. The fact that 23 April is celebrated with enthusiasm while 24 April is denied and the sufferings that followed are rendered invisible suggest a political and social climate that causes never-ending grief in Armenians that lasted for one hundred years. The title “23.5 April” called on the people of Turkey to embrace the sorrow and joy of the past together in the context of these consecutive days, 23 April (National Sovereignty and Children’s Day) and 24 April (Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day).“

23.5 Hrant Dink Site of Memory has thematic rooms that present Hrant Dink’s life and struggle and important milestones of Agos’s social memory, in addition to artistic memory works that are located in different sections of the venue”.

Before printing the information about winning the prestigious award here I will reprint the information about an exhibition that the 23.5 Hrant Dink Site of Memory opened in Yerevan Armenia to pay respect to Hrant Dink’s memory on the 15th anniversary of his assassination.

Although the event took place almost a year ago in Yerevan, but, it is worthy to reprint it not only as a unique undertaking but also because Hrant Dink best personified the need for dialogue and peace between Turks and Armenians. (I wish it could have been made a year-round event similar to the one in Istanbul as a reminder for the need of dialogue and peace between Armenians and Turks that is long overdue). Here is the reprint.

“On the 15th anniversary of Hrant Dink’s assassination, 23.5 Hrant Dink Site of Memory opens an exhibition on his life and struggle  ‘Hrant Dink: Here and Now’ in Yerevan. The exhibition, which presents a selection of the 23.5 Hrant Dink Site of Memory in Istanbul, offers visitors in Yerevan the opportunity to better understand Hrant Dink’s dreams, language, the values such as dialogue and coexistence he struggled for and to witness his struggle.

The ‘Hrant Dink: Here and Now exhibition will be awaiting its visitors between May 7, 2022 and 30 July, 2022 at the Armenian Center for Contemporary Experimental Art (NPAK). During the exhibition in Yerevan, Hrant Dink Site of Memory in Istanbul will build a digital bridge between the visitors of the exhibition. A screen where the people of the two neighboring countries who visit both the venues can interact, see and get to know each other with a live internet connection will take place in the exhibition. We look forward to welcoming you to NPAK as well as the 23.5 Hrant Dink Place of Memory this summer to meet your neighbors, build bridges, and increase friendship and peace.

Just as at the 23.5 Site of Memory in Istanbul, so too in Yerevan Hrant Dink will be the narrator and the guide telling his own story and his path of righteousness. Separate corners of the exhibition will be a focus on themes such as memory, justice, and minority rights in Turkey.

During the exhibition’s timeframe, side events will be held in Armenia within the framework of these topics can be followed on the foundation’s social media accounts and by subscribing to the monthly newsletter.

As in Hrant Dink’s words, “Come, let us first understand each other”, we invite you to the 23.5 Hrant Dink Site of Memory and to the “Hrant Dink: Here and Now” exhibition.

Throughout the summer a number of side events will accompany the exhibition. The side events will be announced on the Foundation’s website and social media accounts.

The ‘Hrant Dink: Here and Now’ exhibition is made possible thanks to the support of the Chrest Foundation and Olof Palme International Center”. Needless to say, this is a great undertaking to introduce Hrant to the Armenian people by Hrant Dink in his own words as stated in the statement. “Hrant Dink will be the narrator and the guide telling his own story and his path of righteousness. Separate corners of the exhibition will be a focus on themes such as memory, justice, and minority rights in Turkey“. 

Now here is the information about winning another prestigious award taken from Hrant Dink Foundation’s website that is eloquently presented.

Winner of the 2023 Kenneth Hudson Award for Institutional Courage and

Professional Integrity is 23.5 Hrant Dink Site of Memory

The 23.5 Hrant Dink Site of Memory was awarded the 2023 Kenneth Hudson Award for Institutional Courage and Professional Integrity at the European Museum of the Year Awards Ceremony, which has been given by the European Museum Forum since 1977.
The award is named after Kenneth Hudson, a journalist, museologist and writer who is also the founder of the European Museum of the Year Awards (EMYA).
The Kenneth Hudson Award for Institutional Courage and Professional Integrity is given by the European Museum Forum board to a museum, a group or an individual to celebrate courageous museum practices that challenge and expand common perceptions of the role and responsibilities of museums in society. 33 candidates from 19 countries competed at the European Museum of the Year Awards where 6 museums received awards in different categories.
The EMYA jury awarded the Kenneth Hudson Award for Institutional Courage and Professional Integrity to 23.5 Hrant Dink Site of Memory for its holistic and universal approach to human rights, for its contributions to social transformation and democratization and for shedding light on the past while acting for the future.

Nayat Karakose made the award speech on behalf of 23.5 Hrant Dink Site of Memory.

Thank you very much for acknowledging our work by honoring us with this meaningful and prestigious award. Each award is a celebration, however for us each award also represents a dilemma. We wish we lived in a world where we only built and created museums that would celebrate life, cherish diversity, co-existence, human rights, peace and acknowledge the courageous efforts of wonderful people while they were alive.

Remembering and dealing with the past is a sort of resistance and a different form of activism that sparks transformative change within communities. 23.5 acts as a space that encourages people to deal with the past while also functioning as a space for dialogue, communication and comprehension. Since January 19th 2007, which marks the day when Hrant Dink was killed, our hearts are wounded and we are trying to heal our wounds through our mission and work. 23.5 offers a unique life story – not every life story can be exhibited. But at the same time killing someone doesn’t mean that that person is dead. As Hrant Dink’s wife Rakel Dink said, each death is a journey to eternity and we are aware how his death produced thousands of seeds.

As Iranian poet Füruğ Ferruhzad said, the bird may die, keep the flight in mind. Hrant Dink’s flight is still continuing, through the work of the Hrant Dink Foundation, through the work of the 23.5 Hrant Dink Site of Memory. His vision and the values he endorsed are inspiring, encouraging many minds and many hearts.

This award is very meaningful as it has ‘courage’ in its name. Horatius once said Sapere Aude, which means “dare to know”, “be brave to know”. We should be courageous and be unafraid of the truth, because the more we are afraid of it, we know that the ghosts of the past will haunt us forever. We should not deny it.

We would like to express our thanks to our entire team at the Hrant Dink Foundation, our board members, advisory board members and our team members who worked very hard, day and night for the creation of our memory site despite all the challenges and despite all the difficulties. And most importantly I would like to thank Hrant Dink’s family for harnessing their incredible pain into power and into action.