Within the scope of Aryen Huner Association's project "Ji Çaran Çar, Jin Huner / Four in Four Women Art", an exhibition was opened at Yaşam Shopping Mall in Tetwan district of Bedlis (Bitlis) on 25 November, The International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. The exhibition, which included works by women artists, was prevented by the police after a while and Aryen Huner Association painting instructor Fatma Zozan Bor was detained. Zozan Bor's paintings were also confiscated by the police. Zozan Bor, who was subjected to strip search at Bitlis Police Headquarters after being detained, gave the message "We will continue our struggle, we will never stop".

 

'WE WANT TO BRING WOMEN TOGETHER WITH ART'

 

Zozan Bor stated that they have been working on the Ji Çaran Çar, Jin Huner/Four Women in Four Art Project and that they have been making art only with women, "We have created art works only with women's manual labour. We organised workshops in the field of painting. We organised an exhibition of the paintings produced by these workshops and exhibited them there. We held the first exhibition in Wan. We wanted to hold the second exhibition in Tetwan district of Bêdlîs. Our aim was to bring women's art to women everywhere," she said. 

 

Pointing out that the exhibition was raided by the Bitlis Security Directorate despite obtaining all the necessary "permissions", Zozan Bor said: "While the preparatory work for our exhibition is still in progress, we were intervened by people who were not in uniform and did not show any identification. Even before the end of our exhibition work, when I turned around, my painting was in their hands and its pieces were falling to the ground. I reacted to this and asked 'who are you and what are you doing'. He told me 'I am the police chief, I am the state, I can do whatever I want'. My paintings were confiscated."

 

'I WAS SUBJECTED TO VERBAL AND PHYSICAL HARASSMENT'

 

She was subjected to strip search, verbal insults and harassment at Bitlis Security Directorate said Zozan Bor and added: "I was subjected to physical harassment. These interventions and approaches are not ordinary. This approach is an intervention against Kurdish culture and art. We carried out our work within the scope of the 25 November International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and all our work was women's labour and women-themed work. We encountered the intolerance of the state and the system towards women and women's work. Even before our exhibition was intervened by plainclothes police officers, we were constantly harassed by the police officers assigned there. We encountered this attitude even though we had called before and told them why and what the exhibition was for. It was a municipality-owned venue and we had obtained all the necessary permits."

 

'MY PAINTINGS ARE STILL IN CUSTODY'

 

Underlining that the raids and interventions were not ordinary, Zozan Bor said: "This intervention was never ordinary on such a meaningful day. The confiscated works were made in memory of the murdered women. Our artefacts with the names of all the murdered women all over the world were taken. They were works made with roses and beauty. The interventions against people, institutions and artists who make violence visible, rather than against the perpetrators of violence, are definitely aimed at normalising and banalising violence. Two of our works are still being held in Bitlis police station. Although I was released, my works were not returned to me. We have started all necessary legal processes. When we held an exhibition in Tetwan, people were very happy and expressed that they had seen something like this for the first time. They tried to block this situation. Even an artistic work was not allowed to be done, they intervened and intimidated. We do not allow anything that is not within the framework of our demands. We do not accept such approaches."