“Visions of the Holocaust” Exhibition

“Visions of the Holocaust” Exhibition featuring black and white photographs of Holocaust colorized by Yusuf Tolga Unker to never forget, to never ignore and to always remind Holocaust, opens at the Quincentennial Foundation Jewish Museum of Turkey, on January 24th, 2019.

Yusuf Tolga Unker colorized Holocaust photographs after getting special permits from Yad Vashem Museum and Unites States Holocaust Memorial Museum. The exhibition is sponsored by German Consulate in Turkey.

Germany’s Consul General in Istanbul will be present at the opening ceremony. Also, at the ceremony, Pianist Renan Koen will give a performance from her music composition “Holocaust Remembrance and Before Sleep”. The exhibition will be open to visitors until March 30th, 2019.

Aside from the 59 photos colorized by Unker, watercolor paintings and charcoal drawings by Unker inspired by the photos will also be displayed at the exhhibition.

Y. Tolga Unker explained to us how and why he started the “Visions of Holocaust” project:

“The important point is ‘why we must ‘see’ the Holocaust’. It’s a fact that people just glance furtively at Holocaust photos, mutter the words ‘how sad and painful’ and just look away. These photos, when colorized, do not only reflect the agony and the pain, but also demonstrate what human beings did to other human beings. Some people are scared to see this blunt reality, that’s why they try to avoid seeing these photos.  That’s why I’ve colorized the photos. When they are colored, they become more relevant and current. They transport us to that horrific period because they look brutal, menacing and terrifying. The only thing I thought while I was working on the project was that we shall never let it happen again. My goal was to enable everyone, regardless of whether they know Holocaust or not, relate to the people who had suffered this horrific pain. I also especially aimed to raise awareness and consciousness among younger generations. I wanted to present people images that were unwanted to be seen and I wanted to disturb them by taking them out of their comfort zone into the horrid reality.”

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