Artstillery’s ‘Dirty Turk’ will bring tales of striving immigrants to the Dallas Museum of Art

When you hear the call to prayer, you may at first think you are in a mosque – but in fact, you are in the Dallas Museum of Art.

Smell the Turkish coffee in the main lobby; hear the call to prayer warbling through the hallways. Touch original artifacts – suitcases filled with memories that carried families’ belongings across the oceans. These objects reference the physical world as the audience delves into the fragmented memories of a character named Ozlem.

This not entirely American, not entirely Turkish daughter of immigrants is at the center of Artstillery’s revived performance of Dirty Turk aka Dirty Immigrant, in which Ozlem seeks to reclaim her family’s stories – a story shattered by the traumas of assimilation and displacement.

As Ozlem remembers her past, she is portrayed by three actresses, each representing a different age – the adult (Lucila Rojas), the teen (Jessi Jones), and the youth (Ava Dao Whatley). We also meet her parents, Adnan (Goran Maric) and Yuksel (Laila Kharrat) and their grandparents, while she shares her experiences of struggle and survival in America and abroad. Performer Chris Smith serves as Imam, our spiritual guide on this family journey.

The intergenerational story forces audiences to grapple with the often overlooked narratives of immigrant and refugee families who left so much behind in hopes of finding safety in the United States. It’s the kind of pressing social issue that Artstillery, a community arts and services organization in West Dallas, addresses, often through theater, puppet shows, dance, and community-based storytelling. His approach to creative interior design in this summer’s immersive play Family Dollar brought the human reality of gentrification and the Dallas housing crisis to life.

Armando Monsivais plays grandfather Tahir (left) and Sorany Gutierrez is grandmother Feride in “Dirty Turk aka Dirty Immigrant,” an immersive piece that will be performed at the Dallas Museum of Art from September 17-18.(Nan Coulter)

In Dirty Turk, larger-than-life papier-mâché dolls are carried on the backs of actors Armando Monsivais and Sorany Gutierrez to monumentalize the strength of Tahir and Ferdie, the grandparents to whom Ozlem owes everything.

The two dolls were handcrafted by Noel Williams, the doll designer and maker of Artstillery. “The design of the grandfather doll is inspired by a strong tree. Grandmother is inspired by roses, hence her hair, ”says Williams. As for their Crimean and Anatolian traits, it is actually the grandparents of the playwright and artstillery founder Ílknur Ozgür who serve as inspiration.

“We all stand on the shoulders of giants, grandparents and parents, people who have fought wars, so that we are well,” says Ozgür.

Although based on Ozgür’s experience as a first generation Turkish American, Dirty Turk’s story also weaves in the testimonies of displaced families from Syria, Russia, Bosnia and Korea. The piece translates their stories about fleeing violent oppression and their longing for access to education and economic opportunities. It also shows their common hope: to end violence against immigrants in this country.

“Every family wanted to actively transform the communication of hatred into understanding and compassion,” says Ozgür.

Artstillery founder Ílknur Ozgür wrote “Dirty Turk aka Dirty Immigrant” partly based on her own experiences as a first-generation Turkish American.(Nan Coulter / special contributor)

Dirty Turk was first staged in 2018 as an act of resistance against the immigration bans imposed on predominantly Muslim countries by former President Donald Trump. “All of my board members protested,” says Ozgür. For the daughter of Muslim Turkish immigrants, theater became a form of protest.

Three years later, as reports of anti-Asian violence continue to mount amid the COVID-19 pandemic, our nation still cannot grapple with issues of origin and belonging.

The revived production takes place in connection with the DMA show “My | gration ”, which can be seen in the Center for Creative Connections, a gallery in the museum. “My | gration ”shows works by artists who immigrated to the United States. It was created by the DMA’s education department with input from the community to illustrate how migration can lead to the enrichment of artistic ideas.

From left: Lucila Rojas, Jessi Jones and Ava Dao Whatley portray the main character Ozlem at different ages in Artstillery’s performance of “Dirty Turk aka Dirty Immigrant”.(Nan Coulter / special contributor)

In typical artstillery fashion, Dirty Turks immersive performance creates a multi-sensory experience that suggests the separation between the generations, as many immigrants never express the hardships they have endured – not even to their children.

Sharing these intimate stories with non-immigrants and immigrants alike provides us with an opportunity to forge a healing connection with tradition and the human family. As the audience gathers in a place sanctified by the community, the call to prayer seems appropriate.

details

Dirty Turk aka Dirty Immigrant by Artstillery takes place on September 17th and 18th at 8pm at the Dallas Museum of Art, 1717 N. Harwood St., Dallas. Tickets are pay-as-you-can starting at $ 5. More information is available at artstillery.org.

Left: Actors Laila Kharrat as Yuksel (mother) and Goran Maric as Adnan (father). Right: Taner Özdil, Turkish language and culture director (for the performance “Dirty Turk aka Dirty Immigrant”). Photographed at the Dallas Museum of Art.(Nan Coulter / special contribution)

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