Street Theatre Performance in Feminist Demonstration in Turkey from Boyali Kus

On the 9th of November a demonstration took place in Turkey, against the reduction of penal sentences due to 'unjust provocation'. In other words, here, when, for instance, a man kills his wife but then says that she was wearing jeans, or make up, or had a slight resemblance to a certain porn star, that this made him angry, and thus he was ‘provoked’, the punishment he gets will be reduced due to ‘unjust provocation’. This was what we were protesting against as part of an international campaign to promote human rights across Muslim societies, called "One Day one Struggle". Tiyatro Boyali Kus had a street theatre performance as part of this demonstration.
Ours was a piece of image theatre with images of oppression shifting according to the rhythm of a drum beat. It formulated our basic desire and demand for justice. After the reading of the public statement we formed a gallery of images, a display of statues from our own bodies, on the street, leading the way from the square to the venue for the conference. This caused passersby to stop, watch and listen while the demonstrators illuminated us -the statues- with their torches, allowing us to broaden the scope and effect of the demonstration.

To watch a video of a part of the demonstration: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xb3ja2_bianetvideo_news