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In Praise of Walking  (On going)

On June 5, 2015, just two days before the general election in Turkey, thousands of Kurds in support of HDP gathered at the Istasyon Meydani in Diyarbakir. On that day, the ISIS' bloody assault started the long-lasting trauma and prolonged legal judgement. Two explosions on the same day and at the same place killed 5 people and left more than 400 wounded.


Kurdish film director Lisa Calan is one of the hundreds of people who injured in the attack. She lost her legs during the explosion. After initial treatment in Turkey, she went to Germany for prosthetic treatment. However, due to incorrectly implementation of sockets in Germany, she returned to Turkey with broken bone ends and had to have surgery again. Lisa had a series of surgeries incessantly. Each time her leg was gradually shortened. After having eight surgeries, Lisa had to go through a heavier and difficult treatment to be able to walk again. She went to Australia for the implant treatment and she started walking for the first time. Although she started walking again, many complications developed after this surgery too. Lisa has still a long treatment in front of her, but in her own words, Lisa continues struggling stubbornly. “That couple of seconds took such a place in my mind and memories that I can talk about for days,” says Lisa referring to explosion moment. She confronted with the bomber in the court many times, Lisa does not give up seeking for justice too.


Despite her loss of both legs and ongoing medical treatment, she does not give up her struggle to walk again. This project has been witnessing Lisa's time in the Netherlands and Germany where she visited for her medical treatments. It aims to portray her wounds, aesthetic norms of the society in where she lives, examine her existence in the space and her desire to keep on her life as usual by inviting the audience.

With help and mentorship of Mert Çakır.

Portrait of Lisa

Portrait of Lisa Çalan

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