‘Fuar’: A Counter-Memory is an animation series that draws attention to the collective amnesia of the 1922 Great Fire of Smyrna/Izmir by examining the urban park, Fuar, built on top of its ruins. The destruction of 14.500 homes and thousands of exiles marks a transformation in the city’s cultural and urban fabric. As the political agendas chose to omit the topic, the following generations built counter-memories in Fuar oblivious to its dark past. The project’s aim is not necessarily of reconciliation between eras, but to emphasize the cluelessness and oblivion that endures. By layering two different printmaking techniques, drypoint etching and risograph, the project seeks to explore and highlight the contrast between eras and to inform them of each other.
