Personal Information
--------------------






Given name: Hamze









Surname: Bytyci









Email: hamzebytyci@gmail.com









I understand that by submitting this form, I consent to the use of my data for the purposes of the 2026 Forum on Artistic Research'.: Yes









I agree to the terms of service.: Yes













Your contribution
-----------------






Title: Constitutional Commitment, Anti‑Fascism, and Solidarity in Contemporary Artistic Research









Format: Experimental format (4)









Main language: English









Abstract:
Constitutional Commitment, Anti‑Fascism and Solidarity in Transnational Youth Artistic Research  

“Darius & Shahmaran – Ritual, Knowledge and Resistance” is a transnational youth exchange between Germany and Türkiye that uses the Kurdish‑Anatolian Shahmaran narrative and the figure of Darius to explore democracy as a historically and culturally contested practice. The project examines how ritual operates ambivalently as an instrument of state legitimation and as a medium of cultural resistance, linking Kurdish experiences of repression and survival in places such as Dersim, Mardin and Diyarbakır with Roma histories of exclusion, knowledge transmission and cultural self‑assertion.  

RomaTrial e.V. contributes long‑term experience in minority rights education, international youth work and participatory artistic formats, embedding the Berlin phase in existing political education infrastructures and collaborations with local partners. Young people from both contexts work collectively on questions of democracy, cultural rights, international law and memory politics, and use performance, film and installation to develop situated readings of ritual as political practice and to articulate counter‑narratives to dominant European self‑images.  

The project strengthens critical thinking, intercultural competence and democratic agency, while proposing minority knowledges as epistemic resources for a European democracy education attentive to power, violence and resistance. Against this backdrop, the contribution asks to what extent artistic research with and from minoritised positions can materially unsettle the aesthetic regimes of constitutional democracy, rather than being recoded as a culturally valuable but ultimately cosmetic supplement to existing institutional orders.












Image: https://www.sar2026.ie/system/files/webform/submit_contribution/31/IMG_5838.jpeg









Short biographies of the presenter(s):
- Hamze Bytyçi is an artist, curator and cultural worker with a Master’s degree in Art in Context from the Berlin University of the Arts (UdK). He has directed the association RomaTrial e.V. since 2012, promoting visibility, self-representation and participation of Roma and Sinti through artistic, activist and educational projects. He initiated and leads the International Roma Film Festival AKE DIKHEA? in Berlin and co-founded and co-curated the 1st and 2nd Roma Biennale, creating platforms against discrimination and for diversity. Since September 2022, he has curated the programme of the Green Salon at Volksbühne, fostering participatory, intersectional cultural work that links artistic practice with social activism.
- The Children’s Biennial Group led by Ender Açar develops participatory art projects with and for young people, positioning children as co-authors of artistic processes rather than passive audiences. Its work operates at the intersection of curation, education and community practice, often in collaboration with schools, museums and neighbourhood initiatives. Through workshops, site-specific installations and long-term artistic research, the group creates spaces in which children can experiment with visual and performative languages, articulate their own perspectives and critically question social realities and power structures.










Previous presentations or iterations of the research:
Previous iterations draw on long-term artistic and educational work by RomaTrial e.V. and the Children’s Biennial Group led by Ender Açar, including participatory youth projects, festival formats and exhibition programmes in Germany and Türkiye. These formats explored ritual, minority knowledge and democratic participation with young people, but the specific configuration of “Darius & Shahmaran – Ritual, Knowledge and Resistance” and its artistic research has not yet been presented at an ICSAR.














Requirements
------------






Additional information:
The contribution is conceived as a research-creation format that combines lecture-performance, situated storytelling and dialogical discussion rather than a conventional paper. The focus is on collectively unpacking “Darius & Shahmaran – Ritual, Knowledge and Resistance” as an ongoing artistic research process, including work-in-progress material from youth exchanges in Germany and Türkiye (performance sketches, video fragments, ritual scores). The session invites participants to reflect on how minority epistemologies enter artistic research infrastructures and what is at stake when youth-focused, community-based practices are translated into the aesthetics and temporalities of an international conference setting.










Spatial and technical requirements :
The contribution requires a flexible seminar or studio space that allows for circle seating and small group work, with blackout option if possible. Technically, it needs a projector and screen, sound system with speakers, HDMI connection, and the possibility to play audio/video from a laptop. For the performative elements, movable chairs, some open floor space and basic lighting control (dimming) are sufficient.










Potential risks or ethical concerns:
The project engages with contexts of Kurdish and Roma marginalisation, experiences of state violence and contested memories, which may trigger participants or reproduce asymmetrical speaking positions. It also works with youth material that can contain sensitive biographical references. Care will be taken to ensure informed consent, anonymisation where requested, clear facilitation of power-sensitive discussions and the possibility for participants to withdraw or step back at any time.










Create a user account for SAR 2026: Yes









Create new user: Hamze Bytyci