Florida International University (FIU)

Friday, December 1, 2017 at 7:30 pm

Karagöz Shadow Puppet Theatre is a lasting tradition and an invaluable cultural legacy for the world. It is in fact recognized by UNESCO as the intangible cultural heritage of humanity in 2009. Karagöz Shadow Theatre is considered as one of the most important branches of traditional Turkish Theatre.

Developed during the early years of the Ottoman Empire and making its way along the old Silk Road routes, east and west, Karagöz theater and Karagöz puppeteers became familiar and beloved sites from Istanbul to Tashkent, Kashgar and beyond. Today, a Karagoz Puppet Show is fresh and alive. It has seven hundred years of grand tradition behind it ready to meet the neds and expectations of a modern audience. Focusing on the two main puppets, Karagoz and Hacivat, a traditional Karagoz shadow show is most importantly, fun and entertaining and almost always caries a moral or tip for right living. Karagöz Everywhere Project started in 2016 as an initiative of Turkish American Arts Society of New York (TAASNY).