ISTANBUL.- Organized by Salt and the Lumbardhi Foundation, Translated into Socialism is on view at Salt Galata. The exhibition looks into the little-known history of the Turkish-speaking community in Yugoslavia, more precisely, in Kosovo and Macedonia. It explores how, in a multinational social context, a Turkish identity was affirmed and transformed under socialist ideology.

The historical scope of Translated into Socialism goes back to 1920, the year when a part of the oppressed Muslim population in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia saw their redemption in leftist ideas. It traces the story of a new generation of activists who helped clear the way for a socialist future, a vision that was violently interrupted by the monarchic regime. Building upon this legacy, the exhibition expands into the new reality of the Socialist Yugoslavia until the late 1980s.

Even though the Turkish-speaking community officially constituted a small part of the population, policies towards national minorities enabled the proliferation of numerous initiatives operating in the Turkish language. These included newspapers, periodicals, schools, and various cultural and political organizations. The interconnectedness of these initiatives facilitated a nuanced perspective that challenges mainstream approaches to nationalism and questions the “totalitarian” and “ethno-nationalist” discourse of Yugoslavia, consolidated by its traumatic breakup during the 1990s wars.

Translated into Socialism reworks historical materials sourced from private archives and public libraries, many of which are being unearthed for the first time. These materials are juxtaposed with contemporary works by Mustafa Emin Büyükcoşkun, Yane Calovski, Hana Miletić, Ahmet Öğüt, Fevzi Tüfekçi, and Dilek Winchester. The exhibition explores the construction of a national consciousness based on internationalism and solidarity, while revealing how the historical distinctiveness of Yugoslavia’s socialism, such as self-management and non-alignment, shaped the ways the Turkish-speaking community was imagined. Highlighting new cultural forms arising from these complex dynamics, it weaves together an unfamiliar story that remains unique and relevant.

Programmed by Sezgin Boynik, Tevfik Rada, and Merve Elveren and realized in collaboration with the Lumbardhi Foundation (Kosovo), Translated into Socialism will be on view at Salt Galata between October 24, 2024–February 23, 2025.