Keeping the Memories and Hopes Lost in the Earthquake Alive Through Art

Abstract

The aim of the research is to examine the social effects of people who lost all their memories and hopes in the earthquake centered in Kahramanmaraş on February 6, 2023. Earthquake is defined as the tremors caused by the earth's crust fractures caused by seismic vibrations in the earth. Earthquakes have negative effects on society in individual and social dimensions. Earthquake is not only a natural but also a social event. It has direct or indirect negative effects on the life of the society in the regions where it occurs. With the earthquake, infrastructure, industrial and economic factors have been turned upside down, which has caused sociological, psychological, social and social changes. At the same time, it necessitates social solidarity and cultural coexistence and cooperation. This great earthquake in Kahramanmaraş and neighboring provinces has shattered the lives, hopes and dreams of many families. Families, children, students and parents who dreamed big dreams either perished in the earthquake or they will keep these experiences alive in their memories that they will never forget. Works of art are the therapeutic subject itself. They are the aesthetic creations of the people who shape it. When we express our spiritual and mental feelings through art, both our mind and our spiritual/mental values are activated. While learning the art of modeling with clay in art studies or art activities, the therapeutic effect of touching the soil is experienced. When drawing a picture or sculpting with clay, negative emotions are transformed into positive ones. For this reason, art and creativity are associated with psychology and combined with a therapy (Acar & Düzakın, 2017:4). Memory means remembering or reminding what happened in the past. Remembering can sometimes lead to confrontation and sometimes to affirmation. When people try to remember their past experiences, they try to relive and make sense of the past. Art provides historical consciousness by keeping records of social and social events along with historical consciousness. Art transmits people's own culture, values and norms to future generations through visual and auditory art branches. With this, social memory is ensured. The visual and gigantic artistic earthquake monuments built in Malatya, Adıyaman and Kahramanmaraş keep the pain fresh in the eyes of the society, display social solidarity and show that this is a monument of solidarity.
As a result, the hopes and memories that were destroyed in the earthquake are rebuilt with the social and cultural unifying power of art, ensuring unity and solidarity. Educational projects on earthquake in schools; art activities such as painting, sculpture, poetry, drama are organized to forget the painful effects of the earthquake and to take place in social memories.
Keywords: Earthquake, Hope, Memory, Art