Hope Archive: Letters LARISSA ARAZ

Umut Arşivi: Mektuplar ise 2015 ile 2017 arasında hapse giren Cumhuriyet Gazetesi yazarlarına getirilen mektup yasağı sonrasında gazete üzerinden yollanan 138 mektubun internet radyosu üzerinden dağılım açılan bir ses arşividir.

“Hope Archive: Letters” is a compilation of open letters published in Cumhuriyet newspaper addressing its imprisoned journalists between 2015-2017 (until their last associate was free). Most of the letters were written by the imprisoned journalists’ families, friends and fans. In a period of letter ban for journalists in prison, Cumhuriyet had published these private/personal letters under an opinion column called “Letters to Inside” to reach out the ones in prison. Ironically, newspapers were allowed in the prison while the letters were not. Even though newspapers were and are still heavily censored by the government, these newspapers with letters were somehow never censored.

“Hope Archive” questions the permeability between private and public, and personal and political, by delving into the fluidity of two media (here, letter and newspaper) where they merge their power and create an alternative for a socially critical moment.

The work manifests itself through an internet radio that compiles intimate messages published in Cumhuriyet newspaper and addressed to imprisoned journalists forbidden from receiving personal mail.