offices, and in 2012 a commemorative plaque was laid in the pavement
on the spot where Dink was murdered. At the same time, a group of
Dink’s family members, friends and co-workers began to consider the
possibility of creating a memorial site at the Agos offices that might
serve not only to remember Dink, but also to uphold and defend the
history and culture of the Armenian population in Turkey as well as the
rights of all minorities. As work began on the project, they decided to
create both a local advisory committee and an international one made up
of artists, historians and university professors, from Turkey and from
other countries, who would oversee the entire process of creation. One
of the recommendations from the two advisory committees was to learn
from the experience of museums and monuments around the globe.
Over months of intense work, the team at the Hrant Dink Foundation
paid a visit to 65 museums and more than twenty monuments in ten
countries in Europe, Africa and the Americas.
Their visits certainly enriched the conception of the memorial to
Hrant Dink and may have even inspired the design of some of its rooms.
Beyond doubt, though, the new memorial bears its own individual
stamp. The space is neither strident nor shrill and the utmost respect
has gone into its installation within the former newspaper offices. Nor is
the museography intrusive. Rather, it is well-suited to the environment,
incorporating the most modern techniques, such as cameras that can
record a visitor’s personal message, while at the same successfully
preserving the newspaper’s work environment, making any visit a
pleasant experience. Even the small kitchen where the Agos staff heated
up their lunch is now an open space where visitors can stop for a coffee
or take a short break. Going through the memorial, the visitor will find
out all about the life of Hrant Dink, learn about the diversity of Turkish
society and gain an in-depth knowledge of the reality of Turkey’s
Armenian community. In addition, each of the small rooms contains
printed copies of short press articles that can be taken home for further
study and reflection. The last room on the visit is Hrant Dink’s office, a
space frozen in time, which remains exactly as the journalist left it and
now features a major work of contemporary art by the French-Armenian
artist known as Sarkis.
And where does the name of the new memorial come from? It takes
its name from an article that Hrant Dink published in 1996, entitled
“23.5 April”, in which he described the importance of two significant
dates: 23 April, Turkey’s national sovereignty and children’s day, and
24 April, the day commemorating the start of the Armenian genocide. In
his article, Dink as a Turkish-Armenian citizen chose a number midway
between the two dates in order to put across the idea of a shared future
lived in peace and constant dialogue.
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