Voices From The Dark will highlight the power of arts in activism and bring information about the disappeared in Turkmenistan, and, specifically, the work of Batyr Berdyev, former minister of Foreign Affairs in Turkmenistan, political prisoner and poet to a broader audience. The event will bring together Parting Song translator James Womack, human rights activist and Turkmenistan specialist Ivar Dale and activist and film producer Elhum Shakerifar for an evening of poetry, live music, activism and conversation.
Dash Arts will also be launching a collection of poetry, Parting Song, published by Crude Accountability and written by Batyr Berdyev early in his prison term in 2002 and 2003 and smuggled out of prison. Originally written in Russian, the poems convey internal resistance, integrity of the soul, wisdom, love, and loneliness.
Supported by Open Society Foundation.
