‘Today's girls tomorrow's strong women’
Candan Fetvacı, Chair of Executive Board of Aydın Doğan Foundation, Photographer Mustafa Seven, and Journalist-Author Melis Alphan, the creators of the “Ben İstersem (If I Want)” titled exhibition about inspiring stories of young girls, who overcame many difficulties and achieved success in various areas, came together with students at Izmir University of Economics (IUE).
Fetvacı, who gave information about the creation of the exhibition by Aydın Doğan Foundation under the slogan of “strong girls, strong futures”, stated that they hosted many events as part of the United Nations’ International Day of the Girl Child (11 October), and they wanted to share the inspiring stories of girls who achieved success under hard conditions in Turkey.
Fetvacı said, “We believe it is of utmost importance to strengthen and increase the role of women in different areas of life. We are working for gender equality. We have a long way to go to make the contribution of intelligent, educated, and competent women to social life equal with that of men. This foundation has been working for girls for the past 15 years. We believe in this project, and we will continue our projects. Girls need to be engaged in life as well. Today's girls are tomorrow's strong women. We are working to make sure that they get involved in sciences, arts, and sports, not only in Turkey but all around the world.”
Journalist-Author Melis Alphan, who made stories of girls’ journeys in this project, pointed that each story was fascinating, and they achieved great success in spite of obstacles they faced for being females only. Alphan said, “Parents also want their children to go to school. They all encourage their children, however, just wanting is not enough. Even a small support by families, teachers, and coaches make a very big difference in the lives of children.”
Photographer Mustafa Seven stated that he took the photos in black-white to emphasize the equality in the stories.
At the end of the event, IUE Rector Prof. Murat Aşkar presented planners of the University’s “100th Anniversary of the War of Independence” project to Candan Fetvacı, Mustafa Seven, and Melis Alphan.
The exhibition, which was brought to Izmir University of Economics by IUE Art Coordinator Sinemis Eser Akaoğlu, will be displayed at Izmir Chamber of Commerce on 29 February- 7 March 2020.
