Celebrating Cultural Diversity Festival bridges cultures

When he moved to Iowa City to begin postdoctoral work in 1999, Bahri Karacay wondered whether the Turkish music of his childhood would have a place in the middle of the Heartland.

Growing up in Turkey, Karacay performed solos and appeared on local and national TV as part of the country’s first children’s folk music choir. Some of his recordings were placed in Turkey’s national folk music archives. Karacay took a break from performing to pursue studies in human molecular genetics, returning to his musical roots to form a traditional Turkish music band called Turkana after earning a PhD from Ohio State University.

	People dance to the music of Turkana at a recent Celebrating Cultural Diversity Festival. This year's event will be held from noon to 5 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 24, in the UI Field House. Photo by Tom Jorgensen.

Just a few years later, Karacay came to The University of Iowa, where he is now a research scientist in the Department of Pediatrics in the Carver College of Medicine. The move to Iowa, he says, had a surprising effect on his sound.

He met and collaborated with Iowa bluesman Patrick Hazell, bringing American blues and Turkish music together. On campus, he was introduced to other Iowa musicians, including several faculty members in the College of Medicine who invited him to play. He plays regularly with local band Lazy Boy and the Recliners, which features eight University and community members, and a new version of Turkana, made up of four other UI faculty members.

Turkana will play during the University’s Celebrating Cultural Diversity Festival, which will be held Sunday, Feb. 24, from noon to 5 p.m. in the University of Iowa Field House. The event is free and open to the public.

Karacay, who sings and plays the saz (a long-necked stringed instrument originally from Central Asia), says the event offers an opportunity to share his heritage with the Iowa City community. Karacay and Turkana—a fusion of Turkish folk and popular music with some Western influences—have performed at the festival for five of the last seven years.

“When it comes to music, it crosses many barriers—language barriers, cultural barriers,” Karacay says. “I think in this day and age, it’s so important that we understand each other and that we tolerate each other. The festival makes a bridge among cultures and it’s a platform that recognizes that we are all one.”

The annual event features music, dance performances, and sports demonstrations, plus foods and crafts from around the world.

For a full schedule of events, see the UI News Services release: http://news-releases.uiowa.edu/2008/february/021308diversity_festival.html.

by Madelaine Jerousek-Smith