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On February 6, 2023, Türkiye was struck by one of the most devastating earthquakes in its history, causing widespread destruction, leaving many displaced. The aftermath of such a disaster is not only physical, but also deeply emotional, with survivors carrying the weight of loss, uncertainty, and trauma. In response to this crisis, I conducted these regenerative workshops in Balikesir and Edremit, Türkiye, providing a space for participants to process their experiences, express emotions, and find a sense of connection through creative engagement.
This initiative was made possible through the leadership and dedication of Elif Çimen, Dean of the Fine Arts Department at Balikesir University. Recognising the power of art as a tool for healing, Elif mobilised faculty and students to form a committed team. Her collaboration with the local municipality helped secure essential support, allowing us to facilitate workshops in Balikesir and Edremit, two key areas housing earthquake survivors. Together, we created an environment where participants could share their personal narratives and reflect on their experiences through art.
Regenerative Workshop for Earthquake Survivors in Turkiye, 2023.
Using the aforementioned concept of PLAY, first, a physical space must be created; one that feels emotionally safe, inviting, and conducive to creative work. With the simplest tools – paper, pencils, paint, and even just hands, this space transforms into an optimistic, authentic, and fun environment that invites PLAY and fuels innovation.
Get a feeling of the energy of the space from this 1 minute video.
I introduce specific activities, not as directives but as explorations, to observe how the participants, survivors, engage with the tasks. These activities are designed to observe how they interact with the tasks—where they focus their energy, how they express ideas through color, their distinctive “mark-making,” and their written and visual expressions, design sensibilities and an infinite array of other unique attributes that emerge through the creative process. I begin to identify the participants distinctive attributes and inclinations.
These observations are shared with the participants. The person begins to be aware. Then I encourage and challenge them to delve deeper in those directions, helping them cultivate their own artistic voice. They are then encouraged and challenged to delve deeper into these directions, cultivating their own artistic voices, and in turn articulate their trauma story visually or textually in ways that are authentic to their experiences.
Let us look at the transformative role art can play in the lives of survivors, all ages, families, firefighters, men that dug the bodies out, all people. The municipality in Balikesir also created groups of men that were rebuilding the disaster sites. Environmental disaster impacts a community of people that are connected. They are extremely important helping each other cope which is a huge asset in the regenerative process of the workshops.
Group play creates momentum and cultivates trust within the community. Playfulness invites the mind to embrace new experiences, and this openness paves the way for meaningful transformation.
The aim is to elicit instinctive, uninhibited responses, tapping into a sense of childlike wonder. By minimizing judgment of their artwork and reducing personal ownership over the outcome, participants are freed from the constraints of self-criticism. This approach nurtures creativity, ensuring it remains unbridled and authentic, rather than stifled by internal doubt.
I begin with 1 minute drawings. There is no time for anything by the gut response. There is a beauty in the untrained hand. From these 1 minute drawings I begin to build short fun dialogues with speech bubbles, until we build to group stories, then personal stories.
After the earthquake when everyone was in shock. There were children who must not have realized what happened. They began to dance together as if they were hearing music that no one else heard.
Those who can’t hear the music think the dancers are crazy.
In the face of bewildered uneasy and timid gazes, the children became courageous, wild almost as if they are going crazy. People began to stare at the children with fearful glances.
— Furkan Utku Kizmaz
Ilhan’s writing is above and below the left side of the drawing is of the earthquake with dark skies and lightening. The right is the children after the earthquake.
Despite all the distraction and Chaos, the smiling faces of children connected us to life and showed us that we should not lose our hope.
As if their souls were holding on tight to a balloon, they went away playing games and smiling at us to the most beautiful blue of the sky.
— Ilhan Sara
