The Tambourine Plays and We Dance

Acrylic, watercolor & gold on leather, 70 x 70 cm, Turkish Ministry of Culture, National Library Collection

Regardless of its various subjects, two things remain constant in every Turkish shadow play: humor and fun. So it’s only natural that the characters of the play always enter the scene playing the tambourine and dancing. Centrally depicted are Karagoz and Hacivat, the main heroes of Turkish shadow puppet theater. The other figures represent the diversity of characters in these plays.

Curator’s Note: According to legend, Karagoz and Hacivat were laborers on a 14th-century mosque in Bursa, Turkey. Popular with fellow workers, they were executed for fear they might incite rebellion. Their exploits became the stuff of oral tradition, and have been immortalized in Turkish shadow puppet theater.