Gönül Sen-Menzel: Posters Against Xenophobia in Cologne – Report in Hürriyet

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As part of a campaign by the Cultural Office of the City of Cologne and the artists’ association BBK, 30 posters against xenophobia have been put up on Cologne’s streets. Two posters measuring 3.60 x 2.30 meters by the Turkish painters Gönül and Sabahattin Şen adorn the wall of a building at the intersection of Kartäuserwall and Kartäuserhof.

Artists Are Called Upon Too

Gönül and Sabahattin Şen, who took part in the campaign against xenophobia by the Cultural Office and the artists’ association with two posters, said: “We must fight xenophobia together. The greatest task in this falls to artists.”

Posters by Turkish Artists on Cologne’s Streets

The two posters that the Cologne-based painter couple Sabahattin and Gönül Şen designed against xenophobia hang at the intersection of Kartäuserwall and Kartäuserhof as part of the City of Cologne Cultural Office’s campaign “Hand in Hand Against Xenophobia”.

German and foreign artists, including the two Şens, took part in the campaign launched by the City of Cologne and supported by the artists’ association BBK with 30 posters. Of the Turkish artists, only Gönül Şen and her husband Sabahattin Şen submitted posters. Gönül Şen, who is taking part in the campaign with two 3.60 x 2.30 meter posters against xenophobia and fascism, said:

“My husband and I are members of the BBK. We are the only Turks taking part in the campaign. I designed one of the posters, and my husband designed the other with his students. I have been painting large formats lately, so I finished the poster in a short time without much effort. On the poster I want to show how fascism plunges a society into misfortune. Fascism destroys all the values of a society and annihilates it. Germany must not allow that. All Germans must join together to stop this ugly development and find clear solutions. When we are among artists, we don’t feel any xenophobia. But on the street we are foreigners. We feel it everywhere outside the art scene. We are always made to pay for having black hair. Xenophobia cannot be prevented by marches and demonstrations. It is Germans who practice racism – and it is also Germans who organize the demonstrations. Xenophobia can only be countered if measures are taken that involve all parts of society.”

Sabahattin Şen, who has been painting in Cologne since 1980 and also works as a teacher, said of his poster: “I designed one of the posters with my students. First we drew swastikas and skulls. On top of them we glued flags of different nations painted by the children, doves, flowers, clouds, hearts and other motifs. In the end, a beautiful joint work by students and teacher emerged. We must fight fascism and xenophobia together. Young or old – everyone must take a stand against the racists. That is what we wanted to express with our posters.”

Gönül and Sabahattin Şen graduated from the painting department of Marmara University at the same time and then taught art at various schools in Turkey. Sabahattin Şen, who worked as a lecturer in his department until 1980, came to Germany that same year and began studying at the Düsseldorf Art Academy. Together with his wife Gönül Şen, who came to Germany a year after him, he continues his artistic work in a small studio in Cologne […]

The report appeared in the NRW edition of Hürriyet on February 5, 1993 (front page, continued on p. 3); the end is not preserved on the scan. The newspaper calls the BBK “Avrupa Sanatçılar Birliği”. Translated from Turkish for senmenzel.com.