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Between a lounge and a pasture, Am I Not Human? drifts through emotional excess, belonging, and the fragile performance of being human. The tension between joy and agony is built upon an Arabesk musicality.

Inspired by this contradiction, and the question posed in the title of the referenced, iconic Turkish Arabesk song, Ben İnsan Değil Miyim? (Am I Not Human?), the performance, with choreography and live musik, opens itself up to the complexity of human experience posed on an absurd, non-fitting setting.

Arabesk becomes a catalyst for unhinged emotional expression among newcomers navigating daily life in a society with distinct codes of behavior. Might the glimmering hosts indeed be the cows themselves, unbothered by the public`s presence?

Burcu Bilgiç and Derin Cankaya are İstanbul raised and Berlin-based choreographers exploring absurdity and poetic storytelling in their individual and collective performance-making practices. For this project, they collaborate with sound designer İlkyaz Yağmur Köroğlu and musician/performer Anton Gerzina under the guidance and performative support of Kurdish drag queen and Arabesk singer Babykilla.

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Additional information
Dates
June 2026
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