This week, at National Theatre Wales, we met a group of artists from Istanbul and heard the incredible story of the work they’ve made together.

Memet Ali Alabora, Melin Edomwonyl, Meltem Arikan and Pinar Ogun are not a company, as such; they are friends, collaborators and neighbors, in Cardiff as they were in Istanbul.

Last year they made a show; Mi Minor, and within the show they created Pinima, a country with a democracy, a currency, a president, laws, law enforcers, TV channels, adverts, music, seasons and the famous Pinnish monkeys. 

What happened in Pinima was different every night; people listened to music, they sang, protested, shouted over the President, undermined him, broke his laws, some defected, some stood up for each other, some watched, some defended the state and their leader and became citizens. As Pinima’s fate unfolded each night it was live streamed by the character of a young musician; the struggle for liberty and power in Pinima was hashtagged, retweeted and evolved online with participants from all over the world.

Then, in May, a peaceful sit-in to protect Taksim’s Gezi Park was met with brutal eviction by riot police. The protests that followed were about more than Gezi Park and as life seemed to imitate art the Mi Minor collective were demonised and implicated in the press as having readied, organised and galvanised their young following towards actual revolt. 

These are the circumstances under which the artists came to the UK, where they’re now excited to find creatives with whom to discover a new version of Mi Minor. It was really great to meet the team and hear them talk passionately about their incredible story and their work, they have a contagious excitement about developing the ideas and creating exciting, challenging theatre.

Creative Visits happen regularly at the Castle Arcade office, artists of all disciplines join us for tea and introduce themselves and their work to everyone who can come along. There are slide shows, trailers, biscuits, questions and a huge tea pot. It’s a great way to meet people and find out about their work and ideas.

The next visiting artist will be Jony Easterby, on Febuary 6^th at 2pm. If you’d like to be there, just let Gavin know that you’ll be coming along (gavinporter@nationaltheatrewales.org).

As Mi Minor evolved online PINILEAKS revealed classified information about the  Pinnish establishment.

Mi Minor's rebellious pianist.

A young musician who took his piano to Taksim Square and performed

an improvised concert that lasted for hours. 

Mi Minor's pianist in her red dress. 

A defiant woman in red at Gezi Park.

The image became an icon of the Taksim Square protests.