Art life in Izmir during the democratic party period (1950-1960)

With the victory of the Democratic Party in the elections of May 14, 1950, the multi-party era began. It was thought that with a ten-year period of the Democratic Party and the emergence of democracy discourse, the traces left by the war would be erased and people would find peace.Even though efforts were made to achieve this, the desired result was not achieved. In addition to entertaining people with the art they create, artists also convey their ideas to people through art. Reaching the public level is not something that can only be done through politics. What art and the artist reflect is just as important.In this process, the value given to artists during the Democratic Party period is measured. It is desired to progress in the field of theater and cinema, but the production of the agreed works takes a long time. The change of mayoralty disrupted the continuity of business. During this period, theater could not receive state support due to liberalization. This situation put state theaters in trouble.Izmir City Theater was the organization most affected by this process.The people of Izmir supported communities to keep art alive in their city.In the interviews given by artists from Istanbul and Ankara, they expressed how interested and high expectations the people of Izmir are in art. The biggest example was the rapid selling out of tickets for the games and long queues in the halls.It took a painful process for a city that is so interested in theater to have a theater of its own. It is seen that the closure of the existing theater and the creation of a theater belonging to the city were not only realized by the decisions taken by art-loving people.The proliferation of amateur groups has also had an impact on schools. In high schools, students prepared many theaters plays under the direction of their teachers.Izmir mayors made plans for the opening and building works of the Izmir City TheaterThe lifespan of theaters opened without municipal support was quite short. Since it took a long time to provide full support, Izmir became the city of artists coming from outside.The lifespan of theaters opened without municipal support was quite short. Since it took a long time to provide full support, Izmir became the city of artists coming from outside. Likewise, private theaters were opened to meet the need for art and a rapid increase in their numbers was observed. In 1950s Turkey, cinema gained an artistic dimension by being directed by conscious people. However, it was experiencing problems such as lack of technical field and increase in foreign films.Between 1950 and 1960, nearly sixty open and closed cinemas were actively operating in Izmir. Although cinemas are managed by private individuals, regulations are made by the state. The regulations, which are shaped according to the needs of the public, are checked by the municipality every month. No matter how frequently inspections are carried out, filmmakers resort to different ways to make profits.In order to give the audience what they want, it has become completely supply and demand.Art cinemas, which are established in addition to commercial movie theaters in countries that take cinema seriously, have not been established in our country. The importance of cinema clubs and museums is not understood, and it is not realized that there is a branch of education called film ology. Our audience is the art of cinema that does not think about what commercial cinema has taught them and has accepted it without comparing it with other examples.There are two related routes to cinema. The first is the national interest shown to preserve its existence, which is entirely in the hands of the state, and the second is the national and administrative interest to prevent it from becoming a market cinema. This is a power in the hands of the people.