The Endangered Landscapes program, created by the Cambridge Conservation Initiative at the University of Cambridge, offers an art prize (ELAR) for which the Turkey finalist is double bass player Volkan Hürsever.
220 artists from different countries applied for the prize and eight were selected as finalists. Hürsever will compose music for conservation areas in Turkey. The project aims to call attention to conservation areas through art, and to highlight the healing nature of the human-nature relationship through the power of art.
Musician Volkan Hürsever, who has been volunteering at nature conservation projects for many years, said the following: “I am thrilled to be a part of this project whose Turkey leg is managed by the Mediterranean Conservation Society. I hope to give voice to all endangered species, the sea, and nature through my work. It will be possible to listen to my musical creations in various avenues soon. We all have to do something to keep nature and its creatures alive. I hope that music will be the manifestation of nature’s healing power.”
The Endangered Landscapes Program, which will be run in eight European regions simultaneously by various NGOs, aims to improve more than seven hundred kilometers of coastline and take precautions against climate change. The Mediterranean Conservation Society manages the Turkey branch of the project, and among the application areas is the coastline stretching from Gökova Bay to Yedi Adalar in Antalya.
Endangered Landscapes Program: Incorrect agricultural and forestry practices and extreme urbanisation lead to the destruction of many of nature’s living environments, marine and terrestrial species, and vulnerable habitats. The Endangered Landscapes program aims to create solutions for these problems and showcase exemplary practices, and it encompasses eight areas in Europe. The program’s vision is that of retaining and increasing biodiversity in significant European landscapes and creating ecosystems that benefit life. The Endangered Landscapes Program was established by the Arcadia Fund owned by Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin and the Cambridge Conservation Initiative at Cambridhe University; it is set to be completed by 2024. The Turkey leg of the project is managed by the Mediterranean Conservation Society and coordinated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Ministry of Environment Urbanization and Climate Change, and the Ministry of the Interior.
Volkan Hürsever: Double bass player Volkan Hürsever completed his undergraduate degree at the Department for Double Bass at Mimar Sinan University’s State Conservatory in Istanbul, and his postgraduate degree at the Department for Tambour at Haliç University’s Traditional Turkish Music Conservatory. He played in many important festivals and concerts in Turkey and abroad. He has been involved in various album productions. After sharing the stage with Roy Haynes, Kenny Garrett, Nicholas Payton, and Dave Kikovski at the 9th International Istanbul Jazz Festival as part of Roy Haynes’s “Birds of a Feather” project, he joined the band on their European tour. Hürsever has played on countless jazz, traditional Turkish music, and ethnic music albums, and completed the recordings for his first solo album, “Hediye (The Gift)” in March 2009. The album was released in October of the same year by AK Music.