Name of Object:

Karagöz and Hacivat Shadow Play

Location:

Bursa, Türkiye

Holding Institution:

Bursa Karagöz Museum

 About Ministry of Culture and Tourism (General Directorate for Cultural Heritage and Museums), Bursa

Material(s) / Technique(s):

Leather

Description:

Shadow play consists of solid figures being shown and moved behind a semi-transparent screen. The characters of Hacivat and Karagöz plays reflect the multi-ethnic makeup of the Ottoman Empire. They are represented with a high level of detail through their figures, attitudes, dances, etc. Shadow play received its basic character in the 17th century and developed further in the following centuries, eventually becoming one of the most popular traditional forms of entertainment among Turks. It was performed by a single artist that is called a hayali (imaginary person) or hayalbaz. One of the main characteristics of shadow play is that the hayali changes his voice and manner of speaking depending on the character he was animating.

Type of Object

Puppet

Citation of this web page:

"Karagöz and Hacivat Shadow Play" in "Sharing History", Museum With No Frontiers, 2026.
https://sharinghistory.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;AWE;tr;206;en

Copyedited by: Daniel de la VegaDaniel de la Vega

Daniel de la Vega is a copy editor based in Portland, Oregon. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in linguistics from the University of California at Santa Cruz in 2014 and has since done editing and localization work on everything from college applications to magazines to video game dialogue.

MWNF Working Number: TR2 202