Villager Ekrem is a person who lives in Karakaya village of Sivrihisar district of Eskişehir and also makes artworks from trees. He appears in an interview as a person who faces himself as a result of an accident he has had. When we watch
his interview on Youtube, we see that Mr Ekrem has brought a completely different dimension to the culture and the system he is in.
When the village is mentioned, especially when the villager is mentioned, a person figure that is generally underestimated in the society is formed in our minds. This is a sign that our mind is drowning in a sea of prejudices. As Mr Ekrem speaks in the video; we realise how he looks at life from different perspectives with his diction and his rich, meaningful and long sentences. As we continue watching the video, we begin to admire him! Because, when we are purified of those stereotypes that surround us, we feel like we are listening to his philosophy from a philosopher. This philosopher is a person who has succeeded in defeating the impositions of the system, has already climbed the step of self-realization, has lived a life in touch with nature, and has produced works of art from trees, stones and materials.
Such a rich imagination and different perspectives are some of the most distinctive features of childhood. Mr Ekrem says; "I am growing up into my childhood and I will die as a child.". When one realizes oneself, comes down to the essence, and maybe our essence is hidden in our childhood. Because childhood means a period when there are no benefits. It is the key to adulthood, purity, great happiness in small situations, a rich imagination, being in touch with the soil - just like Mr Ekrem. Another sentence of Mr Ekrem that affected me deeply is that "I am existing as much as my hands.". When we dig deeper into this sentence, we can find out the pleasure of producing, the knowledge that one of the main purposes of existence is to produce. We leave a mark on this world by living most of all to ourselves. In today's madness of consumption, that sentence by Mr Ekrem is a slap in the face as we do not hold anything other than the phone and remote control in our hands.
As seen in the video, the arrogant and prejudiced attitude that we have against a culture other than the one we live in has spread to Mr Ekrem's village. A dialogue between a chief physician and Mr Ekrem summarizes this:
- You are the one who did these sculptures?
- Unfortunately, yes, I did them. (Mr Ekrem said that the chief physician was disdainful.)
- Unfortunately? ...
It is up to us to break prejudices and stereotypes. When we change our point of view towards different people and different ways of life, it will not surprise us that Mr Ekrem, who lives in the village and calls himself a villager, is a philosopher and an artist. When we look from the perspective of Social Work and its ethical principles and values; we come to the knowledge that people are an honourable being just because of being human, that their dignity should be glorified, that people are equal in terms of inherent rights, that no human being is superior to any human because of his status, ability, race, language, religion, the way of his life. When we adopt and implement the principles and values of Social Work, we will have a serious awareness to avoid this arrogant attitude and it will not be possible to treat another culture with prejudices, othering, and with scornful attitude.
