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On Barış Manço

There is a new address for those who want to remember Barış Manço: The Barış Manço House.

The mansion on Moda Kamil Paşa Street which belonged to Barış Manço, who passed away on February 1st, 1999, has been converted into a museum. The Kadıköy Municipality, which rented the long-abandoned building from Halk Bank, finalized its work on the house a few months ago, and the Barış Manço House was opened to visitors as of June 9th.

The first things which strike the eye in the garden of the house-museum are tomato, pepper, and eggplant statues. Sunay Akın oversaw the design of the museum, including details such as tables in the shape of records (including song titles and artists), the Promising Children Corner, and a ‘Super Grandma’ sitting on her chair. The museum house, which harbors the stories of items ranging from the piano Barış Manço composed on, to the vases he wouldn’t let anyone touch, to his paintings, accessories, ties, collars, also houses a striking staircase: the stairs are in the shape of piano keys. Barış Manço songs play in the rooms where notes of the pieces he composed decorate the walls and floors.

A Life Dedicated To Peace

Barış Manço, who was born on January 2nd, 1943, was the son of Rikkat Hanım, a Turkish Classical Music artist of the era, and Hakkı Bey. Manço spent his childhood in Kadıköy with an artistic family and began singing at age two. He later dabbled in music as an amateur in middle school. Following his high school education, he was educated in graphics and interior designs at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Belgium. In 1969, the year he returned to Turkey, he composed ‘Dağlar Dağlar’ – ‘Mountains Mountains.’ In addition to his music, he was noticed for his extraordinary clothing, accessories and clips. He lent his name to successful productions, such as ‘Promising Children’, with the support of his wife.
Having composed over 200 songs, most of which have won several prizes, Manço received the State Artist title in 1991. Manço also won several awards, such as the Japanese International Culture and Peace Award, Kingdom of Belgium, the Leopold II Chevalier Medal, French Ministry of Culture Literature and Art Chevalier Medal, and his songs were translated into French, English, Greek, Bulgarian, Arabic, Farsi, Japanese, and Hebrew. When he died on February 1st, 1999, the entire world felt the loss of its ‘Peace Ambassador’.