Probably you all remember the shocking image of the three-year-old Syrian boy, Alan Kurdi, lying dead on a beach in Turkey.  My hometown isn’t very far from where Kurdi’s body washed ashore. I grew up cheerfully playing in those beaches.

Like many other people, that picture haunted me. The next morning, I woke up with the idea of building a memorial in the sea for those who lost their lives trying to cross the Mediterranean.

Initially, I wanted to carry out
the Sea Cemetery as a personal project.
But soon I realized bringing all the resources together just by myself wouldn’t be possible. So, I approached to my CDs and together we approached to SupportToLife - a humanitarian aid organisation in Turkey. Luckily, they jumped at the project as they were already planning to raise their voice against the refugee crisis.

From locating the optimum bay to getting permissions from local authorities, we faced many challenges during the preparation phase. Though, the hardest task was finding the right material: The monuments had to be light enough to float in water, but also look sturdy and heavy to resemble a real headstone.

In the end, the municipality decided to tear down the installation just after couple of days because of political concerns. Still, it was enough time to attract worldwide attention. From BBC to India Today, the Sea Cemetery received a widespread media coverage all around the world. In just one week it reached more than 7 million people and became one of the few globally-shared campaigns in Turkey. An Australian NGO even asked us to rebuild the installation in Sydney.

RESULTS

AWARDS

Cannes Lions // Media - Shortlist
Golden Drum // Media - Silver
Crystal Apple // Media - 2x Crystal
Crystal Apple // Direct - Crystal