Mustafa Boga

Mustafa Boğa is a Turkish artist based in London. He graduated with an MA in Fine Art from Central Saint Martins in 2016. Mustafa is currently raising funds to pay a fee of £4900 to the Turkish government in order to be exempt from joining the military service. 'There he is without a proper diagnosis' curated by Helena Aðalsteinsdóttir featured work by Mustafa inspired by his process of applying for the "pink certificate". The exhibition ended but the fundraising still continues. you can see the exhibited works below.

 

While there are no specific laws against homosexuality in Turkey, openly gay men are not welcome in the army. Despite this, gay men are forced to prove their homosexuality in order to avoid military service. Mustafa applied for a so-called “pink certificate” in 2015 that exempts you from joining the army. The pink certificate states that the holder of it suffers from a ''Psychosexual Disorder''. It is an unacceptable label and a humiliating process that a person has to go through. To be able to get a pink certificate a gay man should provide a picture of himself dressed as a woman, or other explicit photographs of himself having sex with another man. The face must be visible, and the photos must show you as the passive partner. In exception, instead of photographs, doctors rely on a personality test. They ask if the person has had anal intercourse, oral sex, and what sort of toys they played with as a child. Also, if they like football, whether they wear woman's clothes or use woman's perfume. Due to the fact that Mustafa holds British Citizenship, the military offices saw a potential customer who could buy his way out of service. Therefore, his application was denied and a bill of £4900 has to be paid.

The fees to avoid military service have skyrocketed since the beginning of this year. In January, Mustafa received a bill of £2.000 to be paid by the end of 2019. However, by the time he was able to start saving, the fee had increased to £4900 making it impossible for him as a full-time artist to raise the money working part-time jobs. 

However tedious this process has been, Mustafa has used it as a source of inspiration in his artworks. If you'd like to help Mustafa raise the money faster, you can buy some of his prints and textile work below. 

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Suggested donations to buy a work listed below but you can also donate any amount to get an unlimited print of one work. 

Please get in touch for more details: mubogga@hotmail.com