Anadolu Kültür | April - May - June 2025
As the teams of Anadolu Kültür, Diyarbakır Arts Center and Depo, we continue to work in 2025 with the belief that sharing culture and art can foster mutual understanding and empathy.
Καρσί / Karşı gatherings
From May to July, reciprocal visits of the local art initiatives took place as part of our programme “Καρσί / Karşı: Gatherings Across the North Aegean”.
During the visits, the teams co-hosted public cultural events such as workshops, pop-up exhibitions, performative walks, screenings, talks and collective dinners. The collaborations explored how we can understand and express forms of displacement, exclusion and belonging through participatory art, memory, traditions and ecological bonds, engaging with diverse practices and issues such as foraging and food cultures, sourcing clay and ceramic traditions, and the collective memory of population exchange. The participating teams Maquis Projects (Izmir), Sarı Denizaltı Sanat İnisiyatifi (Bergama), Seyir Derneği (Ayvalık), SUb (Çanakkale), CARR (Chios), Xeno Festival (Sigri), Patmos Ceramic Tiles (Patmos), and Lesvos Solidarity (Mytilene) will share their experiences and observations from their visits in a joint publication soon.
You can follow the details of the gatherings on our social media accounts.
From May to July, reciprocal visits of the local art initiatives took place as part of our programme “Καρσί / Karşı: Gatherings Across the North Aegean”.
During the visits, the teams co-hosted public cultural events such as workshops, pop-up exhibitions, performative walks, screenings, talks and collective dinners. The collaborations explored how we can understand and express forms of displacement, exclusion and belonging through participatory art, memory, traditions and ecological bonds, engaging with diverse practices and issues such as foraging and food cultures, sourcing clay and ceramic traditions, and the collective memory of population exchange. The participating teams Maquis Projects (Izmir), Sarı Denizaltı Sanat İnisiyatifi (Bergama), Seyir Derneği (Ayvalık), SUb (Çanakkale), CARR (Chios), Xeno Festival (Sigri), Patmos Ceramic Tiles (Patmos), and Lesvos Solidarity (Mytilene) will share their experiences and observations from their visits in a joint publication soon.
You can follow the details of the gatherings on our social media accounts.
From local to transnational: VAHA gears up for September in Prishtina
The call for organisations to join the upcoming Transnational Networking Meeting -set to take place in Pristina from 10 to 14 September 2025 alongside the VAHA III hubs- closed on 27 June. A total of 85 institutions from 33 countries applied. The results of the call will be announced at the end of July. The meeting will welcome 16 new organisations, aiming to foster connections with the hubs, encourage the development of solidarity networks, and open up space to explore possibilities for alliances both within and beyond the VAHA context. Partnerships formed between these organisations and hubs will be supported through various opportunities offered within the VAHA Programme.
Since April 2025, VAHA III hubs have been engaging in local cultural and artistic activities such as screenings, concerts, memory walks, community dinners, art residencies, panels and artistic workshops, designed around the themes of women and LGBTI+ rights, storytelling and activism, cultural memory, community building through arts, empowerment of refugees and migrants, right to mother tongue and cultural identity, children’s participation in arts, combating disinformation and hate speech.
To learn more about the hubs visit our website and check out the profiles of VAHA III hubs.
The call for organisations to join the upcoming Transnational Networking Meeting -set to take place in Pristina from 10 to 14 September 2025 alongside the VAHA III hubs- closed on 27 June. A total of 85 institutions from 33 countries applied. The results of the call will be announced at the end of July. The meeting will welcome 16 new organisations, aiming to foster connections with the hubs, encourage the development of solidarity networks, and open up space to explore possibilities for alliances both within and beyond the VAHA context. Partnerships formed between these organisations and hubs will be supported through various opportunities offered within the VAHA Programme.
Since April 2025, VAHA III hubs have been engaging in local cultural and artistic activities such as screenings, concerts, memory walks, community dinners, art residencies, panels and artistic workshops, designed around the themes of women and LGBTI+ rights, storytelling and activism, cultural memory, community building through arts, empowerment of refugees and migrants, right to mother tongue and cultural identity, children’s participation in arts, combating disinformation and hate speech.
To learn more about the hubs visit our website and check out the profiles of VAHA III hubs.
HOPE: Voices Together in Adıyaman
HOPE: Voices Together Project, carried out in partnership with Tontalente e.V. from Germany, took us to Adıyaman between May 9–20, together with five community musicians from Germany and the UK.
We first held two days of workshops with children at the Kömür Culture and Arts Center and produced videos together. Then, we visited the K-1 and K-15 container settlements, where we made music with women with the support of ÇemberDe.
At the Solidarity People Association, we conducted a series of workshops with 15 civil society workers and volunteers, focusing on “Supporting Wellbeing through Community Music.” As the final phase of the project, we held a three-day training titled “Empowerment through Community Music: Practitioner Training”, hosted by the Adıyaman Municipality Abdülhamit Han Youth Center.
Our 21 participants - musicians, psychologists, music teachers, youth center staff and social workers- explored community music methods such as multilingual songwriting, improvisation and creative expression with different instruments and then developed content tailored to various target groups. Throughout the summer, they will carry out community music workshops in their own working environments and reconnect with the musicians during online supervision sessions.
HOPE: Voices Together Project, carried out in partnership with Tontalente e.V. from Germany, took us to Adıyaman between May 9–20, together with five community musicians from Germany and the UK.
We first held two days of workshops with children at the Kömür Culture and Arts Center and produced videos together. Then, we visited the K-1 and K-15 container settlements, where we made music with women with the support of ÇemberDe.
At the Solidarity People Association, we conducted a series of workshops with 15 civil society workers and volunteers, focusing on “Supporting Wellbeing through Community Music.” As the final phase of the project, we held a three-day training titled “Empowerment through Community Music: Practitioner Training”, hosted by the Adıyaman Municipality Abdülhamit Han Youth Center.
Our 21 participants - musicians, psychologists, music teachers, youth center staff and social workers- explored community music methods such as multilingual songwriting, improvisation and creative expression with different instruments and then developed content tailored to various target groups. Throughout the summer, they will carry out community music workshops in their own working environments and reconnect with the musicians during online supervision sessions.
Exhibitions and events at Depo
Organised by Depo and Documentarist, this year’s SaturDox Documentary Screenings took place from March to June, titled Stories of Struggle from the Global South, featuring films from Palestine, Lebanon, Sudan, the Congo, Egypt, and Syria, followed by talks with guests from the region.
Three exhibitions are on view at Depo. Waseem Ahmad Siddiqui’s …Now! (Can I Stay at Your Home?) centers on themes of time, displacement, and hope. IN BETWEEN (1997-2003): Fooling Around with Documents, curated by Nergis Abıyeva, presents a selection from the archives of Gülçin Aksoy, Nancy Atakan, Gül Ilgaz, and Neriman Polat. Both exhibitions run until 12 July. Curated by Melih Aydemir and Yıldız Öztürk, Ateş Alpar’s Possibility and Probability, traces the artist’s personal life to address broader themes of borders, security, and dispossession, is on view until 5 July.
Read more.
Organised by Depo and Documentarist, this year’s SaturDox Documentary Screenings took place from March to June, titled Stories of Struggle from the Global South, featuring films from Palestine, Lebanon, Sudan, the Congo, Egypt, and Syria, followed by talks with guests from the region.
Three exhibitions are on view at Depo. Waseem Ahmad Siddiqui’s …Now! (Can I Stay at Your Home?) centers on themes of time, displacement, and hope. IN BETWEEN (1997-2003): Fooling Around with Documents, curated by Nergis Abıyeva, presents a selection from the archives of Gülçin Aksoy, Nancy Atakan, Gül Ilgaz, and Neriman Polat. Both exhibitions run until 12 July. Curated by Melih Aydemir and Yıldız Öztürk, Ateş Alpar’s Possibility and Probability, traces the artist’s personal life to address broader themes of borders, security, and dispossession, is on view until 5 July.
Read more.
“Feeding the River: 20 Years of Anadolu Kültür” documentary
Dedicated to preserving a multicultural past and envisioning a pluralistic future, Anadolu Kültür has continued its journey for over 20 years, believing in the power of intercultural dialogue. The documentary “Feeding the River: 20 Years of Anadolu Kültür” is screened in Ankara, İzmir and Paris following its premieres in Istanbul and Diyarbakır.
Screenings were held at the Goethe-Institut in Ankara, BAYETAV in İzmir and L’acort in Paris, followed by discussions with the participation of the team. Screenings will continue into the second half of 2025, accompanied by a variety of panel discussions.
Dedicated to preserving a multicultural past and envisioning a pluralistic future, Anadolu Kültür has continued its journey for over 20 years, believing in the power of intercultural dialogue. The documentary “Feeding the River: 20 Years of Anadolu Kültür” is screened in Ankara, İzmir and Paris following its premieres in Istanbul and Diyarbakır.
Screenings were held at the Goethe-Institut in Ankara, BAYETAV in İzmir and L’acort in Paris, followed by discussions with the participation of the team. Screenings will continue into the second half of 2025, accompanied by a variety of panel discussions.