TANDEM - A Cultural Managers Exchange Programme

Partnership Panel | Istanbul 21-25 September 2011

Executive Summary The project coordinators of thirty six (36) organizations from Turkey and E.U countries, who were pre-selected in the scope of “TANDEM- Cultural Managers Exchange Project” have met in Istanbul on September 21st.. After the meeting which took place at the Istanbul Bilgi University Santral Campus, the project coordinators from Europe visited the cities of their partner organizations and had the opportunity to get to know both the cities and the organizations more closely. This report includes both the information on two days meeting in Istanbul, and the city visits of Antakya, Batman, Bursa, Çanakkale, Diyarbakır, İzmir, Mardin, Mersin, and Trabzon.

1. ISTANBUL MEETING (21-22 September, Istanbul Bilgi University) Following the agenda, the meeting started with the welcome speeches and short introductions of the project partners and continued with the detailed structure of the Tandem project. Upon the completion of the introductory speeches, each project coordinator introduced his/her organizations with using the Pecha Kucha method.

photos by Kubilay Özmen

Seite 2

In the afternoon of the first day, in order to ease the matching process of possible Tandem partners four groups, namely ‘Visual Arts’, ‘Literature’, ‘Cinema’ and ‘Performing Arts’ are formed. In this method the coordinators from Turkey have their seats under the title for their fields of interest, and the coordinators of European organizations go for speed dating conversations. As all the participants are informed and also guided by the possible tandems that they might be interest in previously, this session was mainly designed to provide a platform for face-to-face discussions to know each other better.

photos by Kubilay Özmen

In about two hours of dual, triple and in some cases double partnership conversations, each coordinator named his or her possible Tandem partner to develop a joint project application during and after city visits. At the end of the day, the European participants shared the name of the city that they want to company. Further information of the list of the decided tandems is provided below.

Seite 3

The morning session of the second day is devoted to the further elaboration of the upcoming activities of the Tandem project and also the expectations from the city visits. The list for the city visits and more information about the logistics are also provided in this session. Afterwards, Serhan Ada from Istanbul Bilgi University made an interactive presentation on Turkish cultural scene. This session is followed by the interactive training of Beliz Demircioğlu on the title “Getting to Know Each Other Better”.

photos by Kubilay Özmen The rest of the afternoon is allocated to the site visits to Sanatorium, Theatre After Six and DEPO.

Seite 4

2. LIST OF THE TANDEMs:

No TURKEY E.U.

1 Barış Onur ÖRS İm Atellier, Antakya Çağla İLK Ballhaus Naunynstrasse, Berlin 2 Emrah GÖKDEMİR Contemporary Art Association, Antakya Agata MILOCH To Pole, Krakow 3 Yavuz EKİNCİ BART, Batman Klauspeter SACHAU LesArt.Festival, Dortmund 4 Yusuf Orkun YAĞCI Kolaylaştırıcı Dernek, Bursa Sevil AYDIN Cultural Participation Fund, Utrecht 5 Erdinç ALNIAK Mavitay, Çanakkale Patrick BURTON Jack Drum Arts, Crook 6 Seyhan BOZTEPE Çanakkale Biennial, Çanakkale Ayda-Su NUROĞLU Personimages, Paris 7 Yaşar IRMAK Diyabakır Cinema Association, Diyarbakır Sigrun DRAPATZ Co Labora, Berlin 8 Ebru GÖKDAĞ Anadolu University – Conservatory, Eskişehir Katja KOS Ana Monro Theatre, Ljubljana 9 Aslı ÇETİNKAYA Back to School, İstanbul Marina SORBELLO Uqbar, Berlin

10 Yaman Ömer ERZURUMLU Theatre After Six, İstanbul Tom SCHÖSSLER Lokstoff!, Stuttgart 11 Güher GÜRMEN Sanatorium, İstanbul Lena SEIK GfZK, Leipzig

12 Refik AKYÜZ Geniş Açı, İstanbul

Julija BERKOVICA ISSP, Riga Fahri GÜMÜŞTEKİN Foto Forum, Trabzon

13 Tuna YILMAZ İzmir Culture Art and Design Association, İzmir Roberto CAVALLINI Reloading Images, Berlin 14 Mesut ALP Mardin Cinema Asssociation, Mardin Nesrin TANÇ Medienbunker Marxloh, Duisburg 15 Ahmet KARABULAK Mersin Art Initiative Platform, Mersin Zane DATAVA LCCA, Riga

16 Fahri GÜMÜŞTEKİN Foto Forum, Trabzon

Julija BERKOVICA ISSP, Riga & Refik AKYÜZ Geniş Açı, İstanbul

17 Serkan TÜRK Ada Magazine, Trabzon Sofia HAMAZ Freitext, Berlin

3. LIST of OBSERVERS: The European participants who did not matched with the organizations and coordinators with Turkey are invited to join the city visits.

No E.U.

1 Doris KOCH perplex.e.V., Berlin 2 Tatjana FELL arttransponder, Berlin 3 Andrzej RASZYK berlinerpool, Berlin 4 Jakub SZCZESNY Bec Zmiana, Warsaw

Seite 5

4. CITY VISITS:

The cities of Antakya, Mersin, Bursa, Çanakkale, İzmir, Diyarbakır, Batman, Mardin and Trabzon were visited with the help of the facilitators from Anadolu Kültür, MitOst and ECF. City guides were distributed to the each participant with the aim providing the basic data of the cities that they will be visited. The travel arrangements to the cities were done considering the possibility of developing regional cooperation among the participants from different cities. Admittedly, tandems of Antakya and Mersin travelled together while this was also the case for the tandems of Batman, Mardin and Diyarbakır. Below, cities are also listed with considering their geographical connection. European participants visited the cities of the participants whom they aim to develop their TANDEM project. Meanwhile, one exception requires particular attention. The literature focused tandems wanted to travel together as they are aiming to develop a quartet on literature and the travel arrangements were done accordingly. Hence one of the Tandems in Trabzon joined the Batman group. The following part aims to provide basic information about the city visits. 4.1 BATMAN TANDEM: Yavuz Ekinci (BART) & Klauspeter Sachau (LesArt.Festival, Dortmund)

VISITORS: Serkan Türk (Ada Magazine, Trabzon) & Sofia Hamaz (Freitext, Berlin)

Seite 6

VISITED ORGANIZATIONS: Mesopotamia Social Forum (Diyarbakır), Yılmaz Güney Cinema Hall, Batman Metropolitan Municipality-Conference Hall, Sakıp Sabancı City Museum (Mardin) All departures for the cities Diyarbakır, Batman, Mardin are done through the city of Diyarbakır. Therefore half day was spent in the city of Diyarbakır where the groups had the chance to visit Mesopotamia Social Forum located in Sümer Park. In the Forum ‘Saturday Mothers’ photography exhibition is visited with the guidance of Veysi Altay, the curator and one of the artists of the show. Afterwards, the two TANDEMs in the field of literature departed to the city of Batman where they met with all the members of BART in the Yılmaz Güney Cinema Hall. The groups have the chance to discuss Kurdish literature and exchange writers’ names and discuss political and cultural climate in general. In the evening both TANDEM groups found the time to work on their joint project applications.

photos by Serra Özhan-Yüksel

In the morning of the second day the historical site of Hasankeyf is visited. Later the group participated to the BART’s literature event entitled ‘Geographies of Literature’, where the guest speaker was Funda Danışman, the co-author of the book ‘Bildiğin Gibi Değil’. In the afternoon Sofia Hamaz, Klauspeter Sachau and Serkan Türk headed to the city of Mardin where Serkan Türk participated to the ‘Poetry Festival’ hosted by Sakıp Sabancı City Museum. On the third day, back in Batman, the group met photography and video artists living in the city and working for BART.

Seite 7

4.2 MARDİN TANDEM: Mesut Alp (Mardin Cinema Asssociation) & Nesrin Tanç (Medienbunker Marxloh, Duisburg)

VISITED ORGANIZATIONS: Mardin Cinema Association, Sakıp Sabancı City Museum As an introduction to the activities of Mardin Cinema Association and of Marxloh, members of the association and the two TANDEM coordinators made a meeting at the association’s building. After the introduction, two documentary film projects of the association, one of them directed by Mesut Alp, are screened. Later the day, guided by Mesut Alp, with archaeology background, an insight to the city’s history is given. For this insight information a visit to the Sabancı City Museum and walks in the city are done. In the evening together with visitors of the city, who came for a cinema film project, and with the members of the Cinema Association a joint dinner was organized in Dara Hotel. In this meeting the TANDEM had the chance to talk on their joint film project with the theme of “wedding” and people shared their stories on this theme accordingly.

photos by Özlem Örçen

Seite 8

On the second day, guided by Sait Tunç from Mardin Cinema Association a visit to the historical town of Dara and around is accomplished. In the afternoon the Batman group joined them and they all participated to the ‘Poetry Festival’ in the Sakıp Sabancı City Museum where Serkan Türk had the opportunity to read his poems. 4.3 DİYARBAKIR TANDEM: Yaşar Irmak (Diyarbakır Cinema Association) & Sigrun Drapatz (Co Labora, Berlin)

VISITED ORGANIZATIONS: DSM-Diyarbakır Art Centre coordination office, ÇaÇa-Der (Association for Children), Dicle Fırat Culture and Art Centre Association, Diyarbakır Cinema Association For orientation and facilitation of the city visit DSM- Diyarbakır Art Centre’s coordination office is visited. Later the day, since the TANDEM’s focus will be working and developing projects with children, the first day ÇaÇa-Der, an active organization working with children, is visited. And on the second day the district of Ben U Sen where the poorest families of Diyarbakır reside, is visited to have an overview of possible children groups to be worked with. The meetings with the association’s members were done both in the DSM office and in the Cinema Association’s own space. On the second day a visit to Dicle Fırat Culture and Art Centre Association is accomplished to get an overview on cultural climate in the city of Diyarbakır. Since most of the organizations in the city were part of Mesopotamian Social Forum, visits to municipalities like Sur and Metropolitan are cancelled. Together with a visit to the Forum in the Sümer Park, city walks were done.

Seite 9

4.4 TRABZON TANDEM 1: Fahri Gümüştekin (Fotoforum); Refik Akyüz (Geniş Açı) & Julija Berkovica (ISSP, Riga)

TANDEM 2: Serkan Türk (Ada Magazine) & Sofia Hamaz (Freitext, Berlin) VISITED ORGANIZATIONS: Trabzon Municipality, Karadeniz Technical University, Trabzon Sanat Evi, Fotoforum Guided by Fahri Gümüştekin, Trabzon visit was a compile of formal and informal meetings to develop the Tandem project together along with the site seeing visits for a better understanding the cultural and social scene of the city of Trabzon.

photos by Zümray Kutlu

Seite 10

The first day is devoted to the visits to the Trabzon Municipality and Karadeniz Technical University where the TANDEM group got the promise of the in kind contributions such as accommodation and transportation for their project. Both in the two visits the TANDEM project in general and the Tandem team of Trabzon in particular is presented. In the second day, the team had a breakfast with the FotoForum members and with the Director of the Culture and Tourism at the Trabzon Sanatevi and had the chance to talk about their projects much more in detail. Throughout the site visits TANDEM group also discussed on their possible activities and cooperation on photography. 4.5 BURSA TANDEM: Yusuf Orkun Yağcı (Association for Facilitators) & Sevil Aydın (Cultural Participation Fund, Utrecht)

VISITED ORGANIZATIONS: Nilüfer City Council, Nilüfer Municipality- Directorate of Culture Related to their project idea Yusuf Orkun Yağcı and Sevil Aydın preferred to meet with independent theatre groups and musicians studying in miscellaneous high schools and university. For the music performance project to be done with Roots and Routes from Netherlands, these meetings played an important role to find a relevant performance group from the city of Bursa.

photos by Kubilay Özmen

Seite 11

Apart from Cultural Participation Fund’s own contribution and possible fundraising from Dutch Embassy in Istanbul, verbal agreements were done with Nilufer Municipality for accommodation and subsistence support and organization of a joint concert in the city of Bursa. 4.6 ÇANAKKALE TANDEM 1: Seyhan Boztepe (Çanakkale Biennale) & Ayda Nuroğlu (Personimages, Paris)

TANDEM 2: Erdinç Alnıak (Mavitay) & Patrick Burton (Jack Drum Arts, Crook)

OBSERVERS: Tatjana Fell (arttransponder, Berlin) & Andrzej Raszyk (berlinerpool, Berlin)

VISITED ORGANIZATIONS: Çanakkale Municipality- Writers & Artists House, Çanakkale City Museum, Mavitay, Adatepe-Taşmektep, Hünnap Han

Seite 12

On the first day, guided by İsmail Erten (the coordinator of the Çanakkale 2010 project), the group had an overview of the city, its history, its demography and its art and culture spaces. On the second day together with the observers Seyhan Boztepe and Ayda-Su Nuroğlu departed to town of Adatepe where they visited Hünnap Han and Taşmektep , an international art house hosted many academics and artists for summer lecture series and workshops. There they met their representatives as well as seeing the Associate Status exhibition curated by Seyhan and Ayda-Su is one of the artists. In the evening they joined to the second Tandems and participated to the exhibition opening of Mavitay at Çanakkale Municipality- Writers and Artists House. During the exhibition opening of Mavitay, international coordinators had the chance to meet the participants in general, local coordinators’ families, Mavitay’s team of assistants and the representatives of some of the significant constitutions in the city.

photos by Andrzej Raszyk

During this two days of visit TANDEM groups have the possibility to discuss their projects and their activities to happen in the city of Çanakkale. For the observers Tatjana Fell and Andrzej Raszyk this visit provided an opportunity to make networks especially in the field of visual arts.

Seite 13

4.7 MERSIN TANDEM : Ahmet Karabulak (Mersin Arts Initiative) & Zane Datava (LCCA, Riga)

VISITED ORGANIZATIONS: Mersin University Fine Arts Department, Mersin Cultural Centre, Atelier of Ahmet Karabulak and Art Galleries

photos by Yıldız Gümüş

Considering their geographical link and also with the aim of supporting the regional cooperation between Mersin and Antakya, the TANDEMs visited both cities. During the visit in Mersin on the first day, the group had the chance to meet with students from the Mersin University Fine Arts Department and artists from the city and also discussed about the possible project cooperation.

Seite 14

4.8 ANTAKYA TANDEM 1: Barış Onur Örs (İm Atellier) & Çağla İlk (Ballhaus Nauynstrasse, Berlin)

TANDEM 2: Emrah Gökdemir (Antakya Contemporary Arts Association) & Agata Miloch (To Pole, Krakow)

OBSERVERS: Doris Koch (perplex.e.V., Berlin) & Katja Kos (Ana Monro Theatre, Ljublijana)

Seite 15

VISITED ORGANIZATIONS: Im Atelier, Antakya Contemporary Art Asssociation (AGÜSAD), Archeology Museum

photos by Yıldız Gümüş

After spending a day in Mersin, the group traveled to Antakya. At first, both Antakya TANDEMs made their site visits separately and mainly focused on their project ideas and activities. Possible extra fundraising opportunities were also discussed. Until noon the city centre´s old narrow alleys and some historical buildings (churches, mosques) with traditional inner courtyards were explored by the two groups. In the afternoon the new space of AGÜSAD, where they are about to move in, and the space of Im Atelier are visited. In the courtyard of the Atelier they have spent couple of hours in order to get to know other members of the Atelier and discuss about their works in Antakya. Late in the afternoon some of the guests visited the Archeology Muesum, while others stayed in the Atelier´s courtyard benefiting the calm atmosphere in order to work on their joint project ideas.

Seite 16

4.9 İZMİR TANDEM: Tuna Yılmaz (İzmir Culture-Arts and Design Association) & Roberto Cavallini (Reloading Images, Berlin)

OBSERVER: Jakub Szczesny (Bec Zmiana, Warsaw)

VISITED ORGANIZATIONS: K2 Contemporary Arts Center, Historical Coal Gas Station Culture Center, 1888

photos by Philipp Dietachmair

Seite 17

For the local coordinator the main objective of this short city visit was first to introduce the city per se more than visiting formal institutions. Therefore, as agreed by the entire group, meetings with the city officials are left to the placements in İzmir in spring 2012. First the venue named "1888" is visited, where the association organizes its events and then they toured the city and saw the city's key cultural centers such as K2 Contemporary Arts Center and the historical Coal Gas Station Culture Center. During the visit to K2, they had the chance to meet with the representatives and get acquainted with the project activities. Since the project idea involves culinary culture, a brief introduction to local cuisine was also provided. At the end of the second day the TANDEM coordinators were invited for a wedding party which played an important role for introducing another segment of the local culture. 4.10 ISTANBUL TANDEM 1: Yaman Ömer Erzurumlu (Theatre After Six) & Tom Schössler (Lokstoff!, Stuttgart)

VISITED ORGANIZATIONS: Kumbaracı50 In and around different shopping malls, metro stations, market places are visited since the planned performance piece will take place on public space. In addition to these particular semi-open spaces Galata, Cihangir and Tarlabaşı districts of Beyoğlu are particularly visited in order to show the guest coordinator some abandoned buildings where the performance can possibly take place. These venues are thought to be possible for the performance in Istanbul. Where in the city of Stuttgart a two floor abandoned building will be considered as an alternative performance space.

Seite 18

TANDEM 2: Güher Gürmen (Sanatorium) & Lena Seik (GfZK, Leipzig)

VISITED ORGANIZATIONS: Sanatorium, Black Door Istanbul The organizers of the art and network platform, namely Black Door Istanbul, have been the mediators for the encounter of the two Tandem coordinators. This is why they have spent some of their time in Istanbul by participating series of events organized by BDI. The remaining time was devoted to their work on project idea in the office of Sanatorium art space. As for their additional fundraising they have taken an appointment from the Goethe Institute which is to be accomplished by Güher Gürmen in the upcoming weeks.

Seite 19

TANDEM 3: Aslı Çetinkaya (Back to School) & Marina Sorbello (Uqbar, Berlin)

In order to follow current contemporary art events in the city, the Asli Çetinkaya and Marina Sorbello made visits to the Istanbul Biennale and to a number of art galleries. To develop their project ideas they made internal meetings with the presence of Erden Kosova, who is from the core team of Back to School initiative. As for potential funding sources Marina Sorbello met with representatives of the Goethe Institute.

5. CONCLUDING REMARKS & NEXT STEPS The next step that we will be taking is the application process for the TANDEM projects. The deadline for the application is announced as 11th of October and the final results of the evaluation will be announced by the 20th of October. Both Anadolu Kültür and MitOst will be ready to support the coordinators during the preparation of the application form and hope to see all in Berlin….

THANKS….