Bridging Practices

These sessions invited our current hubs to engage in peer-to-peer discussions and exchanges, focusing on the content and methods of their works. We also invited the VAHA community from VAHA’s first round and other transnational networks to contribute with examples from their practices.

The first session, held on 13th September, centred around “cultural heritage & performing arts”. We discussed the approaches of LabHub (Diyarbakır, Batman & Mardin), PlayRoots (Batman), and Sıfır Noktasında Sanat (Antakya) examining their work both within and outside VAHA, as well as their collaborations with transnational partners THEAMA (Athens), Lesvos Solidarity (Lesvos), Odin Teatret (Holstebro, Denmark), and KUB Gallery (Leipzig). Additionally, VAHA I alumnus Hüseyin Eryurt from the Culture Routes Society (Antalya) and our colleague Serra Özhan-Hocaoğlu from the zusa team shared insights from their joint project “Performative Journey” from 2021 to 2022. You can explore the video documentation of their project and the handbook of methods they developed through this experience. We were also joined by Tandem Turkey alumni Maro Magoula and Evangelia Pelentridou from Peripatos (Athens) who discussed their previous projects Mardin Passage and Hasankeyf Workshops —both implemented in Southeast Turkey—as well as other participatory projects they carry out in Greece.

The second gathering, held on 15th October, focused on “artistic expression on women’s rights and cultural rights”, with a particular emphasis on cultural production in the mother tongue. We heard from VAHA hubs Ji Çaran Çar Jin Huner (Van), Habbe (Dersim and Gaziantep), and Tora Çand û Hûnera Kurdî (Diyarbakır), who shared their work on these themes with their collaborators Oyoun (Berlin),  Bundesverband der Migrattinnen in Deutschland (Frankfurt) and Off University (Berlin). Our Budapest hub from VAHA I, also contributed to the discussion, presenting their B.R.A.W.E project. Furthermore, two speakers offered valuable insights from their own research and practice. Selime Büyükgöze, an academic and feminist activist, addressed the relationship between art production and activism through the activist interventions of feminist artists. She held a discussion on feminist responsibility and ethics while addressing women's stories. Visual artist Sevgi Ortaç engaged the group in a discussion about the complex balance between responsibilities and desires, drawing from her own production process and offering critical questions and reflections on art’s role in memory, witnessing, caregiving, monumentality, and representation.

Our third thematic meeting, held on 13th November,  centered around “migrant communities & fostering inclusive communities through art” featuring Hubban (Istanbul & Ankara) and Cultural Harmony (Gaziantep) hubs alongside their collaborators bridgeworks (Berlin) and Collective Ma’louba (Berlin). We were joined by Omar Berakdar, a photographer, media artist, and founder of arthereistanbul, an art space created by Syrian artists in Istanbul. He ran a discussion on sustainability for cultural and art organisations, particularly the dynamics between funders and grantees. Dr. Gülay Uğur Göksel, Associate Professor of International Relations at Istanbul Bilgi University and a member of COREnet and Association for Migration Research (GAR). shared her experience with two projects at the intersection of culture, art, migration, and academia. Another invited speaker was Nilgün Kıvırcık, an architect and board member of the Women's Works Library and Information Centre Foundation, presented the Memory of the Other project and Women Migration Memory exhibition. 

The final thematic session, held on 9th December, titled “A ‘place’ at the intersection of ecology and art”, featured presentations from two VAHA hubs: SARP (Istanbul & Bursa) and ADAdayız (Istanbul & Balıkesir) ), along with their collaboration partners danscentrumjette (Brussels) and Visual Anthropology Center (Belgrade). Moreover, visual artist Sibel Horada discussed her works focusing on collective and personal histories, urban and ecological cultures, and memories of erasure, and her research on Burgazada and Marmara Island. Özgür Kavurmacıoğlu introduced us to the Zero Movement initiative, which began in Bozcaada with a belief in the transformative power of art, and their approach as a “research-oriented social impact movement” including the Zero Gatherings events. Finally, Eduardo Cassina, an urban planner working on the integration of artistic methods in planning processes and co-founder of METASITU presented their key project, The Degrowth Institute, which explores non-growth alternatives for post-industrial shrinking cities. 

​​We wrapped the second round of VAHA with fruitful exchanges and rich conversations, and now look forward to our discussions with the new participants of round III. In the next round, the coordination team plans to organize two parallel public discussion sessions in Turkey and Germany.