Community
Learning & mobility
ADAdayız Hub was represented by Asu Aksoy and Süheyla Schroeder, from the Adalar Foundation working in the islands of İstanbul. From TAVROS there was Maria-Thalia Carras (the Director) and Stefa Gosiewsk (Erasmus+ Programme intern). The assistant curator, project and communications manager Eirini Fountedaki could not be there due to illness. Eirini Fountedaki had attended the VAHA Transnational Networking Meeting in Berlin between 22 – 26 May 2024, and that is how ADAdayız hub came to know about TAVROS’ work.
Adalar Vakfı was established in 1984, its headquarters is in the Prinkipo Island, one of the archipelago of islands of İstanbul. It is a civil society organization set up to work towards the conservation and protection of the natural and cultural heritage of the islands. It runs a museum, the Adalar Museum, that specialises in the history and heritage of the islands; a publishing company with tens of titles focusing on social, demographic, cultural, historical and environmental aspects and a monthly digital journal devoted to current issues and challenges facing the islands. Adalar Museum has recently opened up a new exhibition and public events space and is keen to develop local, national and international collaborations with a view to broaden public engagement in a wide range of topics that intersect with the changing dynamics of life in and around the islands. Adalar Foundation is one of the partners of the ADAdayız Hub that was supported by VAHA.
Created through the joint initiatives of Galimi Çınarlı Rural Development and Tourism Association, working for the documentation and development of local cultural identity of the Marmara Islands and Adalar Vakfı, ADAdayız (literally meaning we are here, on the island) offers a collaborative space in which island organisations can join forces to share information and explore common issues including resilience and cultural identity in times of crisis, social, cultural and environmental transformations. The hub’s activities focus on island cultures and challenges facing island communitites, however, with a distinctive approach that aims to bring into focus how the past and present of islands are intertwined with and enmeshed in broader trans-territorial dynamics. Issues such as loss of marine biodiversity, effects of climate change, loss of identity due to past and present migrations, effects of massification of tourism, collapse of rural economies and small-scale enterprises, are challenges that intersect island and mainland communitites, and the ADAdayız Hub aims to create spaces for public engagement in dealing with these issues.
The meeting between TAVROS and Adalar Vakfı brought into focus how seemingly two separate territories, one an archipelago of islands and the other a mainland area in two neighbouring countries, are joined up through a common historic dynamic involving the exchange of populations that took place following the establishment of the Turkish Republic, and the impact that this process have led to in both of these territories in their similar and also distinctive ways. Both organisations are deeply embedded in the local scene and the life of neighbourhoods. There seems to be a common sensitivity in both these organisations towards undertaking research-based cultural and artistic projects that engage with local histories with a view to unearthing their trans-territorial aspects. As the title of a recent project that TAVROS curated, “When boundaries divide, who stands together?”, indicates, it is our hope that through this meeting between these two organisations, opportunities will jointly be created to indeed look for ways of standing together.
Looking for ways of standing together
15.12.2024
Asu Aksoy and Süheyla Schroeder from the Adalar Vakfı (ADAdayız hub partner) visited TAVROS, an arts space in Athens, since 2019, undertaking exhibitions, research, art commissions, educational programmes, talks, screenings and community work.
TAVROS is an arts organisation interested in developing collaborations with arts and cultural institutions, with artists of diverse backgrounds and with local communities. They undertake collaborative public programmes with an aim to create spaces across the city for the dissemination of diversity of artistic and cultural expressions. One such recent collaboration was titled “When boundaries divide, who stands together?”. It was curated by TAVROS, taking place at the exhibition “space of togetherness” organised and presented by NEON, at the Drama School of the Greek National TheatreSchool of Athens.ADAdayız Hub was represented by Asu Aksoy and Süheyla Schroeder, from the Adalar Foundation working in the islands of İstanbul. From TAVROS there was Maria-Thalia Carras (the Director) and Stefa Gosiewsk (Erasmus+ Programme intern). The assistant curator, project and communications manager Eirini Fountedaki could not be there due to illness. Eirini Fountedaki had attended the VAHA Transnational Networking Meeting in Berlin between 22 – 26 May 2024, and that is how ADAdayız hub came to know about TAVROS’ work.
Adalar Vakfı was established in 1984, its headquarters is in the Prinkipo Island, one of the archipelago of islands of İstanbul. It is a civil society organization set up to work towards the conservation and protection of the natural and cultural heritage of the islands. It runs a museum, the Adalar Museum, that specialises in the history and heritage of the islands; a publishing company with tens of titles focusing on social, demographic, cultural, historical and environmental aspects and a monthly digital journal devoted to current issues and challenges facing the islands. Adalar Museum has recently opened up a new exhibition and public events space and is keen to develop local, national and international collaborations with a view to broaden public engagement in a wide range of topics that intersect with the changing dynamics of life in and around the islands. Adalar Foundation is one of the partners of the ADAdayız Hub that was supported by VAHA.
Created through the joint initiatives of Galimi Çınarlı Rural Development and Tourism Association, working for the documentation and development of local cultural identity of the Marmara Islands and Adalar Vakfı, ADAdayız (literally meaning we are here, on the island) offers a collaborative space in which island organisations can join forces to share information and explore common issues including resilience and cultural identity in times of crisis, social, cultural and environmental transformations. The hub’s activities focus on island cultures and challenges facing island communitites, however, with a distinctive approach that aims to bring into focus how the past and present of islands are intertwined with and enmeshed in broader trans-territorial dynamics. Issues such as loss of marine biodiversity, effects of climate change, loss of identity due to past and present migrations, effects of massification of tourism, collapse of rural economies and small-scale enterprises, are challenges that intersect island and mainland communitites, and the ADAdayız Hub aims to create spaces for public engagement in dealing with these issues.
The meeting between TAVROS and Adalar Vakfı brought into focus how seemingly two separate territories, one an archipelago of islands and the other a mainland area in two neighbouring countries, are joined up through a common historic dynamic involving the exchange of populations that took place following the establishment of the Turkish Republic, and the impact that this process have led to in both of these territories in their similar and also distinctive ways. Both organisations are deeply embedded in the local scene and the life of neighbourhoods. There seems to be a common sensitivity in both these organisations towards undertaking research-based cultural and artistic projects that engage with local histories with a view to unearthing their trans-territorial aspects. As the title of a recent project that TAVROS curated, “When boundaries divide, who stands together?”, indicates, it is our hope that through this meeting between these two organisations, opportunities will jointly be created to indeed look for ways of standing together.