Introducing Köşe: A New Performance Space in Kadıköy

There is a new space for performing arts in Kadıköy’s vibrant Yeldeğirmeni neighborhood: Köşe (“corner” in Turkish).

Located on the Asian side of Istanbul, Köşe represents an alternative to the Istanbul arts scene located around Taksim area. Kadıköy is an old town with an extensive cultural heritage, and a unique and lively social and artistic history.

Köşe is mainly a performance space but also hosts video, music, sound, visual and fine arts works as well as workshops for professionals and aficionados, film screenings and exhibitions.

The creators of Köşe are Fatih Gençkal and Onur Karaoğlu from the avant-garde performance group Studio 4 Istanbul, as well as performer and designer Utku Kara and visual artist Hilal Polat. They have been collaborating for years on various projects and have started Köşe in September 2014 to focus their energies on the creation and dissemination of groundbreaking art works. Here’s what they have to say about their space:

“Köşe is a space nurturing innovative performing arts works. We are dedicated to supporting the creative risks taken by performing artists from different disciplines and perspectives by presenting and commissioning their works and works-in-progress.”

“Köşe is also a platform for collaboration and exchange for artists and a destination for audiences after groundbreaking contemporary performing arts in the local, national and the international arena. One of the most important aspects of this space is that our target audience is multilingual and multicultural. You can see works in many different languages and from various perspectives here. We use subtitles for most of the performances.”

“Köşe is also open to individual and collective projects and can host meetings, seminars and discussions on arts, culture and politics.”

A glance of this month’s program in English (the full schedule is available on www.kose.li):

Thursday, December 18th at 20.00 — Macbeth in the Kitchen (performed in English), an adaptation of Macbeth in the form of Object Theater taking place in a kitchen

Saturday, December 20th at 16.00 — Queer Artist Meetings

Sunday, December 21st at 14.00-16.00 — Let’s Improv! Workshop (in English)
and at 20.00 — Science-Fiction (performed in English): based on a video shot during Gezi Protests in Istanbul, Science-fiction deals with how our collective history follows us in our dreams of the future.

Thursday December 25th at 11.00-12.30 — Flamenco Workshop (Rosamaria Kostic Cisneros)
and at 20.00 — Do you know what I mean? (performed in English), embodies individual’ s possibilities of self expression and fields of enclosure, traces the enigma of what is told and what is understood.

Saturday December 27th at 
20.00 — Film screening: Slingshot Hiphop / Dir. Jacqueline Reem Salloum by Ad’dar Community Center

The team behind Köşe

Fatih Gençkal is a performer who also conceives performance and theater works. Born in Istanbul, he received his BA in Political Science from Marmara University and his MFA in Acting from CUNY Brooklyn College. He is a co-founder of Studio 4 Istanbul, an independent group of artists who produce theatrical and cinematic work and tour internationally. His performance and directing work has been seen in garajistanbul (Turkey), Theater Freiburg, TheaterFormen (Germany), PS122 (New York, USA), Wuk Flieger (Austria) and International Istanbul Theater Festival among others. The New Theater Magazine has nominated him for The Best Promising Actor in 2014. He currently works in Istanbul as performer, teacher and literary translator. He is also pursuing his second MFA degree in Contemparary Dance at the Mimar Sinan University of Fine Arts.

Onur Karaoğlu is a director, teacher, writer and the executive director of Orhan Pamuk’s The Museum of Innocence. Received his BA in Sociology from Boğaziçi University and his MFA in Directing from Columbia University. He collaborated with Nobel Laureate Orhan Pamuk on his Mary Lynn Kotz award winner book The Innocence of Things. His work in New York includes his collaborations with Anne Bogart, Ira Sachs and Martha Graham Dance Company. His Shakespeare and Chekhov adaptations have been seen in New York’s downtown and off-Broadway scene while his film works have been on the programs of Sundance and Oberhausen Festivals as well as the Pompidou Centre. He is a co-founder of Studio 4 Istanbul and is currently an instructor at Boğaziçi University.

Hilal Polat is a painter and designer. She studied Painting and Sculpture in Hacettepe University, Ankara and worked as costume designer for a number of theater companies. She currently works as art director and puppet maker for the Turkish National TV (TRT) and as costume designer for a number of companies in Istanbul. Her design for Theater Tem’s latest production Sezonun Kabusu has won The Best Costume Design Award in Ekin Yazın Dostları Theater Awards.

Utku Kara is a performer and light designer. Received his BA in Economics from Pamukkale University, he co-founded the Hayal Perdesi Oyuncuları Company. Worked in garajistanbul as performer and light designer for a number of years. His light design work has been seen in İstanbul Contemporart Dance and Performance Festival, İstanbul Theater Festival, TheaterFormen and Favoriten Festival (Germany) as well as the works of Aydın Teker, Mustafa Avkıran, Aslı Bostancı, Moda Stage and ikincikat. He currently works at Studio 4 Istanbul as performer and light designer.

Contact Information

Address: Rasimpaşa Mah. Uzunhafız Sok. 57/A Kadıköy / İstanbul / Turkey

Telephone: 0532 057 5673 (0532 057 KOSE)

E-mail: info@kose.li

Website: www.kose.li

Facebook: koseistanbul

Twitter: koseinfo

Instagram: koseyeldegirmeni

You can reach Fatih Gençkal, the company manager and international programming director, by email mfgenckal@gmail.com or by phone +90 541 201 3713

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