Arts, Culture & History

Mohammad Zaza is an accidental convert to the life of a travelling artist. Born in Saudi Arabia to Syrian parents, Zaza moved to Aleppo in 2005...

Why make such a list? Because after each two hour journey home from Taksim in the early hours of the morning, I have to...

Some time ago, I was discussing Elif Şafak with a Turkish friend.  I mentioned that I was reading The Bastard of Istanbul, and after...

The 90s was a unique period all over the world and the same goes for Turkey. In Turkey, alongside its distinctive music genres and...

On warm nights in Istanbul everyone is out. Restaurants open their doors onto the sidewalks of back streets, creating a maze of tables and...

As the weather has instantly morphed into Fall (literally overnight I have gone from sweating due to the obscene muggy temperature, to sweating due...

That Istanbul is a force to be reckoned with in the contemporary art world is undeniable. You just need to look at spaces like...

When you traverse the streets of Turkey you can see it all around. Everyone is sitting around consuming it. It’s red, it’s hot and...

Like every other Turkish kid who grew up in the 90s, I have been to many “gold days” (altın günü) hosted by my mother...

As you walk down the streets of Istanbul, the air swirls with color and unfamiliar smells. Occasionally, you stop and peer into shop windows,...

After moving from Istanbul to the small village of Turunç in southwest Turkey’s Muğla region, I finally had the time and energy to explore...

Cemal Reşit Rey launched the 2019-2020 season on Wednesday October 9th with the CRR Symphony Orchestra and Choir performing all-time favorite arias and lieds....

Have you heard Piri before? It is an audio walking tour app which urges explorers to discover amazing cities. With Piri, you can explore the...

From the organizer: Organised by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV) with the support of the Republic of Turkey Ministry of Culture and...

A notable player in the current world of art house cinema, Turkey has seen a new wave emerge and establish itself. Amongst others, there...

As a long-time lover of cemeteries, I’m often telling people about my trip to this or that burial ground. Most have one question: “why?”...

Guest Post by Sheldon Heyes. This post first appeared on Sheldon Heyes' website, Istanbul in Ink.  What do you get when a Brazilian diplomat, a Syrian...

“Zeytinyağı gibi üste çıkma!” or “Don’t stick out like olive oil!” This time last year, my husband and I were sipping olive oil at a...

Tophane is a very pleasant area to spend an afternoon smoking nargile and playing tavla. Or, if you are more into art than the...

One of my family's favorite weekend activities, particularly now that it's gotten warmer, is to spend the morning wandering around neighborhoods, whether it's our...

Having only laid claim to most of their monikers since the declaration of the Republic, Istanbul’s street names often go unnoticed (highly due to...

Mimar Sinan was, without a doubt, the greatest architect of the Ottoman empire. His importance and influence are often compared with his contemporary Michelangelo, and it's an established...

While it's safe to say that Turkish TV series have always been widely popular domestically, recent years have seen a dramatic increase in the...

The Reggae scene in Turkey has grown exponentially, especially in the last 10 years or so. The last decade has seen an explosion of...