Arts, Culture & History

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

“A Doenmeh friend of mine told me his father had informed him that his father’s mother used to go to the beach every Friday...

What’s in a name? that which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet True facts, Shakespeare, true facts. And while I...

How does one explain Barış Manço?  He is kind of like the Turkish John Denver, but with the notoriety of John Lennon and a...

It started as good a time as any – on a dolmuş to Hasankeyif with a crate of live chickens on my lap. I...

Yoko Ono has spent more than seven decades making art that refuses to behave like an object. Her work often begins with something almost...

Miniatürk, situated on the North-Eastern shore of the Golden Horn, in a nutshell, is a display of the main monuments of Istanbul and Turkey...

I’m Australian, so coming from a country with one of the highest rates of skin cancer in the world, wearing a hat in summer,...

With the Children’s and Youth holiday coming up on 23 April and warmer weather upon us, many of you may be wondering where to...

Having been one of the contributors to the Tales from the Expat Harem anthology over a decade ago, I was excited to see a...

IKSV has announced the title and conceptual framework of its 16th Istanbul Biennial. The Biennial will be taking place between September 14th and November...

Strolling through Istanbul requires two basic skills: a good sense of direction and a strong pair of legs. The steep hills and windy streets...

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...

Yes, I just did that. Referred to the joke-question we all hear from home: Do they eat turkey in Turkey? Well, yes, yes they...

Surprising to say, but Ottoman palaces in Istanbul are a dime a dozen. Palaces were a necessary part of imperial life, but after the...

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful girl with shiny blonde hair that ran down her shoulders and sweet hazel eyes which sparkled...

Protest in Turkey can take many forms. Sadly enough, few of them will leave a positive imprint on your memory: TOMAs and tear gas,...

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

Artifacts have been found in Istanbul (previously home to some of the world's largest empires, the city has also been known as Byzantion, Nea...

From the organizer: Organised by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV) and sponsored by Garanti BBVA for 23 years with the support of...

Republic Day (Cumhuriyet Bayramı) is this Wednesday, 29 October, and the holiday officially begins Tuesday afternoon. Republic Day commemorates the declaration of the Republic of...

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...

2021 marked the first official season of legal excavations in Amos Ancient City near Marmaris, Muğla. This ancient settlement dates back to roughly 3,000...

Nowadays Istanbul is known for its mosques, but prior to 1453, Constantinople was a completely Christian city replete with churches. Many of them exist to this day:...