Interviews & Profiles

I met Lisa Morrow for the first time at Story Café, a modern coffee shop in Kadıköy popular among both Turks and foreigners where...

“Art is a lie that tells the truth.” This well-known phrase, attributed to Picasso in the early 1920s, takes up permanent residence in the...

Falling Notes is one of Istanbul's newest up-and-coming bands. The five-piece features Alican Tokdemir on drums, Umutcan Karamahmutoğlu on guitar, Sinan Çalışkan on bass, Yusuf Karaoğlu on both guitar...

Foreigners living in big cities all have something in common: the desire to live a better life. Most of them remain anonymous, but some,...

Editor's Note: This venue is no longer open. Located within quick reach of the historical Chora Museum, Pages, the first Arabic bookstore in Istanbul, marks...

C. M. Kosemen is an artist and independent researcher born in Ankara, Turkey in 1984. He studied at Cornell University, Istanbul’s Sabancı University and...

After going through more bassists than Spinal Tap did drummers, Foton Kuşağı's lineup is finally set, and the band is ready to return to...

Disclaimer: This interview is a work of fiction. Several months ago I had the idea to try and contact the legendary John Freely, about...

Last week finally gave me an opportunity to visit the Zorlu PSM, a relatively new entertainment complex in the Zincirlikuyu district of Istanbul. Performing in...

Atulya K Bingham is a prize-winning novelist, blogger, and natural builder. In 2011, she found herself out of funds and ended up camping in...

Nuran Terzioğlu is the owner and soul of Galeri Apel, a well established contemporary art gallery in the heart of Çukurcuma. Born in Bebek to the...

Just behind Kadar Has University stands a dream house. A creative place where only positive energy is welcome and ideas about how to reuse...

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

Christopher Vena is a former art teacher turned full-time artist. He and his wife, Jeannie, are a genuinely fantastic duo and resident veterans on expat life...

Turkey has often been described as a “magical” country with its amazing scenery, vast history, and seemingly endless curiosities that can be found in...

By Gökay Ürk In the second part of my interview with Nasuh Mahruki (read the first part here), we talk about AKUT (Search and Rescue...

Hande Başaran is a Renaissance woman: musician, singer, mother, kindergarten teacher and all-round creator. When I first heard Hande perform, I was struck by the...

Serhat Karaaslan, the filmmaker behind the short films, Bisiqlet and Musa, tells us more about his experience as a film-maker in Turkey. His most recent short...

Last weekend, I came to one of my new favorite organic shops in Kadıköy in a small corner next to a typical Turkish pastane...

Sampling several pieces of work from an artist can give one insight into his or her philosophy. I’ve recently had the opportunity to perform...

In a continuation of my conversation with Matt Loftin, Utku Öğüt, Alper Erkut, Gabriel Clark and Paul Osterlund of Sonikraf, we discuss the history of the independent music scene in...

Dayla Rogers continues her conversation with artist and researcher C.M. Kösemen about the Dönme and their history.  You are a person of Dönme background. A...

She may not recall this as vividly as us, as we did not ask her about it... but we first met Liana Georgi (she/they)...

Searching for new music? Look no further! A group of independent musicians in Istanbul have launched Sonikraf.com, a site featuring reviews and links to...