Columns & Conversation

Yabangee has had a number of columns through the years…

Observatory Time: With Man Ray in Anamur

It’s always a good idea to get out of Istanbul, to escape the traffic, the noise and endless grind of people and machines. My wife...

Rubber Walrus: Terrifyingly Sexual

There is something terrifyingly sexual about Rubber Walrus. This, in the same way that there is something terrifyingly sexual about being a seventeen-year-old boy,...

“The Water Diviner”: Dancing with the Last Samurai’s Braveheart Horse Whisperer

No, that headline is not a misprint. It was my impression upon seeing The Water Diviner (Son Umut), a new film that opened in...

Backstage with the Producers of Beauty and the Beast

The Zorlu Center PSM has done it again. Building on last season's Cats and Notre Dame de Paris, they have kicked off the 2014-2015 season...

ATÖLYE Spotlight: In Conversation with Buğra Çelik, Director of imece &...

The quintessential feel-good success stories are ones which diverge from the traditional path and incorporate elements that border on chance - gaining experience in...

Letters from Istanbul: Surrogate Lives

They were three sisters and they had all grown up together in a small town in the south of Turkey. The oldest, and the...

Reflections: Getting to the Heart of ATÖLYE

For those who have read our ongoing interview series or joined us at ATÖLYE - whether it be for an Expat Spotlight, a photo...

Ataşehir and Ümraniye: Portraits of the City’s ‘New Hope’

At first glance, Ataşehir seems to embody everything you hate about modern Istanbul. At second glance, it doesn’t get much better. You can insert here...

Through the Lens: Four Corners of Istanbul

For best results, click to enlarge images. As you walk here, you would feel that you are followed by a soul wherever you go. It...

Archaeology Spotlight: In Conversation with Professor/Dr. Mehmet Gürbüzer of Amos Ancient...

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...

Review: Art Tour with Sena Başöz of istanbulite

By Missy Weimer and Zamira Skalkottas In Istanbul, it can sometimes be hard to view art, but not for lack of content; the city is...

The Top 5 Yeşilçam Films

Yeşilçam, which translates to “Green Pine”, is a shorthand for Turkey's old film industry. The name comes from Yeşilçam Street, an area of Beyoğlu...

Insider Trading: Ilkay Boz Hair Studio

One of the hardest things to find is an affordable hairdresser that you can really put your faith in. Dealing with a language barrier...

My Old Neighborhood

I was 50. Half a century. How was that even possible? Some years ago, one of my directors Zeynep, a lovely, cheerful Mediterranean woman had...

ATÖLYE Spotlight: In Conversation with Claire Guillon, Digital Strategy Consultant

The life of digital nomad is as exciting as it is daunting, a delicate balancing act of enterprise and responsibility in lands unknown. Like...

In Conversation with Murat Çelebi, Board Game Designer

If there’s one physical thing that travelers seek to bring or find along the journey, aside from books, it is board games. Even more...

Retrospective – ATÖLYE hosts IDEO Asia – “Inspiring Asia: Learnings from...

ATÖLYE hosts IDEO Asia for a talk titled "Inspiring Asia: Learnings from IDEO’s Work in the Region." The event takes place on Thursday 7...

In Conversation with Liana Georgi: Artist, Singer-Songwriter, and Pride Advocate

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)...

In Conversation with Samer Al-Kadri of Pages, Istanbul’s First Arabic Bookstore...

Located within quick reach of the historical Chora Museum, Pages, the first Arabic bookstore in Istanbul, marks a historic moment for the city and...

Beauty and the Beast: A Fairy Tale Comes Alive

The Zorlu Center PSM kicked October off with a performance series that justly made the news, hit the papers, turned heads, and made art...

Weekend Getaway: Gökçeada

Sometimes the sights, sounds, and smells of Istanbul get a bit too overwhelming and an escape is needed from this “City of Cities”. For...

In Conversation with Berna Kahraman of Onbironsekiz, Turkey’s Storytelling Podcast Community

Podcasts are often an excellent way to learn a language, offering insight into the culture and everyday lives of the people behind the stories...

Witty Thriller: Borusan Goes A Capella with Soli-Tutti

The terms “Soli-Tutti,” “A Capella” and “Borusan” seemed interesting enough of a trilogy to entice me to attend an evening of musical discovery on...
e-refugee.com

Let the Child be Named Peace: E-refugee.com Review

You have no home. You have no address. You are a refugee. With those words we enter a dystopian universe, a black comedy in which the owner...