Reviews

Chinese Man dropped by Istanbul on Saturday as part of their international Shikantaza tour, which has included shows in Mexico, Canada, China, and Europe...

At its core, the 2nd Istanbul Design Biennial, titled The Future Is Not What It Used To Be, encourages you to think and rethink...

Among all the fine music and impressive artists that are and have been part of the 43rd IKSV Music Festival this month, there was...

Music, music, in the hall; who is the most talented of them all? For millions the world over, the answer is, without a doubt, Maxim...

The 47th Istanbul Music Festival, organized by IKSV, has come to an end (and now starts the Jazz Festival). This year, the festival really...

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

Even though the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra bid goodbye to 2013 in solemn style with its performance of Beethoven's magnificent yet weighty masterpiece Missa...

Opening a business at any point in Turkey, especially as a foreigner, is a daunting prospect. Restaurants in particular pose significant challenges for aspiring...

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...

The Golden Horn was of great importance during the Byzantine and Ottoman Empires. This deep, natural harbor was a strategic point to defend the...

In Julia Cameron's classic book on creativity The Artist's Way, she recommends a tool called an "artist date," which she describes as "a block of...

As we transition into summer from spring, so have begun the series of IKSV Festivals: the just over Theatre Festival, the ongoing Music Festival,...

One of the highlights of my incredible solo backpacking trip around China in the winter of 2012 was seeing a traditional kung fu performance...

Although not overwhelming in its content, the Pera Museum's retrospective of Swiss artist, Alberto Giacometti (1901- 1966) is both impressive and comprehensive. Expertly curated,...

All 24 of the performances that took place last month as part of the Istanbul Music Festival were events not to miss, and several...

As any socially-inclined Istanbullu might agree, one of the greatest aspects of living in this city is the dynamism in the entertainment scene. Despite...

A twenty-nine year old artist from Diyarbakır is questioning the demolition of his hometown’s city walls, comparing his past with today’s Istanbul at his...

You might have already noticed that Istanbul is a place that can be hard to comprehend. Thousands of years of history, millions of inhabitants,...

"Where do I take my friend who says there is no spicy food in Istanbul?" Turkish food has plenty of spices but is not generally...

A snowy Saturday night in Istanbul couldn't be spent any better than with 200-something fellow music lovers at a Gaye Su Akyol concert, courtesy of Babylon Bomonti....

SALT Beyoğlu is an impressive space, with six stories of beautiful facilities (I'm personally partial to the free and clean public restroom on the...

Turkey is home to some of the world’s oldest wine making traditions, particularly along its Western coastal regions near the Marmara and Aegean seas....

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

Music festivals are essential to the very fabric of a quality Istanbul summer -- a yearly reminder of the city's appeal to international artists,...