nostalgia ‹ istanbul travelogue

Interview: Özge Samancı on her graphic novel; Dare To Disappoint, Growing up in Turkey

Some people are damn good with words! You experience similar things, but they happen to have the knack for interpreting your feelings when your words would fall short. Özge Samancı is one of those people gifted with story telling. I could have finished...

Interview with Luca Orlandi part: 2 The Levantine World

I had the great opportunity to meet Asst. Prof. Dr. Luca Orlandi of Istanbul Technical University Faculty of Architecture at the Bibliotheka seminar last May, where he gave an insightful lecture titled ‘The Italian Levantine Heritage in Istanbul’....

Vintage #2 Istanbul Telephone Directories

Libraries never fail to inspire me... SALT research library is definitely one of them. The amazing find of the week was Istanbul city telephone directories. I remember amusing myself with those bulky phone books when I was a kid. Maybe I was just...

Istanbullites: Contemporary Artist Kezban Arca Batıbeki

I met contemporary artist Kezban Arca Batıbeki at a Soho House event last summer. She cordially hosted us in her beautiful studio in Sant'Antonio apartments. We had the great opportunity to meet her in person and ask anything about her art and life while...

Istanbullites: Uluç Özcü and his Urban Photography

Uluç Özcü is one of my favorite photographers. A ginger sweet-heart. Passionate as hell about the Gezi, photography and music. He whines so sweetly over what he cares for. Having born on the same land, we speak the same language of frustration,...

Farewell to Istanbul

"Farewell to Istanbul" by the great Turkish cartoonist, Semih Balcıoğlu (1928-2006) is a collection of cartoons that bids farewell to an Istanbul that is long gone. As a child, I remember following him in one of the mainstream newspapers. The older...

Istanbullites: Melis Bilgin and her animated film, Tetrist

It was at Canlandıranlar Animators Festival that I came across Melis Bilgin’s animation, Tetrist. Remember Tetris, the phenomenal video game of the 90s, in which you are supposed to keep building blocks until there is no room left? Melis’ Tetrist...

Istanbullites: Aslı I.

Born and raised in Istanbul, Aslı loves travelling to exotic places. Yet, she says she always comes back to Istanbul homesick. One of my partners in crime, Aslı accompanies me while I am doing field research and we love exploring ins and outs of the city...

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