Those who’ve run into Sean Bw Parker will know he’s never shy about stating his mind. Having spent a decade in Istanbul (2004-2014), the British-born writer and musician has witnessed first-hand the huge political, economic and social transformation of Turkey, inspiring him to pen Salt in the Milk –...
Abdurrahman, a music conservatory student, is eager to perform the mevlit (a hymn about the birth of the Prophet Muhammed) just as it was hundreds of years ago. He sets out to learn by meşk (one-to-one training in the traditional arts), an increasingly rare form of teaching given the dwindling numbe...
Described as “art-anarchists”, BaBa ZuLa have carved out a name as fine purveyors of alternative Anatolian music, a hip psychedelic blend of electro, dub, funk, rock ‘n’ folk. Lyrically conscious, their other-worldly Oriental dance beats, playful dress sense, and surreal live performances have gaine...
On 3rd Oct., a capacity 300 people packed into a North London theatre to be wowed by this spectacular Turkish dance production. A cast of 42, dressed in stunning costumes, performed exquisitely in a show internationally acclaimed Turkish Cypriot dancer Özgen wrote, choreographs and stars in.&nb...
The 77th year of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s passing has been commemorated across Turkey and the Turkish Diaspora today. Turkey’s founding father not only presided over vital military victories at Çanakkale and the Turkish War of Independence, which liberated Turkey from foreign powers, but also he...
Following a sold-out run in April, Clarion – a dark comedy about the state of British media – is back for a short run at the Arcola theatre in Dalston. Produced by the Arcola’s award-winning creative director Mehmet Ergen, this debut play by former journalist Mark Jagasia is a sharp and riotous...
Tickets for all four shows of Hussein Chalayan’s new dance theatre production Gravity Fatigue have sold out. The show premieres at Sadler’s Wells – the world’s leading dance space – next Wednesday. Chalayan, 45, returns to the venue that hosted his iconic Afterwords collection…
AK09, aka Yılmaz Korkmaz, and Tano G have joined forces to create five original hip hop tracks whose sound is very much rooted in London. Tano G’s atmospheric productions forms the perfect backdrop to AK09’s heartfelt lyrics about fighting temptation and your personal demons, the challenges of...
Conceptual artist Mustafa Hulusi has long been fêted in art circles. On a par with his better known Turkish Cypriot peers Tracey Emin and Hussein Chalayan, his work certainly deserves much wider recognition. Born in London in 1971 and a graduate of Goldsmiths College and the Royal College of Ar...
A song by Turkey’s Selda Bağcan features on Compton – the new chart-topping Hip Hop album by Dr Dre that was released worldwide earlier this month. The superstar producer samples the psychedelic guitar riffs from Bağcan’s 1976 classic İnce İnce for Issues, which features Ice Cube, Dem Jointz and And...
