Transit Istanbul

In collaboration with Globe Aroma, we highlight the dynamics of migration through the lens of the global city Istanbul. This metropolis plays a crucial role as an international transit point within the worldwide migration network. We examine not only Istanbul’s function as a transit hub but also how integration and migration are intertwined within artistic practices.

The program features the musical lecture performance Historical Revelations by artist and historian Sanem Su Avci, where hidden histories and personal narratives come to life. Additionally, we host a discussion with artists who, through a passage in Turkey, found their way to Belgium and are now active in its cultural landscape.

Sociologist Didem Danış (Galatasaray University, Istanbul) provides an in-depth exploration of the challenges Istanbul faces as a migration hub. She delves into the current debates surrounding migration, shedding light on the complex relationship between transit, integration, and identity.

This evening invites reflection on migration as a universal theme, as well as a source of artistic inspiration and societal transformation.

About Historical Revelations:
The (H)istorical (R)evelations is a series of musical lecture performances, a special format where Sanem Su Avcı combines her powers as narrator, musician, historian and diviner, to discuss the sensitive issues of times present and past. In Transit Istanbul, in collaboration with musician Seray Yalçın on the oud, the Revelations bring forward a narrative of the many passages through Istanbul, voluntary and forced, sovereign and subordinate, strolling through the 1990’s back into the Crusades and more, to write an affective and affectionate history of the City that can rarely be defeated.