Hura Nights is back this Thursday, 29 July, with a fabulous line-up: musical chanteuse and host Djanan Turan is joined by special guests oud virtuoso Baha Yetkin and Rebetiko star Çiğdem Aslan for a stunning night of Turkish and Greek music. Launched four years ago in Covent Garden, this unique live music club celebrates the […]
Balık Arts has been inundated with film submissions for its four-day Turkish film festival in September. The Cambridge-based film charity received an astonishing 1,469 submissions from filmmakers hopeful of being included in the official selection for this year’s Taste of Anatolia – Films from Turkey. Festival Director Yeşim Güzelpınar said the application process had been […]
If you’ve missed live music, then check out She’Koyokh’s upcoming performance at JW3 in Hampstead for an evening of beautifully crafted music combining the high energy of klezmer with ancient Sephardic songs. Istanbul-born singer Çiğdem Aslan forms part of this brilliant London-based international seven-piece klezmer & Balkan band, whose music reflects the diversity of Jewish […]
It’s been a long time in coming, but fans of B Young don’t have much longer to wait before they can get their hands on a copy of his debut album. Titled ‘Differences’, the 16-track LP goes on sale on 30 July. A black and white side portrait photo of the melodic rapper graces the […]
It was the end of 70s and early 80s, when punk became mainstream, and Franco-Turkish combo progressive rock band Asia Minor hit their stride, releasing two albums back to back. Suddenly the band was attracting the attention of all prog lovers and prominent musicians of the era, including Alan Parsons, who was recording an album […]
A Spanish filmmaker is seeking to raise nearly £11,000 for a new documentary, Constantly Flying, which tells the incredible story of BaBa ZuLa. Formed in Istanbul in 1996, BaBa ZuLa brings the popular Turkish psychedelic music of the 1970s, known as Anatolian Rock, into the 21st century, fusing Eastern influences with electronica and dub, to create […]
Artist Nagihan Seymour returns to The Lightbox with a new solo exhibition ‘The Four Elements’, which runs for a fortnight from Monday, 25 May. Through artworks that include paintings and ceramics, Seymour explores the classical elements of Earth, Water, Air and Fire, which were believed by the ancient Greeks to explain the nature and complexities […]
The Eurovision Song Contest is back after a year’s enforced absence due to the coronavirus pandemic. Twenty three countries will compete in Saturday’s televised final, among them Azerbaijan. Representing the Turkic republic is 30-year-old singer Samira Efendi, who impressed with her live performance of Mata Hari at the first semi-final on Tuesday, booking her spot […]
The life, customs and roots of the Turkic peoples of Central Asia and Anatolia is set to be broadcast in a new weekly television series. Produced by state broadcaster Azerbaijan Television (AzTV), each week ‘The Turkic World’ will feature the rich culture, history, traditions and landmarks of the different Turkic speaking peoples: the Turks, Kazakhs, […]
This week is Mental Health Awareness Week in Britain, making it the perfect time to put the spotlight on Pantelis – a trilogy on mental illness. The debut work of Turkish Cypriot author Kazim Altan, it captures the struggle of immigrants in a strange country, and their feelings of estrangement, disappointments, loss, upset and, naturally, […]
