Musical storytelling is central to the Alevi faith, with mystical poems and musical ballads (deyisler, nefesler) being orally passed down from generation to generation over many centuries. These traditional folk songs, which can be heard all across Anatolia (modern Turkiye), pay homage to the core philosophy of Alevism, which is based on love, tolerance and […]
This week, Altın Gün packed out East London’s art déco gem Troxy for an exhilarating evening of infectious music and vibrant energy as 3,000 fans danced with wild abandon to the sounds of these Amsterdam-based masters of Anatolian pysch-folk. Thursday’s concert was likely the last London performance with front lady Merve Daşdemir. Her vocal talents […]
Exodus, the debut feature film of a British Turkish Cypriot director Serkan Nihat, will open this year’s London Independent Film Festival (LIFF). The festival specialises in promoting “first- and second-time filmmakers telling amazing stories with limited budgets”. The festival opening gala and screening will take place at the multi award-winning Genesis Cinema in East London […]
Singer-songwriter Olcay Bayır is one of the UK’s foremost artists of Alevi and Kurdish origin. Her the Anatolian songbook is inspired with the rich musical tapestry that spans Turkish, Kurdish, Armenian and Greek, fused with the sounds of the Mediterranean and Balkans, including flamenco and rebetiko. Live at Paddington’s Grand Junction at St Mary Magdalene’s […]
The late Turkish ambassador Zeki Kuneralp (1914-1998) is regarded as one of the most brilliant diplomats of his generation. He served twice as Turkiye’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, with both terms taking place during crucial periods in modern British history, as the UK tried to come to terms with its role as a post-imperial […]
Lefkoşa born singer-songwriter Buray has rarely been out of the Turkish charts since releasing his critically acclaimed debut album 1 Şişe Aşk [1 Bottle of Love] in 2015, which scored him two number hits “İstersen” and “Sen Sevda Mısın”, and won him multiple awards and a legion of fans. Buray has gone on to release […]
It’s not every day that bedtime stories get turned into a children’s book, but for one mother and daughter duo, that’s exactly what’s happened. London-based Çağrı Oral and her young daughter Zehra Aziz have just had their first book, The Little Girl With A Big Heart, published. The story, which is in English, centres on […]
The 28th edition of the Turkiye-Germany Film Festival has just concluded, with this year’s big prize going to Zeki Demirkubuz’s film Hayat [Life], which won Best Feature Film. Demirkubuz, who wrote, produced and directed the film, also won the Grand Jury Prize. His film Hayat is a hard-hitting drama set in contemporary Turkiye that centres […]
The Yunus Emre Institute London is taking their educational project ‘Karagöz & Hacivat’ to south London to Mountview in Peckham later this month. The project allows students from diverse backgrounds the chance to learn about this traditional form of Turkish culture, while being entertained at the same time. Over 30 different plays from the ‘Karagöz […]
The annual Turkish Community Art Exhibition is back for its sixth year and is now open for viewing at the Yunus Emre Institute in London. The multi-disciplinary exhibition, which features a variety of art works including paintings, drawings, photography and sculptures, was opened for public on 5 March and runs for three weeks. Running since […]
