During the 1970s and 1980s, the Turkish film industry was churning out hundreds of movies each year. Many were shameless low-budget rip-offs of American box office hits: from Superman (Süpermen Dönüyor, 1979) to Star Wars (Dünyayı Kurtaran Adam, 1982), and E.T. (Badi, 1983) to the Wizard of Oz (Ayşecik ve Sihirli Cüceler Rüyalar Ülkesinde, 1971). […]
Today is the 75th birthday of renowned international pianist İdil Biret. To celebrate, on Saturday this inspirational Ankara-born soloist returns to the city where she first performed aged 18. The setting for this weekend’s concert is the stunning St Sepulchre’s – a seventeenth century church in the City of London famed for its classical music […]
Since landing their first front cover, for Dazed & Confused in 1997, Mert & Marcus have pushed the boundaries of fashion photography, blurring the lines between artistry and commercial shoots. Their distinctive and powerful photographs of models and celebrities, including Madonna, Kate Moss and Kim Kardashian, have featured in cult publications such as i-D, Love, and […]
This week Christie’s – London’s premier auction house – reminds us of the cascade of beauty which Islam has given to the world. Its series of Islamic-themed sales are from a galaxy of different Muslim civilisations spanning a thousand years. No art-form exists which has not been carried to sublime heights in the service of […]
As the countdown begins to Teoman’s London concert at the O2 Kentish Town this Sunday, here’s our top twenty facts about Turkey’s iconic pop rocker. Teoman was born Fazlı Teoman Yakupoğlu in Giresun on 20 November 1967. His biggest music idol is Elvin Presley. An only child, Teoman lost his dad, a lawyer, when he […]
Turkey has a long and proud tradition of protest music, its folk songs reflecting the political and social turbulence that has plagued the republic since its inception. BaBa ZuLa is one of the country’s most original acts and it’s fitting that on their 20th anniversary, these “art-anarchists” release an album full of rebelliousness. Newly available […]
The world around us is forever changing. When we speak to those who have undergone major transformations in their own lives, what do they say and what is it that we hear? Hosted at 5th Base Gallery in Whitechapel, The Stories They Told is a new exhibition featuring the fragments of what four diverse artists […]
A young North London actor of Turkish Cypriot heritage stars in The Telemachy, an intimate new theatre production inspired by The Odyssey. Arman Mantella plays a mysterious travelling poet who swaggers from London to Edinburgh with a case full of ancient stories. This enigmatic host delves into the famed mythologies of Odysseus, the original rock-and-roll […]
On Wednesday night, the ancient amphitheatre in Salamis will be rocking to the sounds of roots reggae, courtesy of Julian “Ju Ju” Marley, who headlines the Mağusa International Festival of Arts and Culture (MIFAC). He is one of 11 artists that are performing at this year’s Festival, which runs until 28 July. Julian “Ju Ju” […]
Turkey is this year’s special country focus at the East End Film Festival, which started on Thursday. Award-winning filmmaker Tolga Karaçelik is behind the selection of five Turkish films that is being screened during the 11-day festival. Karaçelik won last year’s East End Film Festival (EEFF) Best Feature Award with his second feature film Sarmaşık […]
