Istanbul’s particular legacy of continual destruction – that of nature, history and the city itself – is certainly a source of great chagrin and resignation for its denizens. But not just that: a great deal of fight, discourse, resistance, civil solidarity and determination swirls around these issues, renewing one’s faith in humanity in new ways every day.
Read MoreIt’s a steep learning curve to manage your first-world preferences when you go back to a beloved society which still prefers to cook over a flaming hole in the ground. So if you, like me, moved to London and became a vegetarian because you wanted to ruin your grandparents’ lives, here’s how you can still enjoy yourself.
Read MoreA recent article on the Independent talks about the “changing face of tourism” in Turkey and how it supposedly “burnt a vital bridge between East and West.” In the article, Şebnem Arsu writes about the recent hike of Arab tourists; basically freaking out because some Arab shops have opened instead of Turkish ones and because European tourists have become less visible.
Read More“Cities are unpredictable’’ says writer Teju Cole in his book Open City; “Once you give up insisting on stereotypes, you can really start to see’’. Seeing beyond one’s sight is often difficult especially in project-streets like İstiklal which are designed to hide the unwanted with either a secular Western facade or AKP’s money-drawing-shopping-star-project-district. In both cases, the real makers of the city are sacrificed in the name of formal, structural change.
Read MoreIf I had felt my own confusion about identity as a knot in my stomach, somebody else could have felt it as a compression in their chest, another as an ache on their shoulder.
Read MoreAs in every settler colonial state, Israel is appropriating Palestinian art and culture and serving it back again to Palestinians, stripped of any signs of identity and belonging. This is where Manjm wants to provide its independent, unapologetic and authentic art and culture.
Read MoreThe location was beyond gorgeous: purple turquoise mountains, enormous dragonflies, caterpillar-scorpions, and not a village in sight. Yet from the start, Lioness knew something was wrong: the ground was covered in bullet shells.
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