Creative Collaborations Programme 2024-25 Grantees

The British Council initiated the Creative Collaborations Grant Call to support creative institutions in Türkiye to develop creative cooperation projects with their counterparts in the UK.   Among the 123 institutions from the 25 cities that applied to the third edition of the grant call this year, 10 institutions from Istanbul, İzmir, Ankara, Çanakkale, Gaziantep, Hatay, Diyarbakır, and Kocaeli have been selected to initiate creative collaborations with institutions from the UK (London, Southampton, Glasgow, Dundee, and Gloucestershire).

This year’s grant call offered two funding schemes. emphasising cross-cultural collaboration and innovation. Six institutions were selected to be granted at most 17,500 Pound sterling and four institutions with at most 7,500 Pound sterling to encourage innovative and artistic productions among artists and arts and culture organisations in Türkiye and the UK.  The grant call, as in the previous editions, aimed to welcome project collaborations that tackle inclusive global themes of ecology, gender equality, accessibility and diversity through different forms of the arts as visual arts, creative technologies, film, music, literature, theatre and dance aiming to share and disseminate the understanding of culture and arts in the UK and Türkiye to be exhibited online or face-to-face.

The events of the Creative Collaborations projects will take place from 2024 till the end of March 2025. Please follow the grantees’ web pages for more information.

Republic of Türkiye Ankara State Opera and Ballet and Modern Dance Company Ankara (MDT Ankara), Ankara

HUMAN

‘HUMAN’ is a contemporary dance piece to be meticulously crafted by choreographer James Sutherland in collaboration with the MDT dancers. The 75-minute performance will have its world premiere in January 2024 on the Ankara State Opera and Ballet stage.

HUMAN focuses on the question of what makes us human in the age of digital revolution and artificial intelligence. The need for compassion, acceptance of another regardless of colour or creed, integration and diversity are becoming increasingly important to remain human in a rapidly changing world. How should we prioritise what is important and what is not? Is materialism really the answer to our endless pursuit for happiness? Questions that arise in a world where the machine is taking over the human’s work and we are only at the beginning of this evolution. It is therefore a dance piece that asks these questions and addresses the changes facing humanity and the survival of our humanness. What makes us Human?

Planned event dates: 18 January - 24 May 2025

www.operabale.gov.tr

CABININ - Çanakkale Biennial Initiative (legally represented by Troya Culture Association), Çanakkale

9th Çanakkale Biennial "Let Time Run its Course"

The 9th Çanakkale Biennial, entitled ‘Let Time Run its Course’, will take place in different venues in Çanakkale between 4 October - 11 November. Within the scope of the exhibition organised by curator Ulrika Flink, a creative collaboration project will be implemented with John Hansard Gallery around the production of new works by artist David Blandy. David Blandy will develop a tabletop role-playing game game in which young people will be an active part and will exhibit it together with his video works as part of the biennial. In parallel to this, a series of events will be organised where John Hansard Gallery’s institutional model as a university gallery will be introduced in Çanakkale and shared with the university in Çanakkale. Finally, representatives of the Çanakkale Biennial will visit Southampton to have a deeper experience about the model of the John Hansard Gallery and to meet the Southampton art scene. In this process, it is envisaged that sustainable and permanent collaborations and future projects will be developed between Çanakkale and Southampton art scenes.

Planned event dates: 4 October – 11 November 2024

www.canakkalebienali.com

The Women Culture Arts Literature Association (WCALA), Diyarbakır

Amed SurFest

A mini festival will be organised in collaboration with DB Music London and London Saz School, in the historic sites of Diyarbakır’s Sur district, featuring Dengbêj performances, concerts, a traditional clothing fashion show, an erbane group performance, workshops for children and online panels. The cultural heritage of different ethnic groups will be introduced and preserved.

The purpose of the festival is to increase cultural awareness and tolerance among communities; to organise events in Kurdish, Armenian and Syriac within the scope of the right to cultural access in the mother tongue, fostering intercultural cooperation and contributing to the preservation of cultural heritage.

Planned event dates: 29 September  - 5 October 2024

kasedd.org

Diyarbakır Literature House in collaboration with Meyman Mardin Art House, Diyarbakır and Mardin

Artistic residency and exhibition in Mardin and Diyarbakir for artists Fauve Alice and Sümer Erek

The project invites two UK based artists, Sümer Erek and Fauve Alice, to participate in a three-week residency followed by a 10-day exhibition. During the residency, the artists will also run workshops for the local community and take part in artists’ conversations, and the experience of this residency will be documented and lead to a publication to be produced digitally and a small print run. 

Planned events:
2-22 December 2024: Residency
December 2024: Workshops and artist talks
10-19 January 2025: Exhibition opening
17 January 2025: Launch of the publication

www.wejegeh.org

Gazişehir Culture and Art Association, Gaziantep

Devising to Break the Walls

The ‘Devising to Break the Walls’ project aims to reassess the expressive possibilities of theatre following Una Chaudhuri, who believes that theatre must play a significant role in the ecological crisis, suggests that it is time to break down the fifth wall of anthropocentrism in theatre, using the metaphor of the imaginary fourth wall that separates theatre and its audience.

This project, in collaboration with Complicité Theatre, includes seminar and workshops on Devised Theatre, which breaks the hierarchy among the tools of theatre. Complicité Theatre aims to make a significant contribution to contemporary theatre with its stance against race, class, gender, and species discrimination by adhering to ecological perspectives in both its artistic works and social responsibility projects. With the project ‘Devising to Break the Walls’, these experiences will be shared with theatre professionals, educators, and young people from Gaziantep.

Planned event dates: 16-20 October 2024

MIRAS, Centre for Cultural Sustainability, Hatay

THE PHOENIX PROJECT
Rebuilding Hatay through Sounds and Music

This performance project brings together musicians from Türkiye and the UK in a joint live production combining music and visuals representing past, destruction, pain, hope, vision and resurrection. Bringing together creative musicians and visual artists from Hatay province with musicians from the UK who have conducted similar projects before, the project gathers the resolve and creative energy of this powerful place to paint a picture that transcends the destruction, the trauma, the despair of a city in ruins, embodying the promise of the Antioch to come.

Featuring creative musician Selin Sümbültepe’s band from Hatay with versatile UK musicians, it includes local ensembles and music students from container schools to develop a new artistic language.

Under the musical direction of Nisan Ak, one of the most accomplished female conductors in the world, the project embodies the determination and creative energy of this powerful place to paint a picture that transcends the destruction, trauma, and despair of a city in ruins and shows ways for the people of Antakya-Hatay to return to normal and fulfilling lives.

Planned event dates: 8-15 March 2025

mirasheritage.org

Teos Arts and Culture Association, İzmir

Forecast Turkey: Memory of Water

Teos Culture Art Association (based in Izmir, Turkey) and Invisible Dust (based in Scarborough, UK) share environmental and equalities ethos at their core and have substantial experience of working with international networks. Designed with associates namely as KARANTINA collective (Izmir), Municipality of Selçuk (Izmir) and Çamtepe Ecological Life Center (Çanakkale); the partners aim at initiating the establishment of a sustainable basis for mutual sharing of practices and enhancing the understanding between artists and scientists on the urgent situation of climate change while creating safe spaces for public debates to be held in both cities to raise the voices of local communities. 

“Forecast Turkey: Memory of Water” will explore the future of human relationships with nature and folklore with participation of villagers, local governors and scholars taking Menderes River Delta and ancient swamps of Pamucak coastline. Socially engaged Glasgow based artist Ruth Ewan will join two Turkish artists – academicians namely as Aşkın Ercan, Pınar Boztepe and artists Sinan Kılıç and Melisa Geçalp while all participants will find the opportunity of working together with British and Turkish academicians - researchers during their residencies. Eco-activist Güneşin Oya Aydemir will also take a week to create an ephemeral map and organise a workshop based on understanding the forms of our subjective interactions with nature, in consideration of the role of local memory. Meanwhile, marine biologist Muharrem Balcı will enrich the scientific context of the program with the data obtained from his researches. 

In the second round, Turkish artists and cultural managers will take a residency at the Old Parcels Office House (Scarborough) for two weeks to produce artworks also to give an artist talk with participation of Ewan and the program will be finalised with an exhibition in March in Selçuk, İzmir that displays all the artworks produced during the process. 

Planned event dates:
October 2024: Selçuk Artists-in-Residency Programme (field researches, presentations, artist talks)
December 2024: Artistic productions and online presentations
January 2025: Scarborough Artists-in-Residency Programme (field researches, presentations, artist talks)
February 2025: Project Exhibition (Selçuk, Izmir, Turkey)

www.teoskultursanat.com

Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts, İstanbul

Choirs for Ecocide Law Concert

Choirs for Ecocide Law is an initiative focused on emphasising the need to criminalise large-scale environmental destruction. Led by Stop Ecocide International, this initiative features a 60-minute concert programme with original compositions by composers from Europe and the UK. 

The Ecocide Law project proposes to gather young adults around music and singing to raise awareness of the ongoing environmental crisis through artistic expression by choosing songs from a predetermined selection in a way that draws attention to these issues and by raising awareness of the participants on the subject during rehearsals. At the end of the project, it aims to spread this awareness to the audience.

The project includes diverse musical pieces and guidelines for an interactive rehearsal process. In Istanbul, this concert will be held in collaboration with İKSV Alt Kat Young Women’s Voices Choir and Chromas & Vokal Akademi Pop & Jazz Choir.

Planned event dates: January – February 2025

www.iksv.org/en/iksv-alt-kat

Istanbul Museum of Modern Art, İstanbul

Dimitros Skyllas

London-based artist, musician Dimitrios Skyllas will be hosted for a residency in Istanbul. Skyllas will conduct his research focusing on Istanbul and explore the city’s multicultural musical heritage with musicians from diverse backgrounds. Inspired by the visual arts and Istanbul’s musical culture, Skyllas will compose a musical piece to present to museum audience through a performance at the museum. The composition will be integrated into future exhibitions and public programmes of the museum, ensuring its long-term accessibility to the museum audience. 

Planned event dates: February – March 2025

www.istanbulmodern.org/en

Sustainable Art Women Cooperative (SUSAKO), Kocaeli

Art for sustainable living

The ‘Art for Sustainable Living’ project is a digital art event in collaboration with the Sustainable Art Women’s Cooperative (SUSAKO) from Türkiye and the Turkish British Centre for Cultural and Creative Industries from the UK. This initiative will highlight sustainability through art by transforming waste materials into visual/digital creations. Key activities include workshops on upcycling for women, a two-day artist residence featuring video art, and the creation of art installations. The event will culminate in a mixed digital and physical exhibition at SUSAKO’s historical mansion, along with a panel discussion on sustainable art and creative industries.

Planned event dates:
December 2024: Workshops and training programmes
19- 20 December 2024: Residency programme
January- February 2025: Video art and art installations
24-30 March 2025: Digital and physical mixed exhibition
26 March 2025: ‘Creative Industries and Sustainable Art’ panel discussion

susako.com

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