TCF awarded a grant to the Turkish and International Music Ensemble to support the New York Ataturk Chorus.  The Chorus was founded in 2008 under the direction of Nedim Katgi, an award winning Turkish musician. The mission of New York Ataturk Chorus is to teach Turkish music to the general public and to contribute to the increasingly diverse fabric of American musical culture. As part of the Chorus’ objective to expand its reach, the grant will support collaborations with renowned Jazz, Latin and Rebetiko musicians, leading up to a performance at Carnegie Hall in 2019.

TCF has awarded a grant to Istanbul based Halka Art Project-Halka Sanat Projesi in support of a joint collaboration between artists Taryn Tomasello and Marga Karayol to highlight the Carian civilization in Turunc, Mugla.

The Carian Project is a collaboration initiated in 2016 by the artists that seeks to raise awareness of the 2,500 year old Carian settlement of Amos in Turunc. The project envisions to highlight the cultural and historical importance of Ancient Caria, encourage people to visit, explore and experience this valuable archeological site, and to question the absence of the Carians from many western European accounts of ancient Histories.

The project will bring together sculpture and performance and culminate in an exhibition to open at Halka Art Project on October 6, 2018 and an accompanying catalog. The project will also feature a community event and artist talk in Portland, Oregon. Also visit here to follow the Carian Project.

Ayşe Gül Süter (TCF Cultural Exchange Fellow 2016 and 2018) is in residency at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine in Barcelona, Spain where she is the sole resident artist in 2018.

Adrian Sassoon represented Ceramist İpek Kotan's (TCF Cultural Exchange Fellow 2014 and 2016) works at the “Masterpiece London” in London from June 28 – July 4. İpek Kotan’s work was also on display at “From the Momoyama Period to the Present” exhibition at Sogo Museum of Art in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan from June 15 – July 8.

James Thurman (TCF Cultural Exchange Fellow-2014) participated in “Contemporary Enamel,” an international exhibition held in Firenze, Italy on July 1 - 15.

Dr. Muhammed Emin Soydaş (TCF Academic Fellow-2016), a faculty member at Çankırı Karatekin University’s Music Department, presented his paper entitled "Using Extant Lutes as a Source in Reconstructing the Ottoman Kopuz" at the ANIMUSIC International Organological Congress at Museu José Malhoa, in Caldas da Rainha, Portugal on July 4 – 7.

Oud virtuoso Mehmet Polat (TCF Cultural Exchange Fellow-2016) held six concerts with Ziel/Rouh | ICK & Amsterdam Andalusich Orkest at Over het IJ Festival in Amsterdam, The Netherlands in July, and his concert series continued in Rotterdam and Utrecht, The Netherlands.

Cellist, composer, improviser, and photographer Anıl Eraslan (TCF Cultural Exchange Fellow-2014) held two concerts in July in Amiens and Arles, France. His concert series continued in Berlin and Rudolstadt, Germany.

Saz player Mansur Bildik (TCF Cultural Exchange Fellow-2016), presented his book "Mansur Bildik's Saz Method" at ICTM Joint Symposium of the Study Group on Music and Minorities and the Study Group on Music and Gender at University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, Department of Folk Music Research and Ethnomusicology in Vienna, Austria on July 24.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Berna Kurt (Cultural Exchange Fellow-2012), Head of the Arts Management Department and member of the Fine Arts Faculty at Istanbul Aydın University, is participating in a choreographic residency project titled “We’R’Dansöz” from July 14 – August 10 in Bonn, Germany.