Name of the organization or artist |
diyalog |
Country |
Turkey |
Website URL |
Missions and objectives |
Our principal objectives are the promotion of exchange and cooperation in order to carry out an intercultural understanding to strengthen as well as above all a cultural dialogue beyond borders. Under these circumstances we are supporting initiatives of our members that express the cultural diversity within societies. The basic research and work of the association focuses on collaboration in old and new media, technology, and theory with an emphasis on social contexts. The association emphasis professionals working in different creative disciplines (e.g. media-creatives, satirists, visual artists, writers and film-makers); they are brought together in order to develop and open on an international level sources for the realisation of cultural works, projects and activities. The association is an international network with a participatory and flexible structure that combines advanced creative production, research, events, and documentation. |
Main Activities |
Since 2017 diyalog is organizing the Mahalla Festival. Mahalla is a travelling festival of contemporary art, film and literature, with several ancillary events running alongside it. The last Mahalla Festival took place in September 2021 under the title Murmuration at the Yeldeğirmeni district in Istanbul – Kadıköy on the Anatolian side of the metropolis. The Turkish based cultural association diyalog invented and realized the Mahalla Festival dedicated to migration, exile and cultural identity in the frame of the Istanbul Art Biennale 2017. The second Mahalla Festival took place in the frame of Valletta European Capital of Culture 2018. The festivals brought together cultural actors and initiatives from different fields and different backgrounds in Europe and beyond to support an intercultural understanding in the field of migration, inclusion and local communities. Under the title Generating New Narratives the festival in Malta displayed art works, performances, installations, screenings, readings and talks reflecting aspects of borders, armed conflicts and migration, minorities, hospitality and hostility, urban structures, inclusion and intercultural communication. |
Contact person |
Thomas Büsch |
English 
Arabic