My Inspirations

• My Hometown

Turkey is a very unique country, unlike many others. It has been the home for hundreds of ancient civilizations, the passage point for the world, and the land of revolution and independence. It’s where the East meets the West. It’s not European nor Middle Eastern. It’s a blend. It’s Turkey. It’s multicultural: Turks, Greeks, Jews, Armenians, Arabs living all together. Its busy lifestyle, history and beautiful scenery has always amazed me. Walking around the old Pera Palace, then taking the ferry to cross to Asia from Europe, buying street food while chatting and laughing with the seller is what makes Istanbul the best city in the world for me. It has allowed me to widen my perspective on life and makes me appreciate small, intimate moments. Here is an excerpt from one of the most famous love letters written to Istanbul:

“I am listening to Istanbul, intent, my eyes closed;
Then suddenly birds fly by,
Flocks of birds, high up, with a hue and cry,
While the nets are drawn in the fishing grounds
And a woman’s feet begin to dabble in the water.
I am listening to Istanbul, intent, my eyes closed.”

Orhan Veli Kanık, “I’m Listening to Istanbul”

• Art & Galleries

Going to art galleries have always been very special for me. They are truly a breath of fresh air. While I went to big galleries like “Neue Galerie” in Berlin and art fairs like Contemporary Istanbul, I was also lucky to see the works of smaller artists where I was introduced to unique and personalized multimedia projects. I became familiar with art works that focused on showcasing different types of identities (national, gender, sexual). As a young person, this changed my whole perspective on what I defined as “art” I never thought a video installation in a gallery could hold the same worth as a traditional painting. This realisation has helped me understand what I wanted to do as an individual who wanted to create art, but didn’t have luck with drawing 🙂

From that moment, I started taking photos and videos of moments that made sense to me: Strangers laughing while walking down a street, a guy feeding birds, a funny street art… As I captured essences of real life, I began to notice the close relationship of culture and society, which led me wanting to study this course. Seeing other people’s art and learning about the commentaries that they make have really inspired me. It shows me different visions and inspires me to find my own.

• Cultural Studies

I have always been fascinated by different cultures and how they operate since I was little. This is maybe because of the diverse backgrounds that my family members have. One of my aunt lives in Belgium with her husband (who is Scottish) and two children, one cousin lives between France and the Netherlands, another cousin lives in Denmark with her husband (who is from the Martiniques) and two babies. The rest of my family lives in Istanbul and Ankara. By visiting different countries since I was very little, I was able to see the difference between Turkish and European cultures, identities and families. I have realized that most Eastern cultures are more collective while Western cultures are individualistic. Seeing this firsthand in different members of my family has sparked my interest in analyzing culture and proved how relevant it was to understand society.

• Politics

As much as I love my country, the sad reality of being a Turkish person is that you are subject to political issues from a very young age. As a child I have been taught about the principles of democracy, equality and freedom. However, our current government is doing anything in their way to reject these ideals. The clash between different ideologies and the chaotic political environment have resulted in a mass polarization between individuals in Turkey. The current government’s fundamentalist policies and personal agendas have overshadowed the Turkish population’s greater good and created lost identities. Inflation is higher than ever, women are murdered on the streets and the justice system is overruled by the leading party. However in the case of the UK, I have noticed that things don’t operate like this. There is an actual democracy, even though Boris Johnson is definitely not the ideal option. Political figures are temporary, they are normal people who aren’t above the law. Moreover, The Turkish partisan press is manipulating audiences to make propaganda in order to distract people from the fact that the country is in shambles. As an individual, I want to study media in order to gain awareness on how governments use the media as a tool to deceit us. I believe that the only way to combat the “opposing team” is to know about their strategies by studying examples in history and current events.

• Media Platforms

I have always loved being a creator and performer in areas like drama, music and films. I also loved being in the audience of a theatre or cinema, analyzing different cultural products and making connections to real life. Being a creator and performer has allowed me to have a very wide perspective when producing media. From creating promotional videos to fun music videos and writing film reviews, media has allowed me to see so much about the insights of the real world. I believe that unlike any other field, it can mean whatever you want it to be and actually is a very serious study, even though the STEM people may make fun of you for getting a media degree :))