Contactistanbul organizes cultural events in close collaboration with small and medium sized Turkish contemporary art organizations.

Contactistanbul’s non-profit projects in Turkey are sponsored by the commercial organization Connectistanbul, which helps professional groups (business, special-interest, non-profit and educational groups) that visit Istanbul.

For cultural actors outside Turkey
Contactistanbul also helps cultural organizations based outside Turkey to:

-  meet Turkish artists focused on your topic;

-  find art organizations in Istanbul that are relevant for you;

-  communicate with cultural organizations in Turkey;

-  get independent advice about cultural events, exhibition dates and concerts;

- organize cultural exchanges;

- to tour all relevant art organizations.

meet Turkish artists focused on your topic
Art professionals that come to Turkey for research often find that it is not that easy to find the artists that they look for.  One reason is that there are only a few databases and they are not complete. The art scene has various groups that will bring you in contact with those artists that are loyal to them. Contactsistanbul helps you and your organization to connect with the artists that share your interests regardless of what group they are part of.

find art organizations in Istanbul that are relevant for you
Contactistanbul has respect for all cultural actors in Istanbul. We can introduce your organization to local cultural partners that best fit your organization or project.

communications with cultural organizations in Turkey
Because people and organizations in Turkey value face-to-face communication, not all organizations have a website or email. This can be challenging for ongoing communication from a distance with Turkish partners. It can be of great help to have a person in Istanbul, for the duration of your project, that can follow-up when needed and can act if communication fails. Connectistanbul ensures your projects never suffer or get “lost in translation”.

know about cultural events, exhibition dates and concerts
Istanbul is a city with ever changing conditions. Therefore some cultural events are listed only last minute or are not listed at all. The more special, alternative or small scale events are easy to miss. Asking Contactistanbul for advice helps you to find these cultural events. Many small local art organizations keep their audience up to date using lists, emails, Facebook groups and sms notices in the Turkish language. Connectistanbul helps you to access this information in English to ensure you won’t miss anything.

organize cultural exchanges
Contactistanbul organizes that Turkish artists can show their work abroad and helps foreign artists to experience the liveliness of the scene in Istanbul. Contactistanbul can inform you about cultural differences, so you can be a better host to your Turkish guests. For example: Turkish people prefer a decent lunch (preferably also including some warm dishes) lasting one or one and a half hour. What is a normal rhythm for your organization, might be either very fast or very slow according to Istanbul standards. If you design your program to have a pace more similar to what your guests are used to, they will have more energy to absorb all new impressions.

to tour all relevant art organizations
If you want to visit a lot of art organizations, galleries or artist initiatives in Istanbul you’ll need a guide who both knows the art scene AND knows the city. Although there exists an excellent map - LIST - that shows some of the art spaces (they pay to be mentioned), many of the art spaces are hard to find even if you stand right in front of them. The reason for this is that not all spaces are on ground level or located on main streets. Contactistanbul helps you to find art organizations quickly, without the hassle. In Contactistanbul’s tours also the wider context, relevant to understand the Istanbul cultural scene, is explained. We can help you to gain insights about aspects of Istanbul’s art scene that would be hard to understand without the introduction.