Mina Ertem – Page 2 – İstanbul Story

26Jun

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Istanbul Jazz Festival is Kicking Off

The 23rd Istanbul Jazz Festival, organised by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV) will be held on 27 June-25 July 2016. This year’s festival will once again host the pre-eminent figures of jazz and stars of contemporary music in different venues around Istanbul. Over 200 Turkish and international musicians will participate in the festival, with more than 50 concerts performed in 26 venues. The festival programme includes a range of jazz, funk, world music, blues and rock performances. The 23rd Istanbul Jazz Festival kicks off with a special project on Monday, 27 June. The creative member of Blur and Gorillaz, Damon Albarn, the conductor Issam Rafea, and The Orchestra of Syrian Musicians will inaugurate the festival on Monday, 27 June at 21.30 at Cemil Topuzlu O...

20May

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Here Comes the Istanbul Music Festival

A marathon full of music and Shakespeare is about to start. The 44th Istanbul Music Festival, organised by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV) will take place between June 1 – 24, 2016. The festival will present music lovers with an impressive programme built around this year’s theme inspired by Shakespeare’s verse, “If Music be the Food of Love, Play On”. I will cut to the chase and introduce the highlights of the festival. The 44th Istanbul Music Festival will host close to 600 local and international artists, including names like İdil Biret, Murray Perahia, Gautier Capuçon, Angel Blue, Gérard Caussé, Herbert Schuch, Patricia Petibon, Alice Sara Ott, Maria João Pires, Antonio Meneses, Maxim Vengerov, Richard Galliano, and Sylvain Luc, as well as some of the world’s le...

İstanbul Theatre Festival is Back in Town

2May

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İstanbul Theatre Festival is Back in Town

It is that time of the year again! “The festival” is back in town! The 20th edition of the Istanbul Theatre Festival, organized by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV) will take place from 3 – 28 May 2016. The festival will once again offer theatergoers an extensive program, featuring a range of plays, dance shows, and performances from Turkey and abroad, as well as parallel events. I am very happy, curious, and can barely wait for the following week as İKSV organizes the theatre festival bi-annually. The festival performances and parallel events will take place in a wide range of venues across the city. The festival program also features a number of free talks, performances, symposiums, exhibitions, master classes and workshops with the participation of well-known guest...

8Feb

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My Story

Incredible Scents of İstanbul

By the time you are walking on the streets of İstanbul, you will definitely come across at least a couple of the incredible and noticeable scents below. Open your eyes and inhale! Bosphorus, iodine, moss, fish, southwest wind, balloons. In winter, roasted chestnuts, ‘boza’ and ‘sahlep’. In summer, boiled sweet corns. Early in the mornings, freshly baked ’simit’. When you sit in a side street cafe, cats, freshly brewed Turkish coffee, ruby colour Turkish tea. If you are in a courtyard of a mosque, pigeons, bird seeds. Near a fun park, popcorn, cotton candy, ‘mesir macunu’ In a winter evening by the ghettos, coal fire. In the narrow streets of an old neighbourhood, all kinds of mouth-watering foods, fry ups, stews, semolina halva. Mellow summer breeze brings wa...

18Jan

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My Story, The City

İstanbul ve Boğaz’ın Eski Motorları

Gözlerimi kapatıp İstanbul Boğaz’ı dediğimde aklıma ilk gelenler ‘pata pata pata’ sesi ve yosunla karışık iyot kokusu. Yüzümde belli belirsiz bir serinlik; su damlaları demek için çok az, rüzgar demek için fazla ıslak. Hafta sonu kavramını birçok çocuğa göre erken idrak etmemin sebebi, benden 15 yaş büyük abimin sadece o ‘hafta sonu’ denilen zamanlarda okula gitmeyip, en az bir gün beni gezmeye götürmesiydi (annemin başından almak da diyebiliriz). En hevesle beklediğim ‘gezme’ ise Harbiye’deki evimizden çıkıp, Nişantaşı’nda önce küçük parktan (Nişantaşı Sanat Parkı), sonra Maçka’daki büyük parktan (Maçka Parkı) geçip Beşiktaş’a kadar yürüyerek Üsküdar motoruna binmekti. Harbiye’den Beşiktaş’a o dünya güzeli, havalı dolmuşlarla da gidilirdi, fakat o dolmuşlar da başka bir yazıya konu...