A TCF grant to the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin to restore a rare copy of Cihannüma received coverage in Hürriyet daily. Written by Ottoman scholar Katip Çelebi, Cihannüma was printed as one of the first books in the Ottoman Empire by Ibrahim Müteferrika. For more information on this project, please visit here.

TCA Founder and Chairman Dr. Yalçın Ayaslı was featured in two interviews. Turk of America published a detailed interview with Dr. Ayaslı titled “The Businessman who spent 60 million dollars for the case of Turkey” in its latest issue. Another interview titled “Bir Mühendisin Kültür Yolculuğu (An Engineer’s Cultural Journey)” was published in the latest issue of Yapı Kredi Sanat Dünyamız magazine. The article featured information about the family’s long standing patronage of Turkish culture and art, as well as the private Turkish art collection owned by Dr. Yalçın and Dr. Serpil Ayaslı. The interview can be read here.

The TCF Cultural Exchange Fellowship was awarded this month to Banu Özden who has been accepted to present a paper at the Dublin Gastronomy Symposium. Ms. Özden will present a paper on “Political Power behind the Feasts: Food as a Symbol of Authority and Obedience in the History of Turks” at the annual meeting held in May in Dublin.

Jazz musician Ferit Odman’s (TCF Cultural Exchange Fellows - 2012) albums are currently featured on Turkish Airlines' inflight entertainment system.

Oud virtuoso Mehmet Polat (TCF Cultural Exchange Fellow-2016) has released a new album ‘Ageless garden’. In addition to Mehmet Polat on the oud, guest musicians on the album are; Alper Kekec (Turkey) at Darbuka, daf and frame drums, Pasha Karami (Iran) at Tombak, Shaho Andalibi (Iran) at Ney, Yama Sarshar (Afghanistan) at Tabla and Zoumana Diarra (Mali) plays Kora. The album presentation concert will be held on February 21 at Podium Mozaiek in Amsterdam.

Composer Hakan Ulus (TCF Cultural Exchange Fellow-2014) performed with the Hezarfen Ensemble for a portrait concert at the Yapi Kredi Concert Hall in Istanbul on January 31 that featured his award-winning compositions and the premiere of his new composition “A.Q.” He also gave a presentation on "The identity of contemporary artmusic: current mannerist tendencies in the second decade of the 21st century, with a focus on the scene in Germany" at the 2018 BFE/RMA Research Students’ Conference on January 6, at the University of Huddersfield, UK.

Grammy nominated Turkish American composer, singer, performer, and scholar Dr. Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol (TCF Cultural Exchange Fellow – 2012 and TCF Grantee – 2017) gave a panel on “Jazz in Turkey” at Jazz Congress at the Lincoln Center in New York. His talk was followed by a performance as Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol & Whatsnext? at the Mica and Ahmet Ertegun Atrium at the Lincoln Center on January 12.

Cellist, composer, improviser, and photographer Anıl Eraslan (TCF Cultural Exchange Fellow - 2014) held three concerts in Berlin. He performed with Korhan Erel on January 8 at Madame Claude; on January 12 with Antonis Anissegos at Fincan and on January 24 at Kühlspot. He also performed as part of a trio concert with Elif Bleda and Olivia Scemama at Chat Noir in Paris on January 21.

Dancer, performer, choreographer and dance pedagogue Lerna Babikyan (TCF Cultural Exchange Fellow-2011, 2016) held a Creative Dance Teacher Training Workshop in İstanbul on January 6.

Roberley Bell’s (TCF Cultural Exchange Fellow - 2015) book “Do You Know This Tree” was published by VSW Press. The book collects the artist’s daily walks from an apartment in Istanbul to various trees she photographed five years prior. The book’s diary-like text reveals Bell’s thoughts and documents her encounters as she searches for these “ugly” trees that in their caretaking represent for the artist the humanity of the city of Istanbul.
Birgül Açıkyıldız Şengül (TCF Academic Fellow-2012) published two academic articles last December. "Mardin'de Kültürlerarası Yaşam: Konut Mimarisi Bağlamında Bir Değerlendirme (Intercultural Life in Mardin: An Assessment based on Housing Architecture)" was published in the Hacettepe Üniversitesi Türkiye Araştırmaları Dergisi and "Mardin Emineddin Külliyesi: Hami ve Mimari (Mardin’s Emineddin Complex: Patron and Architecture)" in the Hacettepe Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Dergisi.

Poet and playwright Nurduran Duman’s (TCF Cultural Exchange Fellow - 2016) poems were published in Spanish translated by Frances Simán in the Hablemos Claro journal in Honduras.  Duman was also featured on the cover of the most popular e-magazine of China, Poetry Weekly.  The weekly published her poetry as translated into Chinese by Shawn Cao and also featured critiques about her poetry by Chinese literary figures. Duman’s poems as translated into English by Andrew Wessels were also published in Turkish Poetry Today, a United Kingdom publication.