TCF nominated the Bolu Community Foundation (Bolu Bağışcılar Vakfı) for the UNESCO-Japan Prize on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD).

Bolu Bağışcılar Vakfı (BBV), Turkey’s only community foundation, mobilizes donors and provides grants and technical assistance to educational, social, and environmental projects for local sustainable development in Bolu, the newest Turkish member of UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities. TCF nominated BBV for its Preschool Education Application and Research Center project which brought an innovative and high-quality early childhood education model to Bolu. Through the work of the Center, BBV achieved to increase preschool enrollment rate in Bolu from 5 percent in 2010 to 95 percent in 2018, and raised educational quality and inclusiveness.

The UNESCO-Japan Prize on ESD honors outstanding projects by individuals, institutions and organizations related to ESD. The UNESCO-Japan Prize on ESD, which is funded by the Government of Japan, consists of three annual awards of 50,000 USD for each recipient. The winners of the award will be announced in September.

TCF is pleased to invite applications for nominations for the UNESCO Prize for Girls' and Women's Education (GWE).

The UNESCO GWE Prize is supported by the Government of the People's Republic of China and consists of two annual awards of 50,000 USD for each laureate to support their work to advance education for girls and women.
TCF will accept applications from individuals and entities in the United States and in Turkey. Only applications that comply with the Prize selection criteria will be evaluated for nomination. All applications must be received by TCF by May 4, 2018. Applications and supporting material must be sent to TCF_UNESCO@turkishculture.org.

Prof. Recep Karadağ, Head of the TCF Cultural Heritage Preservation and Natural Dyes Laboratory, gave two talks at the 8th International Istanbul Textile Conference on April 14-16. His presentations were titled “Reproduction of the Ottoman Palace Fabrics Using Natural Dyes” and “Multidirectional Investigation of Organic Cotton Fabrics Dyed with Gall Oak.”  He also addressed the Heritage İstanbul Restoration, Archaeology, Museum Technologies Fair and Conferences on April 12-14 with a presentation on “The Importance of Analysis for Cultural Heritage.”

Prof. Karadağ will address the 4th International Conference on Engineering and Natural Sciences in Kiev, Ukraine on May 2-6 with a presentation on "Provided Antimicrobial Properties and Dyeing of Organic Cotton Products with Natural Dyes (Madder and Gall Oak).” On May 7, he will give two presentations on “Pigment Analysis of the Kanlıtaş Mount Excavation Findings” and “Archaeometric Investigations of Archaeological Textile Works and Storage Conditions” in Çanakkale, Turkey.

A TCF grant awarded to the Turkish Student Association at North Carolina State University supported the screening of the Turkish documentary “Kedi-Cat” about stray cats in Istanbul. The screening took place on April 7 at the Witherspoon Cinema in Raleigh and was attended by over 130 people.

TCF awarded its Cultural Exchange Fellowship this month to an aspiring glass artist, İrem Yılmaz. A senior in Ceramics and Glass Design at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University in İstanbul, Ms. Yılmaz has been supported by Cam Ocağı Vakfı-Glass Furnace Foundation, a long-time TCF grantee, in İstanbul over the last two years. Ms. Yılmaz received the TCF Fellowship to participate in a two-week residency at the Corning Glass Museum in New York for which she received a scholarship from the Museum. During her time at the Museum, Ms. Yılmaz will attend a class on Venetian Glass Techniques with master glassblower, scholar and lecturer William Gudenrath. 

Contemporary artist Sümer Sayın (TCF Cultural Exchange Fellow-2014) held her first solo exhibition "An Inventory of Reflections" at R E I T E R | Berlin prospect in Berlin, Germany on March 16 - April 14.

James Thurman (TCF Cultural Exchange Fellows - 2014) attended “I.M.A.G.I.N.E. Peace Now,” a major international traveling exhibition in Denton, TX, USA on April 5 – May 13. James Thurman was also the Coordinator of the 2018 North Texas Digital Fabrication Symposium which took place at the Texas Woman's University in Denton, TX, USA on April 20-21.

Oud virtuoso Mehmet Polat (TCF Cultural Exchange Fellow-2016) held a concert with Ziel/Rouh | ICK & Amsterdam Andalusich Orkest at Theater de Veste in Delft, Netherlands on April 3, and he held a Improvisation concert with Ecstatic LIVE band Dragonfly at Barbeton in Utrecht, Netherlands on April 6.

Archaeologist and museologist Adrienn Papp (TCF Academic Fellow – 2013) organized the opening ceremony of the "Heart Warming Middle Ages" exhibition at the Budapest History Museum in Budapest, Hungary on April 11.

Zeynep Yelçe (TCF Academic Fellow - 2012) participated in Renaissance Royal Weddings & Cultural Production Conference in Oxford, United Kingdom on April 26 and presented her paper entitled "A Political Statement: The Wedding Festival of Ibrahim Pasha in 1524".

Cellist, composer, improviser, and photographer Anıl Eraslan (TCF Cultural Exchange Fellow-2014) held three concerts in April in Berlin, Germany. His concert series continued in Paris and Morvan, France.