TCF awarded a grant to the Turkish American Cultural Association of Michigan-TACAM to support the creation of  a park and commemorative site for Mustafa Kemal Atatürk on the 3.6 acre private property that belongs to TACAM in Wixom, Michigan. The park will be located on the 6.7 acres of property purchased with donations by Turkish Americans in Michigan back in 1981, which is also home to the TACAM House.

The organization is currently soliciting donations to turn the Atatürk Park Project into reality. To learn more about the project and to support, please visit here.

TCF awarded its Cultural Exchange Fellowship to Ayse Gül Süter , a Turkish artist who integrates traditional art-making techniques with new media technologies. Ms.Süter received her education on animation and digital arts at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. A past TCF fellowship recipient (2016), Ms. Süter’s work fuses art and science, using various techniques and synthesizing the real and the imaginary worlds. Her projects are related to animation, light installations, kinetic sculptures and bio-art.

The artist received the TCF Fellowship to support her residency at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine in Barcelona, Spain where she is the sole resident artist in 2018.

An article by Prof.Recep Karadağ, Head of the Cultural Heritage Preservation and Natural Dyes Laboratory (DATU),  on natural dyes and the history and dyeing of the Ankara Sof fabric was published by the Vehbi Koc Ankara Studies Research Center (Koç Üniversitesi Vehbi Koç Ankara Araştırmaları Uygulama ve Araştırma Merkezi-VEKAM). Published in Turkish and English, the book accompanies the exhibition organized by VEKAM titled “Weaving the History: Mystery of a City,” which was organized with support from the Turkish Cultural Foundation. TCF contributed to the exhibition through its know-how on natural dyes and the mohair dyeing process. DATU provided mohair dyed with 10 different natural dyes to the exhibition and prepared a video presenting the dyeing process. Samples from the DATU Natural Dyes Collection will also be showcased during the exhibition. The exhibition remains on view at the Rahmi M.Koc Museum in Ankara until September 16. For a photo gallery and videos related to the exhibition, please visit here.

Prof. Recep Karadağ delivered a keynote presentation at The Fiber Society’s 2018 Spring Conference in Tokyo, Japan on June 12-14. His presentation was titled  “Developing a Natural Dyeing Method for Obtaining Turkey Red Color.”

The presentation shared with scholars from across the world, the history and redevelopment project of Turkey Red, a cotton dyeing method developed in the Ottoman Empire and lost for over 200 years. The multi-year project by TCF, led by Prof.Karadag, re-discovered the recipe and dyeing method for Turkey Red, now patented to the Turkish Cultural Foundation.

James Thurman (TCF Cultural Exchange Fellows) participated in “Contemporary Enamel,” an international exhibition held in İstanbul on May 21 - June 7. James Thurman also co-taught a four-day workshop, “Glass+Metal” with Güçlü Polat integrating glassblowing with metalworking at The Glass Furnace Foundation, a multi-year TCF Grantee, in Istanbul on June 2 - 5.

Grammy nominated composer, singer, performer, and scholar Dr. Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol (TCF Cultural Exchange Fellow-2012 and TCF Grantee-2017) presented on "Creating ‘The New’ by Discovering ‘The Old’: musical innovation through Turkish microtones and instruments" at the Turkish American Scholars and Scientists Association Annual Conference on June 2 at Boston University.

Kate Clow and Hüseyin Eryurt(TCF Academic Fellows-2014) presented on “Empowering village women along the Lycian Way” by Kate Clow, Chairman of Culture Routes Society-Turkey and Hüseyin Eryurt, Coordinator of the Culture Routes Society-Turkey at the “CREATOUR 2nd International Conference: Emerging and Future Trends in Creative Tourism” at University of Minho in Braga, Portugal on June 7 9.

Esra Sağlık(TCF Cultural Exchange Fellow-2015) held an exhibition titled “Dream Essay” at Milta Bodrum Marina Osmanlı Tersanesi Kaymakamlık Sanat Galerisi, on May 23 - June 5 in Bodrum, Turkey.

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

Oud virtuoso Mehmet Polat (TCF Cultural Exchange Fellow-2016) held five concerts in June, in Amsterdam and Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

Dancer, performer, choreographer and dance pedagogue Lerna Babikyan (TCF Cultural Exchange Fellow-2011, 2016) performed "In-Spheres" with Korhan Erel at Soundance Festival in Berlin, Germany and she performed “Re-flig” at the Apartment Project in Berlin, Germany.

Marco Cops (TCF Cultural Exchange Fellow-2015), a multimedia artist, curator and consultant for public art, attended the central show and a studioshow at Pakhuis Wilhelmina Viert Feest in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, on June 23 - 24.

Saz player Mansur Bildik (TCF Cultural Exchange Fellow-2016), performed with AvusTürk Trio in Upper Austria, Austria on June 24, 2018. He also gave three concerts in Vienna, Austria.