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Youth is period of coming of age, finding out and making sense of what's out there, experimenting with various identities to “find” and/or “create” one’s own. We are interested in the ways the city of Istanbul factors into this process of discovery and formation in youth culture.
TransIstanbul/ Coming of Age investigates the city and its inhabitants as intertwined entities whose formation reveals the effects of various cultural attitudes, processes and practices. We would like to focus on Istanbul’s youth cultures and subcultures and their relationship to their environments. Rather than considering them as passive agents where cultural context is given a priority in their configuration, we would like to explore not only the impositions of such factors but also the proactive role individuals or groups play in creating their own culture, determining who they are and who they become.
As an ancient yet highly dynamic metropolitan that is in constant flux herself, Istanbul is continuously negotiating and balancing multiple -at times opposing, identities, just like the youth we intend to concentrate on. So, how does one come of age on such a slippery slope? How does one discover oneself and test limits of own capacity, while fathoming one’s environment, assessing where they could potentially fit on the larger scheme of things, contemplating various options, deciding on what it is that they want, deciphering what they need to do to get what they want, decoding the rules of the “game”, joining the game of life and getting set on a trajectory, in such a dazzling and ever evolving setting like Istanbul?
We are interested in the process of identity formation in youth culture: their aspirations, their perception of what they need to do in order to become, their attempts at fitting the perceived “mold”, any conflicts that arise from the differences between the many realities they have to negotiate. We hope this project will not only allow young citizens of Istanbul their own voice but also instigate more insightful self-examination on their part and provoke them to take an even more active role in shaping their own future.
TransIstanbul/ Coming of Age investigates the city and its inhabitants as intertwined entities whose formation reveals the effects of various cultural attitudes, processes and practices. We would like to focus on Istanbul’s youth cultures and subcultures and their relationship to their environments. Rather than considering them as passive agents where cultural context is given a priority in their configuration, we would like to explore not only the impositions of such factors but also the proactive role individuals or groups play in creating their own culture, determining who they are and who they become.
As an ancient yet highly dynamic metropolitan that is in constant flux herself, Istanbul is continuously negotiating and balancing multiple -at times opposing, identities, just like the youth we intend to concentrate on. So, how does one come of age on such a slippery slope? How does one discover oneself and test limits of own capacity, while fathoming one’s environment, assessing where they could potentially fit on the larger scheme of things, contemplating various options, deciding on what it is that they want, deciphering what they need to do to get what they want, decoding the rules of the “game”, joining the game of life and getting set on a trajectory, in such a dazzling and ever evolving setting like Istanbul?
We are interested in the process of identity formation in youth culture: their aspirations, their perception of what they need to do in order to become, their attempts at fitting the perceived “mold”, any conflicts that arise from the differences between the many realities they have to negotiate. We hope this project will not only allow young citizens of Istanbul their own voice but also instigate more insightful self-examination on their part and provoke them to take an even more active role in shaping their own future.
Gençlik türlü olasiliklari dikkate alarak ve farkli kimlikleri deneyerek kendini bulmak ve/ya da yaratmak surecini icermekte. Suphesiz ortam bu asamada onemli bir faktor olusturmakta. Biz sehir ve mekanin bu kesif ve sekillenme sureci uzerinde oynadigi rolu arastirirken, mekan ve insan iliskisinin donusumlu olarak birbirini etkileyen ve sekillendiren bir dongu olarak ele almaktayiz.
Aktivitelerimiz ozellikle Istanbul’un genclik kultur ve alt kultur gruplarinin cevreyle iliskisi uzerinde dururken, bireylere mevcut kulturun tepeden inme etkisiyle yonlenen pasif ogeler olarak degil, icinde varolduklari sosyal ve fiziksel atmosfer uzerinde aktif soz sahibi, dolayisiyla kultur ve bu kulturun kendi sahsi kimlikleri uzerindeki etkisini yonlendirme pozisyonunda olan etkenler olarak yaklasiyoruz.
Cok katmanli, kendi icinde bir cok tezati barindiran, surekli bir akis icinde olan antik ama genc sehir Istanbul’un metropolik kimligindeki degiskenlik ile gencligin kimlik arayisi surecinde yasadigi degiskenlik arasinda bir parallelik sozkunusu. Istanbul gibi basdondurucu, herseyin hizla ve her an sekil degistirdigi, hic bir seyin sabit olmadigi bir ortamda insan nasil yetisir? Bir birey bu kadar kaypak bir yuzeyde nasil kendini bulur? Ayni mekanda bir cok kimlik, gercek ve standardin icice mevcut oldugu ve tam cozecekken gozonunde sekil degistiren bir sehir, acaba sahsin erginlige erme surecini nasil etkiler?
Biz gencligin kimlik olusturma sureci uzerinde dururken, genclerin arzularini, bu amaclarina ulasmak icin yapmalari gerekenleri nasil algiladiklarini, kendilerini ne gibi kaliplara uymak durumunda hissettiklerini, gerekirse kendi icinde catismada olan bir cok gercegi nasil idare etmeye calistiklarini merak ediyoruz. Umariz bu projemiz Istanbul’un gencligine kendini ifade imkani tanimaktan ote, ihtimalleri biraz daha derinden sorgulamaya yoneltir ve yetismekte olan bireyleri kendi gelecek ve kimliklerini sekillendirmekte daha aktif bir rol oynamaya tesvik eder.
Aktivitelerimiz ozellikle Istanbul’un genclik kultur ve alt kultur gruplarinin cevreyle iliskisi uzerinde dururken, bireylere mevcut kulturun tepeden inme etkisiyle yonlenen pasif ogeler olarak degil, icinde varolduklari sosyal ve fiziksel atmosfer uzerinde aktif soz sahibi, dolayisiyla kultur ve bu kulturun kendi sahsi kimlikleri uzerindeki etkisini yonlendirme pozisyonunda olan etkenler olarak yaklasiyoruz.
Cok katmanli, kendi icinde bir cok tezati barindiran, surekli bir akis icinde olan antik ama genc sehir Istanbul’un metropolik kimligindeki degiskenlik ile gencligin kimlik arayisi surecinde yasadigi degiskenlik arasinda bir parallelik sozkunusu. Istanbul gibi basdondurucu, herseyin hizla ve her an sekil degistirdigi, hic bir seyin sabit olmadigi bir ortamda insan nasil yetisir? Bir birey bu kadar kaypak bir yuzeyde nasil kendini bulur? Ayni mekanda bir cok kimlik, gercek ve standardin icice mevcut oldugu ve tam cozecekken gozonunde sekil degistiren bir sehir, acaba sahsin erginlige erme surecini nasil etkiler?
Biz gencligin kimlik olusturma sureci uzerinde dururken, genclerin arzularini, bu amaclarina ulasmak icin yapmalari gerekenleri nasil algiladiklarini, kendilerini ne gibi kaliplara uymak durumunda hissettiklerini, gerekirse kendi icinde catismada olan bir cok gercegi nasil idare etmeye calistiklarini merak ediyoruz. Umariz bu projemiz Istanbul’un gencligine kendini ifade imkani tanimaktan ote, ihtimalleri biraz daha derinden sorgulamaya yoneltir ve yetismekte olan bireyleri kendi gelecek ve kimliklerini sekillendirmekte daha aktif bir rol oynamaya tesvik eder.
