Çıplak Ayaklar Kumpanyası, with the support of Goethe Insitute’s Relief Fund, managed to build a dance platform in their field in Iznik, Bursa. In these days when we rememberthat dance is also an art of getting together, this platform has sparked hope in us for our future creations.

In this project titled “ÇAK in OPEN AIR” which is supported by Goethe International Relief Fund, we have worked with Dilek Aydin in project management, Serkan Aka in design and Sedat Meriç in construction.

This project is funded by the International Relief Fund of the German Federal Foreign Office, the Goethe-Institut, and other partners.
www.goethe.de/relieffund

Estate

Dear friends and all those who have crossed paths with the Barefoot Troupe, our 15-year-old company has now formed a new space beyond the 11-year studio at Tophane. The studio helped us multiply, grow closer and expand our abilities. It became a home for rehearsals, shows, meetings, various workshops, concerts, improvisations, conversations and original work through unique gatherings. Perhaps you were part of an idea or a performance, waiting at the box office, taking classes, sweeping the floors, painting the walls, as an audience member or a performer, you were a part of our living studio. In short, the Çak Studio (Barefoot Troupe Studio) has been good to many of us.

Today, our dreams started flowing out of Tophane and out of the city and into the mountains of İznik and its beautiful oak forests. Now, we have a Barefoot Troupe estate. A new space of productions and meetings await. We imagine this space forming in time through various festivals and workshops to inspire new gatherings. The estate remains incomplete. We not only need our monetary resources but also our ideas and visions to mature. At this point, just like before, we need financial, physical and intellectual support. We don’t yet know how but we do know that it will become. And, it is already happening!

A couple of months ago, we were able to construct electricity, water and the basic lodging infrastructure on our land. Even though in the coming months we must construct the remaining accommodations, the open kitchen, the atelier, the storage and the other necessary spaces, our highest priority now is to form the studio of our dreams and to begin producing and sharing as soon as possible. In this respect, we are organizing a support campaign. We are working on forming a budget through the help of our musician friends’ concerts, theater partners’ box offices, communal dance performances with coworkers as well as exhibitons and social network funding avenues.

In the coming months, a process of support and sharing awaits us. We hope that you can share in our excitement and support the process of making the dream of the Çak Estate to become a reality.

SARP (Samanlı Art and Protection)

The SARP project was initiated due to the lack of data on endemic plants, animal populations, and mushroom species in Samanlı, where the project is located. This type of scientific data is crucial in the region, especially because the forests are under threat of being destroyed for the construction of new wind turbines. In the first phase of the project, exploration trips were organized with the participation of notable figures such as Jilber Barutciyan, Melis Rona, Doğan Kantarcı, Hülya Tamyüksel, and Ergün Bacak. These trips provided the opportunity to thoroughly understand the region and collect data on the diversity of mushrooms, flora, and birds. The ongoing work aims to produce a detailed inventory of the region.

The SARP project, which works in collaboration with the Kayınormanı Association, operates under the VAHA program, an initiative of Anadolu Kültür and zusa, funded by Stiftung Mercator and the European Cultural Foundation. The VAHA consortium collaborates with iac Berlin.