Accessible Art & Cultural Life for People with Disabilities

As part of the “AccessAbility Istanbul” project which is a collaboration of the Consulate General of Sweden in Istanbul, the Swedish Institute (SI), Human Rights in Mental Health Initiative (RUSIHAK) and the Association of Women with Disabilities (ENGKAD), Istanbul Modern held a panel on “Accessible Art & Cultural Life for People with Disabilities”.

Panel participants included academician, dancer and choreographer Tuğçe Tuna from Mimar Sinan University; coordinator of Ankara Accessible Film Festival Kıvanç Yalçıner; Sophia Alexandersson from Share Music Sweden and Istanbul Modern’s Social Projects Manager Dicle Saltan, as well as the “Görmesen de Olur ” Project team.

Tuğçe Tuna talked about the experiences of her fourteen-year-old project, "Dance with Different Bodies", which focuses on individuals with different physical features, and the diversity of the body's mental, sentimental and biodynamic structure, while also questioning what obstacles are or who has them. And the dance team will perform a show for the audience.

Sophia Alexandersson, participating on behalf of "Share Music Sweden" from Sweden, gave details about her non-profit organization founded in 2003. Sophia elaborated on their projects focusing on an understanding which stands for the right of every individual, with their unique talents, to express themselves as an artist in the society.

“Görmesen de Olur” Project, aiming to enable visually impaired writers create their own theater plays, is established under the guidance of authors Serhan Alben, Sercan Alben and Aytuğ Akdoğan with the support of Tiyatro Laboratuvarı in cooperation with the Kadıköy Municipality. The project team will be there to talk about their story and how they managed to get to the theater festivals.

Istanbul Modern’s Social Projects Manager Dicle Saltan shared the museum’s special education programs and social projects which aim to bring art to viewers from all groups, particularly the disadvantaged social groups, and children, youth and adults with physical disabilities and special learning needs.

Accessible Art & Cultural Life for People with Disabilities Panel Program

14.00 - 14.20 Kıvanç Yalçıner (Ankara Accessible Film Festival)

14.20 - 14.45 Tuğçe Tuna (Dance with Different Bodies)

14.45 - 15.30 Sophia Alexandersson (Share Music Sweden)

15.30 - 16.00 COFFEE BREAK

16.00 - 16.30 Tiyatro Laboratuvarı & Kadıköy Municipality (Görmesen de Olur Project)

16.30 - 17.00 Istanbul Modern (Social Projects)

17.15 - 17.50 Dance show: Dance with Different Bodies Team

The event is free of charge. For further information: 0212 334 73 80