SEAS Xpedition Turkey

Nedyalko Delchev in an exchange on his memories of a communist Bulgaria with people of Çamlıhemşin. Photo: John Byford

An expedition of over 30 people, SEAS artists and a small technical and management team from all over Europe, travelled by road from Istanbul to Batumi. Along the way shorter stops were made to spontaneously interchange with local people and community groups. Animations – films, workshops, short presentations – were the tools of encounter.

During the SEAS Xpedition through the northern coastal towns of Turkey, the idea of the DATE was developed into a form of action research, rather than venue research. SEAS X began with a laboratory on the road, the SEAS Xpedition, and was finalized in Georgia with the four day arts festival SEAS X Batumi. The first SEAS presence in Turkey was the ten day festival SEAS Istanbul 2009. Local coordinator was Selen Akçalı.

Read the day to day accounts on the SEAS X Blog.
Read a detailed account of the Xpedition (PDF) written by Selen Akçalı.

Read about the artists and art work on the Xpedition

SEAS Xpedition stops

Starting in Istanbul the Xpedition travelled along the Black Sea coast with a final stop in Batumi, Georgia.

Akçakoça
Closest to Istanbul, this village seems to take on life in a slower tempo which makes the highly modern mosque in the village center an unexpected glimpse into the future.

Ünye
The largest town during the trip, this thriving coastal town is working to integrate the sea and beach into their future of cultural tourism.

Çamlıhemşin
A small village in the hills that maintains its roots of the Hemsin-people and has a greatly expanded summer population of Turks with country homes in the hills.

Hopa
This border town is the regular stop of many trucks moving between Turkey and Georgia, the Caucasus and further on to Iran.

Press Coverage

SEAS Xpedition in Turkish Media (17 different media)

SEAS Xpedition