İKSV Alt Kat: Learning and Interaction Space, founded by İKSV with the support of the Istanbul Development Agency (ISTKA) to increase access to and participation in culture and art events, opened its doors in March 2019 and continues to organise and host workshop programmes and events for children and teenagers.
İKSV Alt Kat has organised almost 170 free workshops and events and reached over 1.000 children and teenagers during a seven month period. İKSV Alt Kat conducts collaborative projects with all festival, biennial and other departments of the foundation and works in cooperation with nearly 100 institutions. Numerous programmes are organised at the venue aiming to provide access for children and teenagers to culture and arts ranging from children’s books to hosting guided exhibition tours for families with babies, from choir rehearsals which bring Turkish and refugee children together to a cinema programme for children, from rhythm and body percussion exercises to dance and movement workshops.
Projects for early childhood development are now at festivals and biennials
İKSV aims to raise awareness and knowledge on early childhood development, to promote the production of culture-art content for families and increase the accessibility of this content with İKSV Alt Kat’s “Early Childhood Development and Culture-Arts Project”, realised with the support of the Bernard Van Leer Foundation.
Six children’s books produced in collaboration with different authors and illustrators under the supervision of publishing director Burcu Ural Kopan have been published in three languages; Turkish, English and Arabic. After Optigull and Pesigull: A World For All of Us has been published for the 16th Istanbul Biennial, the last book to be published this year will meet children at the 23rd Istanbul Theatre Festival.
The books are distributed for free at İKSV Alt Kat, event venues, and affiliated bookstores, and various reading events and workshops are held during festivals and biennials. Events organised at festival and biennial venues, and at İKSV Alt Kat are made available for children and their families free of charge. Free copies of the children’s books published by İKSV; Uzun, Kocaman, Çok!, Fanfare - A Musical Tale of Istanbul, Jazz in Colors, Optigull and Pesigull: A World For All of Us are available at İKSV Alt Kat year-round. For more information on book events and to make a reservation please visit: rezervasyon.IKSV.org/altkat/
Families with babies are at the biennial
Stroller Mornings, the free guided exhibition tours where parents and caregivers may attend with their babies that was organised for the first time at the 4th Istanbul Design Festival with the support of Bernard Van Leer Foundation, has drawn considerable attention and continues at the 16th Istanbul Biennial. Stroller Mornings are held at Pera Museum on Wednesday and Friday mornings between 10.00 - 11.00. For further information please visit: rezervasyon.IKSV.org/bebeklisabahlar2019/
Workshop and event programmes for children and teenagers continue at İKSV Alt Kat
İKSV Alt Kat continues its free workshops and events in different art disciplines organised with the support of the Istanbul Development Agency (ISTKA).
- The Stronger Together Choir realised in collaboration with the Istanbul Music Festival, that had brought children and teenagers with various disabilities together with the Music For Peace Foundation Choir last year, will this time be bringing refugee children together with Turkish children. The choir will begin its rehearsal for the new season in January and plans to meet the audience at the 48th Istanbul Music Festival in an exclusive event. The first choir, conducted by Zeynep Eren Kovankaya, with sign language counselling by Buket Ela Demirel and rhythm training by İpek Aktaşlı, will continue its rehearsals to take the stage with surprise performances.
- The Thinking, Exploring with Films workshop programme İKSV Alt Kat realised in collaboration with the Istanbul Biennial and Istanbul Film Festival continues with the participation of 4 to 8-year-old children from various schools and non-governmental organisations. Following the screenings of films selected under the supervision of Burak Gökal, workshops are held for children to think about the films they have watched and develop their perceptions of different disciplines of art.
- Held in cooperation with Istanbul Jazz Festival and organised last year for musicians who want to work with children, the Istanbul Jazz Festivals’ Children's Workshops Design Program continues at İKSV Alt Kat. The workshops that had started as a part of this program, Whose Voice Is This? coordinated by Ezgi Barhan focusing on polyphony, and Rhythmic Body Orchestra coordinated by Erdem Topsakal where rhythm and body percussion studies are conducted, have continued to regularly meet children.
- The Dance Therapy and Creative Movement Workshop, organised in collaboration with the Istanbul Theatre Festival, was designed to provide physical and sensory guidance to young people aged 14-18. The coordinator of the workshop is choreographer, contemporary dance artist, academician, body-oriented therapist Tuğçe Ulugün Tuna. The workshop, organised in periods of four weeks, aims to inform participants about body-oriented performing arts while also helping them build their individual self-confidence through exercises in balancing their body-mind-effort.
Over 1500 books for children
The Children’s Library located at İKSV Alt Kat: Learning and Interaction Space awaits its young readers with over 1.500 books in its continually expanding collection of books for 3 to 15-year-old children. The Children’s Library at İKSV Alt Kat, which is open to the participation of various schools, community centres and non-governmental organisations for book reading events and workshops, is open to the public every Friday from 10.00 – 14.00, excluding public holidays. For more information on all activities and participation in the children's library please contact: altkat@iksv.org
Young art-lovers, artists and designers meet at İKSV Alt Kat
The Camekân project, which transformed the 6-square-meter display case on the facade of İKSV Alt Kat: Learning and Interaction Space into a design and production space for young designers, continues to host young designers for the second time. As a part of the project initiated by Istanbul Design Biennial in collaboration with Graphic Designers Association and with the support of Istanbul Development Agency (ISTKA), every month the work by a young designer will be put on display at Camekân until April 2020 and various seminars and events will be held in parallel with the exhibitions.
İKSV Alt Kat also hosts the speeches of various biennial artists within the scope of the Istanbul Biennial and organises the training and artist meetings of the Istanbul Biennial Study and Research Program (ÇAP), a mentoring project that brings young artists together with master artists.
In the new season, İKSV Alt Kat will continue to enrich its program with artist-educator collaborations, instructor training programs, and different activities focusing on early childhood development.
