Mapping Turkey: Digital Culture

For the full Digital Culture mapping please click here.

Summary

As a result of the Arab Spring that took place in various countries of the Middle East, the year 2011 can be considered as a milestone for the region. It was important because it revealed the impact of digital culture and how it is able to change societies and social relations. For Turkey, 2011 was also a turning point for its internal politics. The rulers, who did not know how to handle these changes in society, played their last cards by becoming more autocratic.

Since 2011, the arts and culture scene in Turkey, and especially in Istanbul, has lost its motivation due to long-term financial uncertainties and increasing political harass-ment. The potential development in the field of digital culture has also been negative-ly affected by these political changes. The loosened political and economic ties with Europe have made creating and sustaining connections mutually difficult, especially for individuals, but also for independent organisations. For some institutions, the peri-od since 2011 has been a kind of stand-by one, marked by loss. Since 2016, many cre-ative individuals have increasingly left the country. They are the ones who had been active both in the cultural life of the country and in the digital culture scene: designers, artists, academics and IT professionals. Consequently, since 2011 digital culture has only grown enough to maintain relationships with the rest of the global world – in professional and commercial life. One can no longer find the prolific atmosphere that prevailed in the previous decade, which was objectively productive and influential for the cultural history of the country.

For the full Digital Culture mapping please click here.