Spaces of Culture: building bridges between Turkey and the Netherlands

In 2024, Dutch-Turkish cultural relations take on profound significance for two reasons: it commemorates the centennial anniversary of the Vriendschapsverdrag between the two countries, and it marks the 60th year since the inception of the first wave of Turkish guest workers arriving in the Netherlands. As this pivotal year approaches, it will be filled with highlights, emphasizing how art and culture play a crucial role in establishing mutual understanding, collaboration, and peace.  

Recognizing this significance, DutchCulture places a strong emphasis on fostering collaboration by providing participants of the Spaces of Culture Programme with valuable insights into the Dutch cultural sector and facilitating networking opportunities. Spaces of Culture offers capacity building and internationalisation opportunities to cultural initiatives located away from Turkey's cultural centre. It is a consortium of the Dutch Embassy and Consulate in Turkey, the Goethe-Institut, the Consulate General of Sweden in Istanbul, and the Institut français de Turquie. DutchCulture serves as the local Dutch partner.

This year, we welcomed a group of 13 makers from 7 different cities in Turkey with backgrounds in various disciplines; performing arts, community arts, and music being the most outstanding. Prior to their arrival, we held preliminary meetings to understand their practice, project ideas and desired partners in the Netherlands.

Using that input, we organised Partner Forums in Amsterdam and Rotterdam: intimate gatherings where the Turkish participants encountered 22 organisations based in the Netherlands to engage in fruitful conversations about potential collaboration. In total, we reported 47 different matches that will hopefully boil down to solid collaborations soon.

“The core of my project idea has transformed into a new flexible form, according to the expertise and expectations of the potential partner, or how we build our relationship,” stated Serenay Oguz from PAL Izmir afterwards.

We will assess these partnerships in the long term to determine how many of them will be realised and whether these initial dialogues evolve into different collaborative actions.

Curious about the dynamics of the Netherlands programme? Watch our 2022 edition after-movie, offering a visual overview of the enriching experiences shared!

Are you interested in working with Turkey or in the Spaces of Culture programme? Please feel free to contact our Turkey advisor Dicle Gülşahin.