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ISSUE 2: MULTICULTURALISM| OCTOBER 2022 | | Discovering Ankara and Istanbul’s multicultural stories with the KarDes tour-guide app

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Discovering Ankara and Istanbul’s multicultural stories with the KarDes tour-guide app

KarDes mobile app

Since 2020, the Hrant Dink Foundation has cast a spotlight on the tangible and intangible cultural heritage of Turkey with its mobile application KarDes: Multicultural Memory Tour Guide which allows its users to discover the forgotten history of neighbourhoods in Istanbul and Ankara and listen to the multicultural stories of people and buildings, while viewing or imagining their old photographs.

KarDes brings together more than 1,000 cultural heritage sites on its ‘Discover’ page, and its 27 memory tours, averaging two hours each, traverse Istanbul’s neighbourhoods of Karaköy, Kadıköy, Galata, Pera, Büyükada, Kınalıada, Balat, Sarıyer, Büyükdere, Samatya, Sultanahmet, Sirkeci and Yeşilköy, as well as Ankara’s Ulus and Kavaklıdere districts. With Turkish and English language options, famous figures like Esin Alpogan, Philip Arditti, Hayko Cepkin, Yetkin Dikinciler, Ece Dizdar, Nejat İşler, Ercan Kesal, Yekta Kopan, Kev Orkian, Tülin Özen, Tilbe Saran, Nur Sürer and Ahmet Mümtaz Taylan narrate the tours.

Various written and oral sources, including oral history interviews, literary works, photographs, old maps and archival records, are used to collect the stories of multicultural neighbourhoods. A field trip and pilot tour are conducted for each memory tour to understand the holistic story of the districts. In addition to neighbourhood guides, the mobile app offers thematic tours. For example, the Beyoğlu Theatre Tour and the Direklerarası Theatre Tour cover the history of theatre buildings and important Ottoman-era actors. The content in ‘Istanbul’s Multicultural Women’s Stories’ was created by participants in online workshops that were organised for International Women’s Day; through district conversations, users can listen to the memories of multicultural neighbourhoods from the people who lived in those areas.

The tours are brimming with multicultural flavour too. Historical information and oral history narratives about food and beverage establishments – some still in operation, others long gone – continue to keep our memories of the city alive. Among the stops that season the tours in Istanbul are a boza maker that has served the fermented malt drink since 1876; historic meyhanes, or taverna-style eateries; and landmark patisseries and ice cream shops: Vefa Bozacısı in Süleymaniye; Bulgar’s Meyhane in Yeşilköy; Koço Meyhane in Moda; Baylan Patisserie and the Kadıköy market in Rıhtım; Samatya’s meyhanes and coffeehouses; Ara Cafe and Markiz Patisserie in Pera; Büyükdere Ice Cream Shop; Agora Meyhane in Balat; and the Anadolu Club, Prinkipo Meyhane and Büyükada Patisserie on Büyükada Island. Meanwhile, in Ankara, we learn about the Karpiç Restaurant and Kürdün Meyhane in Ulus and the Flamingo Patisserie in Kavaklıdere.

Click to download KarDes: Multicultural Memory Tours Guide mobile application for free.