Migrating Proverbs

Migrating Proverbs explores how social and cultural practices enable cultural exchange and social integration, specifically between migrant and minority ethnic groups and local communities in Ankara and Istanbul. Migrating Proverbs is a live project, co-directed by Reem Charif (UEL/Febrik) and Catalina Pollak (UCL) in collaboration with Ela Alanyali Aral (METU) and Deniz Altay (Cankaya University). 

For Who Are We? we will  present some of the research findings via films and artifacts: A film capturing the collection, production and circulation of proverbs, exploring how Syrian refugee women negotiate daily experiences in Ankara. Together with some short films narrating how the city is transformed through the inflow of refugee communities and how cultural practices and identities are inscribed in public space. Artfacts: a scroll of collected proverbs, the narratives of 5 women, art objects (stencil/stamps), several proverb-inscribed artifacts (bag/scarf/napkins); and a collection of research mappings of wider Turkish infrastructures.

Catalina Pollak-Williamson teaches Architecture at the University of East London and runs Public Interventions, a collaborative interdisciplinary platform for participatory art and action research projects,  engaging with processes of social and urban change.

Reem Charif has taught at the Architectural Association, London Metropolitan University and currently at Chelsea College of Art and Design and University of East London. She is a founding partner of Febrik.