Καρσί / Karşı

Καρσί / Karşı: Gatherings Across the North Aegean

Καρσί in Greek and Karşı in Turkish both mean “across” and “opposite,” and also forms the root of the Turkish word “karşılaşma” (encounter). The project title reflects the core idea of building bridges and initiating relationships between art communities and cultural organisations located on opposite shores of the North Aegean Sea. 

The story of the Aegean has been one of coexistence of different communities with diverse beliefs and ways of life, thriving through shared practices, trade and cultural exchange. Long before modern nation-states, the Aegean was a crossroads of diverse peoples—Greeks, Phoenicians, and Egyptians, among others—connected through trade, culture, and geography. A multitude of archaeological sites along the coast reveal interwoven histories between Anatolia, the Levant, and the broader Mediterranean, highlighting shared traditions and exchanges that predate the Byzantine period. This early interdependence was shaped by mutual engagement with land, food, language, and customs, linking the Aegean to regions like Syria, Lebanon, and beyond. This legacy of interconnectedness continued through the Byzantine and Ottoman periods, when thriving maritime trade networks and the cosmopolitan nature of cities like Smyrna (Izmir) and Mytilene nurtured environments where Greek, Turkish, Armenian, Jewish, and Levantine communities lived and worked side by side. Shared traditions such as olive and vine cultivation, maritime trade, and intertwined culinary practices bound these communities, enduring even through times of conflict.

Political events such the wars of independence that defined the 19th and 20th centuries, and a series of atrocities and displacements, including the population exchange between Greece and Turkey of 1922-1923 reshaped the region’s imagination. These shifts sought to align communities within new national borders, often erasing the complex, multiethnic histories that had long defined the region. Yet, even as political forces worked to divide, the Aegean’s common traditions continue to resonate on both shores, often transcending the divisions imposed from above. Nevertheless, this imagined geography still shapes the current day-to-day, where neighbouring localities, despite their proximity, often remain isolated from one another, confined to their own territories and disconnected from the shared histories and practices that once brought them together.

Against this backdrop, we seek to reimagine the North Aegean together with the inhabitants on both sides through an alternative lens that prioritises the geography and ecology over geopolitics, the experience of people over the official narratives, and a common culture and past over polarising discourses. We turn to the ground —where shared practices of land, food, language, music, customs, crafts, and trade have long existed across the region with its varieties in local contexts. By bringing together cultural organisations deeply rooted in local communities, we aim to highlight and complicate the way histories are told, creating space for new forms of relation based on collaboration, friendship, and shared creativity, all the while examining the current political realities in the Aegean shaped by hostile border policies of the states such as the disputes over the airspace and territorial waters or the so-called “refugee crisis.” In a time when borders are increasingly hardened and communities are more fragmented, we believe it is urgent to open new paths for exchange and solidarity. How can we move beyond these historical divisions and build new ways of relating? What possibilities arise when we reimagine our interconnectedness with each other as well as with the land and the water that surround us? How can we actually share with care and become better neighbours?

Within the project, eight art initiatives are paired for reciprocal visits: Refocus Media Labs (Lesvos) and Seyir Derneği (Ayvalık), Aipos (Chios) and Maquis Projects (İzmir), Photonisos (Samos) and Sarı Denizaltı Sanat İnisiyatifi (Bergama), and Patmos Ceramic Tiles (Patmos) and sub (Çanakkale) with the aim of encouraging a collective effort to nourish practices emerging from new epicentres. Each pair of organisations will decide together how to share their work and experiences with each other as well as their local communities. The exchanges will unfold in the places that matter most to these local organisations, enabling deeper engagement with their audiences and the chance to connect through ongoing collaboration. Through a series of exchange field trips, workshops, discussions, and a final publication, the project will take place from December 2024 to July 2025. In December 2024, we will begin with online introductions between the paired organisations, followed by a kick-off meeting in Izmir at the end of January 2025, where representatives from all participating initiatives will meet in person. Over the course of the exchanges between February 2025 and July 2025, each organisation will host a reciprocal visit for one week, offering opportunities for workshops, discussions, and collaboration. Finally, the chronicles of the visits will be creatively documented and collected in a print publication. 

The project aims to bring together local artists, cultural workers, and audiences, creating cross-border dialogues that continue to unfold through grassroots connections and long-lasting artistic partnerships. By fostering artistic mobility and cross-border dialogue, Καρσί / Karşı seeks to reveal that we have more things in common that are at stake than our differences, and aspires to create a vibrant network of artists and cultural practitioners who can critically envision and work towards a shared, inclusive future. In a time where the region is increasingly dominated by conflict, this move is not just important—it is urgent.