The Fringe comes to Istanbul

Since its emergence in Edinburgh in 1947, the Fringe Festival has spread across the world to become one of the most significant performing arts events of today and we’re delighted to report that the very first Istanbul Fringe Festival is on its way. The festival, whose programme brings together some of the finest works of contemporary performance around, will stage pieces by both domestic and international theatre groups chosen out of 184 applicants. Eda Arman and Zeynep Uğur from the Fringe team tell us what to look forward to.

The Fringe comes to Istanbul How did you to get Istanbul Fringe off the ground? Eda: The festival became a reality thanks to the support of our volunteers and our venue sponsors. We were also able to get the Kadıköy Municipality on board, through which we were able to add the Caddebostan Cultural Centre and the Barış Manço Cultural Centre to our list of venues.

Could you give us a brief history of the Fringe?

Zeynep Uğur: The story of the Fringe, denoting that which is alternative and experimental, began in 1947 when eight theatre groups turned up uninvited at the Edinburgh Festival and presented performances on the ‘fringes’ of the festival at alternative venues. This spontaneous occurrence was the instigator of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, known widely today as one of the most prestigious events of the contemporary performing arts scene. Fringe festivals are now held annually in various cities around the world and come in all different shapes and sizes. They continue to offer young, innovative artists the opportunity to exhibit their works on an international scale.

How did the idea to organise Istanbul Fringe come about?

Zeynep: The education we received abroad and in Turkey, and our creative endeavours all brought us to ponder the same question: “What kind of arts platform do we want for Istanbul?”. We found our answer hidden in another question that Emre, now one of our team members, asked us upon returning from a Fringe Festival: “Why not organise an Istanbul Fringe?”. 

You held an international open call and received a substantial amount of applicants for the festival. What kind of factors did you take into consideration while selecting the performances?

Eda: Each Fringe approaches this differently. With us, our spatial circumstances were key factors in our elimination process. We also appointed an advisory committee and brought in some of Turkey’s performing arts practitioners to participate in the decision-making. We then chose the pieces that we thought demonstrated the utmost creativity, innovation, and excitement. Another concern for us was to be able create a well-balanced repertoire with regard to the different disciplines and countries involved in the festival. When it came to the applications we received from Turkey, we settled on theatre groups most in need of exposure.

You will be collaborating with a number of theatre stages and institutions in Istanbul. Why did you decide to spread the festival far and wide across the city? Zeynep: We believe that the Fringe should serve to transform a city’s dynamic and create alternative spaces. The Fringe is most essentially a concept interrelated with the perimeters and borders of a city. We therefore took it upon ourselves to expand the Festival’s spatial boundaries as much as we could. We also wanted the visiting artists to be able to experience the many different aspects of Istanbul.

September 18-22, various venues, 60 TL, three performances 150 TL; students 40 TL, three performances 100 TL, www.fringeistanbul.com