Esra Ozkan is an independent technology art curator based in Istanbul, known for her expertise in immersive and emerging technology art. Since 2011, she has been involved in various departments of galleries, museums, and festivals, participating in numerous domestic and international exhibitions. Ozkan’s curatorial and academic writings combine philosophy with post-digital terminology and the effects of post-human concepts in interdisciplinary arts.
Additional Past Projects:
2024 - Residency Unlimited NY, Resident Curator
2022-2023 Samsung dART Platform Curator & Advisory Member
2022-2023 Curator of X Media Art Museum (Turkey’s First Digital Art Museum)
2019-2023 Artistic Director & co-curator of Istanbul Digital Art Festival
Born in 1974, Ziya Taşkent completed his secondary education in 1991 at Istanbul Male High School and his undergraduate degree in 1995 at the Faculty of Civil Engineering, Istanbul Technical University, where he also completed his master's degree in 1997. He earned his doctorate in business administration. Following 10 years of professional experience in the automotive, cinema, publishing, and advertising industries, Taşkent joined Turkish Airlines. During his nearly 10 years at Turkish Airlines, he held the positions of Assistant General Manager of Marketing and Sales and General Manager of Sales, culminating in a 13-year tenure. In 2017, he was appointed as the Deputy Undersecretary of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Continuing his career as the General Director of Copyrights at the Ministry of Culture and Tourism from 2018, Taşkent was appointed as the Secretary General of the Istanbul Development Agency in December 2023. Fluent in English and German, Taşkent is married and a father of two.
Artist, Designer, Educator. Storyteller of Robot Poet Deniz Yilmaz. Bager's artworks are exhibited in Ars Electronica, Todays Art and Transmediale festivals. He is the co-author of Programming Scratch for Kids, co-founder of Iskele47 Studio and co-curator of Istanbul Maker Faire. Bager is currently on the board of Amber Platform which hosts art and technology festivals since 2007 and Baska Bir Okul Mumkun NGO which works in the democratic school movement. Currently teaching in Todays Art History at Istanbul Mimar Sinan University and Marmara University and Programming for Puppeteers at Berlin Ernst Busch University and running an “Art Talk Show” at FLU TV.
Doc.Dr. Ebru Yetişkin, born in 1976 in Turkey, is a faculty member at Istanbul Technical University (ITU), teaching in the Sociology Department and the Art History and Science, Technology, Society (STS) Master's Programs. She earned her undergraduate degree in Radio-TV-Cinema from Istanbul University in 1999, a joint master's degree in Science, Technology, Society from Louis Pasteur University and ITU in 2001, and a PhD in Sociology from Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University in 2008. She has worked as a visiting researcher at the Ecoles des Mines de Paris Centre for the Sociology of Innovation, under the supervision of Prof. Bruno Latour and Prof. Antoine Hennion. Her research, focusing on the democratization of scientific and technological knowledge production, includes national and international exhibitions, workshops, festivals, and public seminars. She is a member of the International Association of Art Critics (AICA) and a founding member of FEMeeting – Women in Art, Science, and Technology initiative.
Born in 1983 in Ankara. She graduated from the Faculty of Political Sciences at Ankara University in the Department of International Relations in 2005. She completed her master’s programs in European Studies at Middle East Technical University in 2008, and in Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University - The Fletcher School in the United States (Boston) in 2012.
In 2006, she started her career as an Assistant Foreign Trade Specialist at the Directorate General for the European Union within the Undersecretariat of Foreign Trade and after receiving the title of Foreign Trade Specialist in 2009, she worked on bilateral trade relations under the Customs Union between Turkey and the European Union. She also participated in negotiations for Free Trade Agreements with Japan, the United Kingdom, Indonesia, Thailand, and the EFTA.
In 2021, she was appointed as the Head of the Department of Cultural Services and Creative Industries, a newly established department under the Directorate General of International Service Trade within the Ministry of Trade of Turkey.
Duygu YAYGIR, who still holds this position, is fluent in English and French.
Ann Yu is the founder of UneMeta.
UneMeta is an IP-centric community layer and currently the only Web3 platform that has numerous successful collaboration cases with top Japanese animation IPs. UneMeta aims to create a culturally infused community layer that fosters unity, inclusivity, and empowers users to freely express themselves, collaborate, and unlock the limitless potential of collective synergy.
Real-Time Game Engines and Digital Art: A Journey from Cinema to Games
is a digital artist, educator and experience designer who loves to create surprising,
playful experiences to unpack complex topics. Her work falls between the cracks of
technology, art and games and re-imagines humanity’s relationship with itself and its
environment. After incursions in new media art and video production for the
broadcast industry, she has focused on XR and immersive media production for the
last 8 years. Her social AR project Grey Matter AR, was lauded as an ingenious use of
social AR by MIT’s immerse.news and Clot magazine, an online publishing platform
dedicated to art and science explorations. Never Grow Up, A VR game for your raging
inner child, is set to launch on AppLab in 2024. Nuville, an augmented walking game
for cyberpunk tourists, has started its shapeshifting city trips, visiting global cities to
transform its citizens into modern-day flâneurs.
: Colombian artist, born in 1989, lives and works in Bogotá, Colombia. His works take on multiple forms such as installation works, recordings, and concert pieces. Cortés is interested in investigative and interdisciplinary processes and the connections between art, science and pedagogical processes.
Cortés has been granted with awards such as the VII award to the arts of the Alternate Space Gallery in Bogotá, Colombia and the PRAC grant of the Ministry of Culture of Colombia. He has performed and exhibited his work in places such as the Museum of Modern Art of NY (MoMA), Center for the Arts CMA. Madrid, Spain, Bilbao Exhibition Center, Bilbao Spain, Fridman Gallery, NY Creative Tech Week, NY Centre Centquatre, Paris, France and Hyphen-hub salons of art and technology in New York.
Artificial Intelligence and Education: The Future of Learning Experience
He was born in Istanbul in 1972. He graduated from the Department of Political Science at Bilkent University. He worked in his family's business, which operates in the tourism, construction, and textile sectors. He actively worked in the family business in Poland until 1998. In the same year, he entered the field of education as the founding representative of Florya College. With the belief that education and teaching are not just a job, but a way of life and a great responsibility, he graduated from the Department of Turkish Language and Literature at Istanbul Kültür University as a Turkologist, and later became a teacher by completing pedagogical training at Yeditepe University. He completed his master's degree in Educational Management and Supervision. He now manages their 22-year-old school together with his cousins. He also serves on the boards of Rumeli Education Foundation, Rumeli Businessmen Association, and TOBB Education Assembly.
Starting her career in 1980 at the Ministry of National Education, Sevinç Atabay served as an Education Attaché in Chicago, USA, between 1991 and 1993.
At the Curriculum Development Department of the Board of Education, she worked on developing and implementing foreign language programs, as well as early-age language learning methods, and chaired Book Writing Commissions. Since 2000, Atabay has served as the General Coordinator for Community Programs at the European Union Secretariat and has worked on promoting EU education policies. After 27 years of public service, she retired in January 2006 from her positions at the Board of Education and the EU Secretariat. Currently, she serves as the General Manager of the Turkish Education Association and is a member of the EU Team established to understand the European Union, with publications on English language teaching and EU education policies
She is married and has one child.
Dr. Necati VARDAR, presently serving as the Rector's Advisor at KTO Karatay University since 2016, completed his undergraduate studies at Dumlupınar University in 2003 and obtained his master's degree from Yıldız Technical University in 2006. He received his Ph.D. in Physics from Yıldız Technical University in 2012, with a dissertation entitled "Computer Simulation of Nanomaterials." Between 2010 and 2012, he contributed to the "Quantum Cryptology" project under the auspices of the State Planning Organization (DPT) at Koç University's Optofluidics and Nano-Optics Research Laboratory.
In 2013, Dr. Vardar established Nanofil Information Technologies with support from the TÜBİTAK 1512 - Techno-Entrepreneur Capital Support Program. Since 2013, he has held a faculty position in the Department of Materials Science and Nanotechnology Engineering at KTO Karatay University. Concurrently, he serves as the Director of the Distance Education Application and Research Center, the School of Applied Sciences, and the Graduate School of Education at the same institution.
In addition to his publications in internationally recognized journals indexed by the Science Citation Index, Dr. Vardar has spearheaded numerous scientific research projects supported by various national and international funding agencies, including TÜBİTAK. He has also presented numerous papers at both domestic and international conferences.
Özlem Dağ, who has been working as a manager in various sectors since 1994, received her undergraduate and graduate degree in physics. Joining Bahçeşehir College in 2012 as the Deputy General Manager responsible for Corporate Communication and Marketing, Özlem Dağ has been serving as the General Manager since 2016. Dağ leads a team of communication and education professionals who emphasize the institution's corporate values of "progressing with quality and innovation in education." She also oversees the professional management of all processes, including human resources, finance, and all logistical support units.
Among her responsibilities, Özlem Dağ is a member of the Bahçeşehir College Basketball Team Board of Directors and also serves as the President of the Education Technologists Association. Additionally, Özlem Dağ actively participates as a member in various civil society organizations and associations, including Kagider and TÖDER, contributing to their societal initiatives with her sincere efforts. She supports the diverse societal activities conducted by these organizations across different fields.
Continuing both internally and externally on sustainability in education, innovative approaches, and women's employment, Dağ is married and has a daughter.
Artificial Intelligence Approach In Movies (Turkish)
Art critic, curator, TV producer and columnist Samed Karagöz studied at the Department of Russian Language and Literature. He made translations from Dostoyevsky and Chekhov. He curated many exhibitions. He was the executive producer of the Showcase program broadcast on TRT World channel. He has been a columnist for many years. He wrote the books 100 Literary Works of 100 Years, 100 Artistic Works of 100 Years, and 100 Cinematic Works of 100 Years, published by Anadolu Agency. He published his art writings in the book Kamchatka. He served as the artistic director of the 11th Bosphorus Film Festival. He served as a jury member at many film festivals, art and literature awards.
She was born in 1969. He graduated from Izmir Bornova Anatolian High School and Boğaziçi University Industrial Engineering Department. She worked as a copywriter. Three novels have been published: Hayat Roman (2001), All-Seeing Eyes (2002), Women Escaping from Pleasure (2006). She completed her master's degree at Istanbul Bilgi University, Department of Cultural Studies, and her doctorate degree at Galatasaray University, Department of Radio, Television and Cinema. Her articles are published in magazines such as Birikim, İletişim, Varlık. She makes it her job to discover the relationality of fields that seem unrelated to each other. She is the author of the book titled What Makes a Human Being? Looking at Artificial Intelligence Movies through Sufi Eyes.
He was born in Keban in 1986.
He became interested in literature and cinema during his high school years.
Cinema articles have been published and continue to be published in many magazines and blogs.
He shot short films, wrote scripts, served as a jury in festivals and as a consultant in projects.
He continues his cinema work.
He gives film literacy training in various institutions and individually. So far, he has given film language-based film reading training to more than a thousand cinema lovers and filmmakers.
He is among the programmers of Director Cinema, which continues to broadcast on TRT2.
From a theoretical perspective, cinema and film criticism are his current focus.
Published Books
Touching the Curtain of Wonder - Ayşe Şasa Book, Insan Sanat Publications, 2015
A Whistle in the Frost (Poem), Çıra Publications, 2018
Reading Film-Introduction to Critical Film Reading, Human Art Publications, 2021
Reşat Fuat Çam is a film scholar and filmmaker, currently serving as a full-time faculty member at Istanbul Bilgi University's Radio, Television, and Film department. His research interests lie at the intersection of moving image technology, philosophy, and critical theory, with a focus on immersive and interactive VR/AR/MR and AI.
He completed his doctoral degree in Cinema and Media Studies at York University, Toronto, in 2019, with a dissertation titled "Virtual Reality Aesthetics and Boundaries in New Media Art Practices." As a post-doctoral fellow at McGill University's Moving Image Research Laboratory, he worked on developing a critical framework for artistic practices in VR, examining its underlying techno-utopian paradigm.Additionally, his post-doctoral research at Queen’s University's Vulnerable Media Lab explored immersive and interactive media practices within archival methodologies. At Kadir Has University, his postdoctoral interdisciplinary research investigated how viewer attention is guided in virtual environments.
New Platforms & Communication in Fashion & Design (Turkish)
Niyazi Erdoğan, who graduated from Istanbul Technical University, Faculty of Architecture, Department of Architecture in 1999, completed his master's degree on architectural history at the same university in 2003. Erdoğan, who made it to the finals of the Young Fashion Designers competition organized by İTKİB in 2003, attended the summer university at Parsons School of Paris in the same year.
Fashion Design and Consultancy Services was founded in Istanbul in 2006 to design collections, create brand identities, establish and manage a design team, and make brand collaborations for brands and manufacturing export companies.
With his brand collaboration project with İNCİ DERİ in 2013, he designed men's shoes for four seasons under the labels Niyazi Erdoğan X İNCİ. In his collaboration project with Asics Global, Niyazi Erdoğan created the performance clothing series with the X Asics label.
Erdoğan designed the Autumn-Winter 2022 collection for SARAR & INTERVIEV brands. He prepared an additional line for the Spring-Summer 2024 collection for the Colin's brand. He served as the creative director for the Autumn-Winter 2023/2024 and Spring-Summer 2024 seasons of the CLIMBER brand.
Keeping up with technological developments, Erdoğan exhibited the fashion show designed with CLO 3D for the first time in the world, pioneering the digitalization of design, at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Istanbul. Today, he still continues to work with digital design processes and artificial intelligence.
Marmara Üniversitesi İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Fakültesi’nin İktisat Bölümü’nden 2004 yılında mezun olan Bediz Yıldırım, 2 senelik Finans Pazarlama kariyerinin ardından sektör değiştirerek OgilvyOne İstanbul’da kreatif dijital medya üzerine çalıştı. Vogue’un Türkiye’ye gelmesiyle birlikte 2010 yılında önce Vogue Türkiye Multimedya Editörü, sonrasında da vogue.com Yayın Yönetmeni olarak görevine devam etti. Bu esnada dergiye de yazılarıyla katkıda bulundu. 2014 Yılında Doğuş Yayın Grubu Dergileri’nin Dijital İçerik Pazarlama Müdürü görevine getirildikten sonra 2015 yılının sonunda doğru Dergi Grubu’nun yeni markası Glamour için glamour.com Yayın Yönetmeni olarak çalışmaya başladı. Glamour Dergisi'nin Türkiye'deki yayın hayatının son bulmasının akabinde ise 2016 yılının Kasım ayında Doğuş Yayın Grubu Dergileri Vogue & GQ & Miss Vogue) Dijital Projeler müdürü görevine getirildi. 10 yıllık Doğuş Yayın Grubu kariyerinin ardından Şubat 2020'de Vogue ve GQ'nun başka bir yayın grubuna devrolmasıyla birlikte kariyerinde bir değişiklik yapma kararı aldı. Mayıs 2020'de Calling Mag bünyesine Dijital Yayın ve Projeler Direktörü olarak dahil oldu. Eylül 2021 sonrası Turkuvaz Medya Grubu’nda 23 derginin Projeler Direktörü olarak görevine devam ettikten sonra Ekim 2021’de kendi stratejik danışmanlık şirketi Bediz Co.'yu kurdu.
İstanbul Moda Akademisi'nde de Ocak 2015'ten beri farklı eğitimlerde eğitmen olarak yer alıyor.
Arzu Kaprol is a Turkish fashion designer. She graduated in 1992 from Mimar Sinan University's Textile and Fashion Design department and continued her couture education at the Paris American Academy in 1994-95. At the age of 21, she established her design studio in 1995 after winning the prestigious “Avant-garde Designer” award from Beymen Academia. She played an active role in the growth of NetWork, a company under the Beymen Group, and served as its creative director from 2002 to 2012. During these years, she also created QUE, an extraordinary and fresh design brand. Between 2011 and 2015, she participated in the Paris Fashion Week official calendar, opening a showroom on Rue Saint Honore. Her shows at Paris Fashion Week led to an international expansion, with collections featured in iconic stores like Harrods in London, Montaigne Market in Paris, and Bergdorf Goodman in New York. In 2011, she designed seven red couture dresses representing the official red ribbon for the 25th anniversary of the amfAR night at the New York MOMA - The Museum of Modern Art. In 2015, she created Turkey's first hologram show and in 2016, Turkey's first Digital Symphony, combining design, music, dance, and technology in a multidisciplinary approach. The same year, her digital couture show was featured in national and international press. In 2015, she created one of the first prototypes of wearable technology with a smart jacket that adapts its shape and functionality to climate change. As of 2021, she has taken on roles as Coordinator of Wearable Technologies at Bilişim Vadisi, President of YASTED, and a board member of TGSD. In 2022, she designed protective clothing for Turkish scientists on an Antarctic expedition under the assignment of TÜBİTAK Polar Research Institute (KAREMAM). Arzu Kaprol continues to make references to the future of fashion culture by combining technology and futuristic design passion with unique craftsmanship in her timeless clothing and accessories.
Bahar Ceren Arslan, who completed her English Economics education between 2012 and 2016, started her business life at Inditex Zara between the same years and gained experience in merchandising and fashion retailing, visual editing, product management and budgeting in the Turkish market for 5.5 years. She aimed to formulate retail management with an economist's perspective and her passion for fashion with an aesthetic perspective, and continued her career in global markets. Between 2016 and 2018, she was responsible for franchise operations with international companies such as AKI Group, Novco Group and Al-Hokair Group; She worked in Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Azerbaijan and Qatar and served as the regional manager for the Middle East countries. Between 2018 and 2020, she was transferred as Zara Brand Manager for Far East Asian countries within the joint organization of Al-Futtaim Group and Inditex, one of the FORBES top 500 companies; She gained senior management experience in the Thailand, Singapore, Philippines, Vietnam and Malaysia markets. After gaining experience in areas such as product management, collection creation, merchandising, brand marketing, online sales, logistics, warehousing, human resources and rental in many domestic and international markets for more than ten years, she developed her interest and predisposition to technology and digital art in 2021 with her knowledge of fashion management, and founded KNTLGY, one of the first phygital fashion brands. In 2023, she founded an agency providing services in the fields of Fashion Design, UI/UX web design and Digital Art, and took part in many projects, including platforms such as Meta and DressX. She speaks fluent English and intermediate Arabic.
From Theory to Practice: Designer - Artificial Intelligence Dialogues (Turkish)
Graduated from Istanbul Technical University, Faculty of Architecture, and holds an MSc and a PhD in computational design from the Architectural Design Computing Program. After completing his doctorate studies at ITU and TU Lisboa University, he became Assistant Professor in 2018 and Associate Professor in 2022 in ITU. He is still the Vice Chair of the Interior Architecture Department. He is teaching a first-year foundational studio at Istanbul Technical University and design computing at the Architectural Design Computing Program at the same university. His main research areas are phenomenology of computational design thinking, artificial intelligence in design issues, first-year architectural design studio, scenic design, digital fabrication, and investigations on color and light issues in interior architecture.
Orkan Zeynel Güzelci is an architect who graduated from IKU (Istanbul Kultur University), with a Master in Architectural Design and a PhD in Architectural Design Computing from ITU (Istanbul Technical University). During his studies, supported by TUBITAK (Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey), he was a postdoctoral researcher at FAUP+DFL/CEAU (Faculty of Architecture at University of Porto+Digital Fabrication Laboratory/Center for Studies in Architecture and Urbanism).
Between 2010 and 2020, he worked as a full-time faculty member at the Department of Interior Architecture and Environmental Design at IKU. In 2020, he co-founded the Metametric platform, dedicated to content creation and sharing at the intersections of architecture, design, and technology. In 2022, he was assigned to the Department of Interior Architecture at ITU as an Assistant Professor, and also became an elected member of FAUP+DFL/CEAU. Since 2023, he has been serving as an Associate Professor and Vice Chair at the same department
During 2022-2023, he contributed to a major research project conducted at ITU focused on reducing earthquake risks in housing interiors with genetic algorithms. He is the co-author of the book “Konut İçi Deprem Risklerini Azaltmaya Yönelik Tasarım Rehberi” published by ITU Press.
His current research topics are computational design pedagogy, machine learning in architecture, and smart/sustainable interiors.
Can Uzun received his bachelor's degree from ITU Department of Architecture (2012) and his master's degree from ITU Architectural Design program (2014). In 2020, he graduated from ITU Informatics in Architectural Design PhD program. His doctoral thesis was a study on the interaction between architecture and artificial intelligence with a focus on "generative adversarial networks" under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Meryem Birgül Çolakoğlu. Can Uzun, who is currently the Head of the Department of Architecture at Altınbaş University, develops his research at the intersection of machine learning, deep learning and architecture, where he has led various workshops and participated in presentations as a speaker. For 3 years, he has been teaching "Machine Learning in Architecture" graduate course at Istanbul Technical University Architectural Design Informatics program.
Born in 1961 in Istanbul, Dr. Hakan Tong completed his undergraduate education in ITU Faculty of Architecture, Department of Architecture in 1985, his graduate education in 1988 and his doctorate in 2001. In 1989, he started to work as a research assistant at the same faculty. He contributed to education on subjects such as Computer Aided Architectural Design, Computer Aided Design Education, Architectural Design Education in Virtual Environment and Collaboration in Design, Architectural Design and Virtual Environment relations, Web Based Presentation Techniques, Multimedia Applications in Design, Computer Aided Architectural Modeling and Expression Techniques, Architectural expression techniques, Perspective, Architectural Design Theories and Methods; Architectural Design Process. Tong, who conducted 24 master's theses and 1 doctoral thesis between 2005-2018; actively contributes to undergraduate and graduate education.
Web 3 Games and Metaverse: Discovering the New Economy with Gamefi (Turkish)
ARSLAN KIRAN,
HEAD OF GROWTH AT THE SANDBOX TURKEY, HUNGRI GAMES FOUNDER & GAMING INDUSTRY VETERAN, HAS 13+ YRS EXP IN MENA & GERMANY MARKET ENTRY STRATEGIES. HE EXPANDED INTO TURKEY, EAST EUROPE, KOREA, JAPAN & MENA WHILE HOLDING LEADERSHIP ROLES AT GARENA, YOOZOO GAMES & BIGPOINT, AND ESTABLISHED PARTNERSHIPS WITH TOP CHINESE AND KOREAN GAME.
KAĞAN BERK KOÇAK
AS THE FOUNDER OF HUNGRI GAMES, HAS 7+ YEARS OF PRODUCT MANAGEMENT IN MOBILE GAMING & LAUNCHED AAA F2P MOBILE GAMES IN TURKEY. BEFORE JOINING HUNGRI GAMES, HE WAS THE LEAD PRODUCT MANAGER AT YOOZOO GAMES AND OPERATIONS LEAD AT BIGPOINT GMBH.
The Future of Textile at the Intersection of Technology, Art and Design
Saadet Zeynep Bacınoğlu holds a PhD and M.Sc. in Architectural Design Computing Graduate Program; B.Sc. in Architecture from ITU. She had been a visiting doctoral researcher at Aalto University, between 2017-2018; a visiting student at TU Vienna in 2010- 2011; a research & teaching assistant at ITU from 2011 to 2018. Her work as selected as finalist in 2011 ITKIB (Istanbul Textile Exporters' Association) Young Fashion Designers Contest.
Evrim Büyükaslan graduated from Istanbul Technical University, Department of Textile Engineering in 2007. She gained industry experience by working as a merchandiser in H&M and HTL Fashion Turkey production offices for 3 years.
She started her master's degree at the Department of Polymer Science and Technologies at Istanbul Technical University. During this period, she had the opportunity to conduct research by working in the laboratories of Eindhoven Technical University. Thanks to her master's degree, she received theoretical and practical training on the synthesis, production and testing of synthetic textile fibers. In this way, she gained experience in smart textile materials.
She completed her PhD at Istanbul Technical University, Department of Textile Engineering in January 2019 with her doctoral thesis titled "Using Virtual Garment Posture Satisfaction to Predict Real Garment Posture Satisfaction". For her PhD thesis, she was a visiting researcher at Cornell University Fiber Science and Apparel Design Department for a year and completed her PhD experiments at Cornell 3D Body Scan Laboratory.
She has been working as a research assistant at Istanbul Bilgi University, Department of Fashion Design between 2012-2017 and has been working as a Dr. Faculty Member since 2019.
Born in 1981 in Izmir, Fırat Neziroğlu transforms the traditional weaving form, one of the oldest known arts in Anatolia, into a unique contemporary weaving technique. His works, which bring a different perspective to the classical weaving painting tradition with the first fishing line material used in weaving, have been exhibited in London, Istanbul, Munich, Paris, Incheon, Washington, Hawaii, New York, Kitakyushu, Shanghai, Tenjin, Chonburi, New Delhi, Venice, Buenos Aires, Como, Rome, Maniago. Neziroğlu introduced Anatolia to the world with his YEN collection at the New York Fashion Week fashion show and his works were exhibited at La Triennale di Milano in London, Royal Norwegian Embassy and Victoria House. His works have been included in many auction houses such as Sotheby's and Christie's. Fırat Neziroğlu's works have been invited to many official events abroad for private production. The artist traveled to Oslo under the auspices of the Royal Norwegian Embassy to celebrate the Queen's birthday; he was invited to Thailand to weave a special fabric for the Queen of Thailand. In 2017, she was invited to Qatar by Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to make a special weave. She studied Textile and Fashion Design at Dokuz Eylül University, continues her PhD studies in the same department, lives in Istanbul and continues her work.
Umut Kivanc Sahin is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Textile Technologies and Design of Istanbul Technical University. He received his B.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in Textile Engineering with a focus on development, application and testing the effects of novel chemistries on textile materials. He is an expert in textile materials and chemicals testing. He is the Manager of Textile Research and Quality Control Laboratory since 2013. In 2016, he was the Vice Dean at the Faculty of Textile Technologies and Design (Istanbul Technical University). His area of research activities includes chemical treatment of smart and e-textiles, testing of materials, and design of novel chemicals for textile applications.
The Changing Identity of Fashion & Design - Yesterday / Today & Tomorrow (Turkish)
Bediz Yıldırım, who graduated from Marmara University, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Department of Economics in 2004, changed sectors after a 2-year Finance Marketing career and worked on creative digital media at OgilvyOne Istanbul. After Vogue came to Turkey in 2010, she continued her duties as Vogue Turkey Multimedia Editor and then as Editor-in-Chief of vogue.com. Meanwhile, she also contributed to the magazine with her articles. After being appointed as the Digital Content Marketing Manager of Doğuş Publishing Group Magazines in 2014, she started working as Editor-in-Chief of glamour.com for Glamour, the new brand of the Doğuş Magazine Group, at the end of 2015. Following the end of Glamor Magazine's publishing life in Turkey, she was appointed as the Digital Projects Manager of Doğuş Publishing Group Magazines (Vogue & GQ & Miss Vogue) in November 2016. After a 10-year career with Doğuş Publishing Group, she decided to make a change in her career in February 2020, when Vogue and GQ were transferred to another publishing group. Yıldırım joined Calling Mag in May 2020 as Digital Publishing and Projects Director. After continuing her duty as Projects Director of 23 magazines at Turkuvaz Media Group after September 2021, she founded her own strategic consultancy company, Bediz Co., in October 2021.
She has been taking part in different trainings as an instructor at Istanbul Fashion Academy since January 2015.
a fashion-tech innovator, is the co-founder of EZRATUBA, ZETA Technology, and PERNANT, as well as a board member of WWF-Turkey and the Agriculture and Technology Association. Ezra and her sister Tuba, since founding their brands and technology companies in 2006, have been pioneering designers who merge science, technology, and nature with innovative wearable technology. Their commitment is to redefine innovation by offering groundbreaking solutions that push the limits of the textile industry. Ezra & Tuba aimed to transcend traditional fashion design and began developing smart fabrics for the global apparel industry in 2012. They are among the few designers leading the integration of smart yarns and wearable technologies into fashion. In 2016, they strengthened their commitment to innovation by founding ZETA TECHNOLOGY with their partners İhsan Kılıç and Faik Soyay, focusing on digitalization and wearable technologies. Their collaboration with INTEL in the USA in 2016 turned their groundbreaking wearable technology designs into a pioneering marketing campaign for INTEL's World Launch. In 2018, they partnered to produce smart yarns in the USA, using FIR technologies to create wearable technologies that offer comfort
Arzu Kaprol is a Turkish fashion designer. She graduated in 1992 from Mimar Sinan University's Textile and Fashion Design department and continued her couture education at the Paris American Academy in 1994-95. At the age of 21, she established her design studio in 1995 after winning the prestigious “Avant-garde Designer” award from Beymen Academia. She played an active role in the growth of NetWork, a company under the Beymen Group, and served as its creative director from 2002 to 2012. During these years, she also created QUE, an extraordinary and fresh design brand. Between 2011 and 2015, she participated in the Paris Fashion Week official calendar, opening a showroom on Rue Saint Honore. Her shows at Paris Fashion Week led to an international expansion, with collections featured in iconic stores like Harrods in London, Montaigne Market in Paris, and Bergdorf Goodman in New York. In 2011, she designed seven red couture dresses representing the official red ribbon for the 25th anniversary of the amfAR night at the New York MOMA - The Museum of Modern Art. In 2015, she created Turkey's first hologram show and in 2016, Turkey's first Digital Symphony, combining design, music, dance, and technology in a multidisciplinary approach. The same year, her digital couture show was featured in national and international press. In 2015, she created one of the first prototypes of wearable technology with a smart jacket that adapts its shape and functionality to climate change. As of 2021, she has taken on roles as Coordinator of Wearable Technologies at Bilişim Vadisi, President of YASTED, and a board member of TGSD. In 2022, she designed protective clothing for Turkish scientists on an Antarctic expedition under the assignment of TÜBİTAK Polar Research Institute (KAREMAM). Arzu Kaprol continues to make references to the future of fashion culture by combining technology and futuristic design passion with unique craftsmanship in her timeless clothing and accessories.
After graduating from Notre Dame de Sion French High School, she graduated from Yıldız Technical University. After graduating from university, she completed her master's degree in Communication Strategies and Public Relations at Galatasaray University.
She started her career in the Foreign News Department. In 2010, while managing the Foreign News Department, she started writing articles on lifestyle, art and fashion. Between 2010 and 2015, she wrote a column in the Günaydın supplement of SABAH newspaper, focusing on fashion. After a period of investing in style and branding, she started writing entirely about fashion in 2015. She currently writes articles on fashion in Harper's Bazaar, Daily Sabah and the weekend supplements of the main newspaper, which is part of Turkuvaz Media. Provides style, brand and event consultancy.
Digitalizing Cultural Heritage: Preserving And Revitalizing Classic Movies (Turkish)
Art critic, curator, TV producer and columnist Samed Karagöz studied at the Department of Russian Language and Literature. He made translations from Dostoyevsky and Chekhov. He curated many exhibitions. He was the executive producer of the Showcase program broadcast on TRT World channel. He has been a columnist for many years. He wrote the books 100 Literary Works of 100 Years, 100 Artistic Works of 100 Years, and 100 Cinematic Works of 100 Years, published by Anadolu Agency. He published his art writings in the book Kamchatka. He served as the artistic director of the 11th Bosphorus Film Festival. He served as a jury member at many film festivals, art and literature awards.
Cem Aykut was born in Istanbul in 1977. He received his high school education at Saint Joseph French High School. Afterwards, he studied international relations at Istanbul Bilgi University and Galatasaray University. After his education, he worked as a creative director and director in various projects in the advertising and film industry. He has been working as a managing partner at Akın Telesine Film Restoration company for approximately 15 years and has contributed to the restoration of hundreds of local and foreign cinema and documentary films.
Born in 1963 in Istanbul, Sami Dündar studied Mechanical Drafting at Sultanahmet Technical High School and Business at Los Angeles International University. He is currently pursuing a Master's degree in PR & Corporate Communications at Aston American University.
Sami Dündar began his career as a comic book artist during his high school years and has been involved in many forms of art (theater, music, painting, sculpture, etc.) from a young age. He has been a film producer for many years and during this period, he has been awarded numerous national and international accolades.
He is the President of FİLMYAP (Film Producers Association), Chairman of the Audit Committee of YEKON (Creative Industries Council), and a member and executive of numerous professional organizations and NGOs related to artistic content such as TESİYAP, MSG, TCG, IF, PKS.
He is the founder and owner of the famous Dark Istanbul Publishing House, known for publishing books that could be adapted into films.
He has written screenplays, poems, song lyrics, and books.
Born in 1975 in Istanbul, he graduated from Yıldız Technical University with a degree in Mathematical Engineering. He entered the film industry while still a student at university. In his first 10 years in the industry, he worked on hundreds of commercials, as well as documentaries, promotional films, and feature-length projects, serving in various roles such as assistant director, editor, flame artist, and post-production supervisor.
Since 2007, he has worked as a visual effects producer and supervisor, providing post-production and visual effects services for thousands of TV episodes, hundreds of commercials, and nearly a hundred films. Some of the most well-known projects he has supervised include "Magnificent Century", "Filinta", "The Gray Man", "On Dry Grass", "Freaky Tales", "Occupation: Rainfall", "Rise of Empires: Ottoman", and "Testament: The Story of Moses". He also works in interactive museums, AR, VR, and other fields.
