Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV) has been central to UNHCR’s efforts to enhance refugees’ participation in social and cultural life and support intercommunal interaction through arts and cultural initiatives. UNHCR and İKSV work towards enabling refugee participation in social and cultural activities as organizers, artists, performers, and audiences.
İKSV and UNHCR have led impactful, nationally and internationally acclaimed activities with refugees and host community members. While the activities support peaceful co-existence through arts, the products of this partnership have become part of Istanbul’s art and culture realm.
UNHCR and İKSV encourage and initiate refugee-inclusive arts and culture organizations and demonstrate refugees’ value with their contributions to those activities. İKSV regularly organizes signature events, such as Istanbul Biennial, Istanbul Design Biennial, and Istanbul Jazz Festival. UNHCR provides guidance and resources to support the inclusion of refugees in these events both as audience and contributing artists.
Throughout the years, İKSV has also been a supporter of UNHCR’s World Refugee Day activities where Turkish and refugee music bands perform at joint events, with the participation of high-level officials as well as refugee and host communities.
Since 2016, approximately 35,000 refugee and host community members have participated in UNHCR and İKSV’s arts and culture activities.
As UNHCR, we celebrate UNHCR and İKSV’s 5th year of collaboration and once more highlight the importance of refugee inclusion in arts and culture. Thanks to partners like İKSV, both refugee and host community members have the chance to come together and express themselves through art and music.
Illustration: Emre Güzel
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