The southeastern city of Mardin, known for its honey-coloured stone houses overlooking the Mesopotamian plain, opens its Culture Road Festival on Saturday, with nine days of exhibitions, food events and free concerts running until Oct. 25.
The event is the 23rd stop of this year’s Türkiye Culture Road Festival, a nationwide programme organised by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and the second edition held in Mardin. The opening ceremony is scheduled at the Sakıp Sabancı Mardin City Museum, with Mardin Governor Tuncay Akkoyun and Deputy Culture and Tourism Minister Gökhan Yazgı expected to attend. Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy described Mardin as a unique city whose values the festival aims to share with wider audiences.
Exhibitions and living heritage
Five exhibitions form the core of the programme. "Ottoman Sacred Relics" at the Mardin Museum brings together calligraphy, surre purses, which carried the sultans’ annual gifts to Mecca and Medina, and fragments of the Kaaba covering. "Living Heritage: Mardin" at the city museum’s Dilek Sabancı Art Gallery shows work by master craftspeople recognised as bearers of intangible cultural heritage, alongside short films about traditional trades.
The same gallery hosts a mixed exhibition of illumination (tezhip) and miniature painting from the Bolu Nilgün Tanrıkulu Art Centre, while the metropolitan municipality’s art academy shows stamps on themes including the medieval engineer al-Jazari and mosaics.
Food and music
Mardin’s cuisine, shaped by Arab, Kurdish, Syriac and Turkish traditions, gets a programme hosted by restaurateur Gamze Cizreli, with chefs including two-Michelin-star Fatih Tutak. More than 30 "taste points" across the city will serve local dishes such as kaburga dolması (stuffed lamb ribs), sembusek flatbreads and Syriac pastries.
Free evening concerts at the Artuklu fairground feature Turkish pop and rap names including Demet Akalın, Serkan Kaya, Ceza, Simge and Kıraç, and the Turkish Land Forces Band will also perform. A children’s village at 15 Temmuz Park, storytelling sessions at the provincial library and a photo marathon from Cumhuriyet Square complete the programme.
The festival series has been touring the country this autumn, alongside events such as the Bosphorus Film Festival and Fethiye’s Ölüdeniz Air Games. Visitors heading east can combine Mardin with the winter Touristic Eastern Express to Kars, and newcomers to the country will find practical tips in our moving to Turkey checklist.
Sources
- Mardin Kültür Yolu Festivali 17 Ekim’de Açılıyor (Midyat Gündem)
- Mardin, ikinci kez Türkiye Kültür Yolu Festivali ile buluşuyor (Habertürk)
Photo: Oystercard / CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
