The contribution of the design biennial to tourism

One of the world’s most prominent travel magazines, CONDE Nast Traveler, is published in the United Kingdom. 

The magazine named Istanbul among its travel advice in its September issue due to the fourth Istanbul Design Biennial.

Fiona Kerr, one of the magazine’s editors, came to Istanbul for the last time three years ago. She kept good memories from that trip.

She wrote that bombs that have exploded in the historic peninsula at Sultan Ahmet five months after her visit have scared the tourism sector.

Kerr underlined that following a relatively calm period, tourists have started to come back.

She said the fourth Istanbul Biennial organized between Sept. 22 - Nov. 4 is a good opportunity to visit the city.

With the reinterpretation of the design concept under the theme “A School of Schools” and a focus on questioning design education, the design biennial could become a center of attraction for tourists according to the editor of Conde Nast Traveler.

An article in such a prestigious travel magazine is important for tourism.

It tells the potential tourist that even when the economy is in turmoil, Istanbul will not lose much of its dynamism, has the capacity to renew itself and despite everything, it produces art and culture nonstop. The main message is, “Come to Istanbul, you will not regret it.”

The contribution of seaweed to the Mediterranean economy

I had the occasion to visit the biennial the first day with its Belgian curator Jan Boelen.

There are several schools within the theme “A School of Schools.”

The “World School” in Arter questions the approach that prioritizes capitalist growth over natural resources. Moroccan origin architect Meriem Chabani explains how seaweed, which can be used as biofuels and fertilizer, can shape the Mediterranean economy over a map. She has worked with an artist from Turkey for the engravings on the map.

One other important aspect of the Istanbul Design Biennial is to build bridges between artists and countries. Japanese artists use fish to underline the parallelism between the two countries.

Organized by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Art (İKSV) in six different exhibition places, the design Biennial is a must see in the city this fall.

Food for the soul

Food for Soul is a non-profit organization founded by chef Massimo Bottura to encourage communities to fight food waste. Grundig is an official partner of Food for Soul. With its Respect Food program, Grundig is working with partners to reduce waste. Its partner in Turkey is chef Mehmet Gürs.

Let’s recall one more time:

Every year across the globe, 1.3 billion tons of edible food is thrown away.

This could feed 868 million who suffer from hunger.

Think of Yemeni children that are losing their lives because of hunger. Grundig has already saved 25 tons of food from becoming waste through its programs.

At a lunch organized by Gürs, I came across fashion designer Gönül Paksoy, who also mulls over how to avoid food waste.

She now has a book called “Zero Waste Kitchen,” which has several recipes of dishes made of “waste.” They can all be cooked easily by anyone.