Mobile App of Hrant Dink Foundation Offers an Insight into Multicultural Fabric of İstanbul

Click to read the article in Turkish

Hrant Dink Foundation has designed a mobile application guiding people through the multicultural memory of İstanbul. Designed as a personal tour guide in Turkish and English, KarDes app offers an insight into the multicultural legacy and multilayered fabric of the city.

The app makes it possible to discover the locations and histories of nearly 900 multicultural buildings in İstanbul and see old photographs of various neighborhoods and sites in the city.

Aiming to make the unknown places of İstanbul visible and their stories heard, the app offers personal tours taking around 2 hours.

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The app has been prepared as a result of an extensive research and consists of personal tours with 9 to 15 stops within walking distance.

The memory texts of the mobile application have been voluntarily voiced by Hayko Cepkin, Ece Dizdar, Ceylan Ertem, Mahir Günşıray, Nejat İşler, Ercan Kesal, Yekta Kopan, Lale Mansur, Songül Öden, Tülin Özen, Tilbe Saran and Serra Yılmaz.

CLICK - Download the KarDes mobile app

'A comprehensive cultural inventory'

Hrant Dink Foundation has introduced the app in following words:

"KarDes, is a mobile application designed as a personal tour guide in Turkish and English languages for users who wish to discover the multicultural legacy and multilayered fabric of Istanbul.

"The KarDes app allows the user to discover the locations and histories of nearly 900 multicultural buildings in Istanbul, to take the memory tours to listen to the stories of people who have lived in various Istanbul districts as they walk through them, and to see old photographs of, or imagine, various neighborhoods and sites. Shedding light on Istanbul's communal memory, it helps to share Istanbul's pluralistic story.

"With KarDes, users can discover the cultural inventory of nearly nine hundred sites such as mosques, synagogues, schools and cemeteries. The users can walk through the memory tours by listening the stories of people who have lived in various districts of Istanbul."

About Hrant Dink Foundation

Hrant Dink Foundation was set up in 2007 to carry on Hrant's dreams, Hrant's struggle, Hrant's language and Hrant's heart.

The Foundation defines the development of a culture of dialogue, empathy and peace as the basis of all its activities, which concentrate on the following areas:

working toward equal opportunity among children and young people, and supporting their creativity,
ensuring that cultural diversity is recognised as a richness and differences are acknowledged as a right,
developing cultural relations among the peoples of Turkey, Armenia and Europe,
supporting Turkey's democratization process,
supporting efforts to write histories devoid of nationalism and racism,
gathering articles, photographs, and documents about Hrant Dink.

Hrant Dink Foundation will undertake multifaceted activities in these areas, such as publishing books, creating archives, organizing summer schools, organizing film, music, visual arts, dance and literature festivals, and giving awards in memory of Hrant Dink.

* Source: Hrant Dink Foundation official website

(EMK/SD)