Written together with Zafer Yenal of Boğaziçi University
Abstract: Alongside the emergence of a new breed of chefs from diverse social and culinary backgrounds in Istanbul during the last two decades, new culinary interpretations and appropriations are appearing with regard to what is signified by authenticity in culinary products and practices. Here localism unfolds as the main trend and theme. This tendency is further strengthened by the formation of a new political economy of taste in Istanbul, which is defined by a double movement. On the one hand, there is a nascent transition in culinary work from craftsmanship to a more specialized professionalism, a process that invokes significant economic and social tensions. …
Abstract: Under the headline ‚Skopje 2014’ the city center of Macedonia’s capital is currently undergoing a largescale, government-sponsored transformation. This apparently political undertaking features numerous monuments depicting historical figures, who are claimed by various nation-states in the Balkans, and a variety of public buildings, whose anachronistic architectural style borrows heavily from long-gone eras. Buildings from the Yugoslav past are being concealed or blocked from view.
This text aims to go beyond interrogations that are merely centered on the intransparent decisionmaking processes and the disputable allocation of public funds for a project that ultimately musealizes the city. While such critiques are justified, especially in the light of Macedonia’s current economic conditions and its intent to enter the Europen Union, I will argue that ‚Skopje 2014’ tries to construct a specific narrative of Macedonian identity by weaving a continuity — from antiquity over the middle ages to the times of Macedonia’s struggle for nationhood — into the fabric of Skopje’s built environment. …
For some time I have felt uneasy about the inflationary and often unreflected use of the VUCA concept [1]. While its omnipresence in the management-speak of recent years had seemed to ebb away, the Corona crisis has made it re-enter the discourse.
Statements claiming universality, such as
“We live in a VUCA world”
“VUCA is here to stay, for all of us, everywhere”
have again gained currency and visibility. This ‘VUCA-turn’ may not come as too much of a surprise, since the virus has had severe consequences for individuals’ health and/or livelihoods, has thrown many governments and businesses into turmoil and has exposed the fragility and vulnerability of many of our taken-for-granted infrastructure (health, food, political systems etc.). …
I am one of the founding members and lead consultants of a Vienna & Istanbul-based consulting collective: hep. istanbul vienna. We work primarily with organizations for which food & food practices play a central role.
A recent communication design project for one of our clients as well as one of my partners’ talk at a university in Istanbul made us re-visit and take stock of the most recent initiatives with regards to sustainability & sustainable food systems.
Sustainability is a theme which runs across many of our projects and which we have engaged with for quite some time. But it still appears somehow difficult to get a thorough overview of all that is going on, left alone, to make sense of the scope & impact (potential & actual) of all these initiatives, to comprehend their connections & interdependencies. …
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