Supported by The Society for Education, Music and Psychology Research – SEMPRE, Istanbul-based MİRAS Centre for Cultural Sustainability has concluded six creative music workshops in Hatay, the most heavily hit area by the earthquakes of February last year in Turkey’s Southeast. While the mission of MİRAS is to support cultural sustainability globally, the NGO has decided to direct its attention on helping the survivors of the worst earthquake in the area since 526CE: over 50,000 people were killed and 80% of the houses in the historical capital, Antakya, were destroyed.

Huib Schippers, who heads the International Advisory Board of the young organisation, emphasises the importance of this kind of work: “In the process of recovery after conflicts or natural disasters, we see an understandable focus on restoring infrastructure: roads, public buildings, homes. But what is often forgotten is what we call ‘rebuilding beyond bricks’: helping people reconnect with a sense of wellbeing, of community, of place. This is what MiRAS stands for.”
The November workshops started with Selin Sümbültepe, who hails from Hatay, who invited the students to suggest lines, which they jointly turned into a song with the class.
Ayșegül Aykaç empowered the students to vary and embellish two lines from a well-known song by using different vocal techniques. Salim Sınar took the students outside to learn body percussion, which helped increase movement control, coordination and balance; improved concentration, memory and perception; increased social coherence as it led to group dances.
In December, Audrey Wozniak and Fırat Bingöl explored the relationship between music and art. Ediz Hafizoglu, one of the most successful drummers in the Turkish jazz scene gave an impressive workshop to the local musicians and music teachers in Hatay. Serkan Polat met with the primary school students and introduced them the regional Anatolian rhythmic cycles with his interactive engaging workshop.
In February, Evrencan Gündüz whose music is a fusion of modern Turkish music and mainstream pop, combines many genres and elements of contemporary pop music with Turkey’s rich cultural past is going to give “Creative Improvisational Vocal Workshop“to the primary and secondary school students based on his unique pedagogical approach that he applied his previous worshops in March 2024 in Hatay. Guitarist, vocalist and song writer Gündüz focus on `inspiration`, ìmprovisation` and `creative expressions` and helps students to create their own language, and compose their own songs during the workshops.
MİRAS Director Olcay Muslu: “We’ve chosen creative workshops for a reason. After an earthquake there is a real sense of loss of control. Almost everybody has lost family members, and many lost their homes. Young people live in containers, shop in containers, and go to school in containers. Improvising, getting back in touch with their own creativity, helps young people regain some sense of control.”
It is naive to think that six creative music workshops can transform the lives of these young people. But for the people of Hatay, it is important to feel that they are still noticed, even if the news has shifted to other manmade and natural disasters in the world. And for MİRAS, it provides ‘proof of concept’ that weekly creative music lessons can play a significant role as Hatay rises from the rubble and the suffering. Although the process is frustratingly slow, the people of this historic city are determined to make it thrive again.

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