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Project to Rebuild the Fabrika Ayvalık After the Fire

December 2025 – July 2026
BALIKESİR

The project aims to restore the physical and technical capacity of Fabrika Ayvalık, which suffered extensive damage in the fire on 3 February 2025. In the framework of the project, the objectives are to repair the premises, renew technical equipment and ensure the sustainability of its activities.

Within the scope of the project, local artists will be provided with free-of-charge rehearsal and production facilities, and safe and accessible production spaces will be created for young people and emerging artists. In addition, civil society organisations operating in the Ayvalık and North Aegean Gulf region will be provided with venue, technical, and equipment support for events focusing on democracy, women’s rights, ecology, human and children’s rights, memory, and reconciliation.

These initiatives will strengthen Fabrika Ayvalık’s role as a regional hub for art, culture and civil society.

Drawing on art’s role in safeguarding freedom of expression and cultural rights, the project aims to strengthen human rights over the long term. Fabrika Ayvalık’s public and inclusive structure will open up space for young and local artists to rehearse, produce, and share their work, supporting their practice while encouraging active participation in cultural life.

Young people will not be limited to mere spectators, but will have the opportunity to bring their creative ideas to life as creators, and will develop their ability to express themselves and their capacity for critical thinking through art. The project also aims to enhance the sustainability and visibility of the work carried out by civil society organisations operating within the historical, cultural and political context of Ayvalık and the Northern Aegean region; these organisations work in the fields of memory, reconciliation, women, ecology, democracy and human rights, and the project will provide them with space, equipment and technical support.

Within this framework the project will use the transformative power of art to create new spaces for dialogue and solidarity between young people, artists, civil society actors and local groups. Through performances, workshops and collaborative productions that build bridges between local artists and society, social and cultural interaction will be strengthened, and a contribution will be made to the development of an inclusive, accessible and sustainable art, culture and civil society ecosystem, particularly in Ayvalık and the wider North Aegean Gulf region.

Fabrika Ayvalık

Fabrika Ayvalık is a multidisciplinary, independent, and public art space that originated in Ankara with the play Haysiyet Vertigosu and later took root in Ayvalık, where it brings together human rights and the arts. Operating on the principle that art should be accessible to, and created by everyone. Fabrika Ayvalık fosters collaborative production by bringing together local artists and national and international art creators.

The venue is home to a wide range of events, from international performances and discussions on human rights and local memory to workshops, concerts, exhibitions, and festivals. At the same time, it provides space and technical support to local civil society initiatives. Within this concept Fabrika Ayvalık serves as a platform that both strengthens Ayvalık’s cultural identity and promotes a culture of human rights and social solidarity; it is positioned to shift art from just a passive experience to a public space open to participation.

Connections:

https://www.instagram.com/fabrikaayvalik

This page is published on 23 March 2026.