Between Contradictions, Possibilities, and Utopias
January 2026 - July 2026
SOMA/MANISA, BERGAMA/IZMIR, AYVALIK/BALIKESIR
Affiliates:
IZMIR: Yellow Submarine Art Initiative, Odeon Pergamon Culture and Art Space, Bergama Environmental Platform, Darağaç Collective
MANISA: Soma Municipality
BALIKESIR: Ayvalık Nature Association, Atölye Ayvada
ISTANBUL: Boğaziçi Ayvalık Schools, Boğaziçi School of Politics Association, Eurasia Art Collective Association, Gökçe Yeniev, Fikret Adaman, Duygu Avcı, Ekin Çuhadar, Şebnem Eroğlu Hawskworth, Hande Paker
Between Contradictions, Possibilities, and Utopias is a transdisciplinary cultural and artistic project that explores the transition to renewable energy around the concept of "environmental justice" and the concept of "dispossession." The coal mine in Soma, which became a center of academic endeavors after the 2014 mining disaster and the local impact of renewable energy power plants opened in Bergama and Ayvalık, located near Soma, constitute the starting point of the project.
Neoliberal policies drove the first transformation, in which rural residents transitioned from agriculture to coal mining, enabling the industry's growth without much regard for social and environmental impacts. The second transformation signals a looming possibility: the closure of local coal-fired power plants and the potential decline of mining if Türkiye adopts coal phase-out policies. However, for local coal-dependent communities, this situation raises an existential question: What will happen to them if the coal phase-out occurs? Mitigating such a transition requires effective, participatory strategies tailored to the region, emphasizing environmental and social justice. However, the extent to which a just transition will occur in Soma, a microcosm of the global challenge of transitioning from coal to renewable energy due to climate change concerns, remains to be seen. In Izmir, Bergama, and Ayvalik, Balikesir—situated very close to the region and impacted by air pollution from the Soma Thermal Power Plant in Manisa—the uncontrolled increase in the number of solar power plants (SPP) and wind power plants (WPP) is taking away the fields and pastures where villagers cultivate their livestock. This situation highlights the risk that actions taken in the name of combating climate change will exacerbate environmental injustices and necessitates discussing the possibilities of an energy transition centered on environmental justice.
The project, which takes place in Soma, Bergama, and Ayvalik—located in a geographical region where the transition from coal to renewable energy is spatially intertwined, yet the contradictions created by this transformation are not made visible—brings academic knowledge generated on the region to the local level through panels and interviews. The project's exhibitions explore the possibility of another point of view amidst contradictions, examining the focal point of academic and activist debates from an artistic perspective. The project, which follows a participatory approach that expands through art workshops, film screenings, public space exhibitions, and workshops with children and youth in the region, operates in an area where artistic and cultural endeavors intersect with social activism.
It fosters discussion and dialogue through panels and talks with academics and local communities, while aiming to approach the issue holistically and from diverse perspectives through cultural and artistic activities. It aims to bring together local actors and foster collaborations in the region.
Ne Yerde Ne Gökte Derneği
Ne Yerde Ne Gökte Derneği was founded in 2021 to institutionally support and ensure the sustainability of the activities of its stakeholders' independent cultural and artistic collectives in Bergama. In 2022, it leased a registered building and established the Odeon Pergamon Cultural and Art Space, an independent cultural and artistic space. This space, which provides Bergama residents with a platform for exhibitions, film screenings, theater plays, concerts, panels, seminars, talks, and workshops, is designed to be open to all cultural and artistic activities that prioritize solidarity, inclusiveness, and participation, and adhere to the collective's principles. Over seventy events have been held to date. The association's space is managed by the Odeon Pergamon Collective and operates on the basis of volunteer labor and collective production. The Ne Yerde Ne Gökte Derneği aims to encourage communities and societies to establish constructive partnerships through culture and art. It aims to develop collaborations centered on strengthened participation among societies, institutions and policy makers for the research, preservation and survival of arts, culture and heritage.