How Did Avaspi Become Ava Reş?

October 2026 - October 2027
MARDİN

The project covers a 15-kilometre ecological corridor stretching from the Beyazsu spring to the Syrian border, focusing on Nusaybin town centre and the settlements along the valley. It examines the social impacts of border policies and urban transformation on the river basin and the communities living there.

How Did Avaspi Become Ava Reş? is an oral history, documentation and community archiving project centred on the Beyazsu (Avaspi) River in the Mardin–Nusaybin area. Starting at the river’s source, known as Avaspi, the project traces its transformation into Ava Reş (Black Water), examining how urban transformation since 2016, dam interventions and border policies have contributed to its pollution and degradation. This process is explored through the interconnected perspectives of ecological change and social memory.

Drawing on independent research data, photography and video documentation, the project will document the river’s physical degradation while also recording, through oral history interviews, the relationships that communities living in the river basin have developed with water. The resulting visual, audio and geospatial data will be made publicly accessible through an interactive Ecological Vitality Map (StoryMap) and an open-access web platform.

Supported by the Avaspi Water Forum and a local civic monitoring initiative, the project aims to establish a data-driven, women-centred, civic and sustainable model of rights-based advocacy in response to the rapid transformation of Nusaybin’s landscape.

Ferda Yılmazoğlu

Ferda Yılmazoğlu was born in Mardin in 1991. She graduated from the Department of Geography Education at Dicle University and studied cinema at Diyarbakır Aram Tigran City Conservatory between 2011 and 2013. Since 2013, she has worked independently in video production, camera operation, editing and post-production, combining her artistic practice with civil society initiatives and visual storytelling workshops.

In 2013, she directed the documentary Bir Dağın Başı (The Top of a Mountain) as part of Anadolu Kültür’s BAK Project, focusing on the relationship between memory and place. Through the Sine-Nar Cinema Workshop at Gaziantep Nar Art Association, she worked with young people on short film and video production, providing mentorship for projects addressing social issues.

In 2023, as coordinator of the VAHA Project’s Habbe Programme, she organised short film screenings and director talks focused on women's stories, contributing to their visibility. In 2025, she worked as project coordinator and editing supervisor on the GSİ Project, jointly implemented by Nar Art Association and Altyazı Cinema Association.

Her work primarily explores gender inequality, memory, and the transformation of place. Alongside video journalism and documentary projects, she continues to develop public awareness initiatives through workshops, talks and film screenings.

This page is published on 19 October 2026.