Turkish Cypriot Heritage Project

The Turkish Cypriot Community Association has initiated an oral history project that will (for the first time in England) record and document the experiences of first generation Turkish Cypriots’ arrival in England during the 1940s to the early 1960s. The project will focus on the thoughts and expectations of the early migrants, as well as the challenges many of them faced during the early years of arriving in England.

A series of 40 interviews with elderly Turkish Cypriots will be conducted in their homes, cafes and at the T.C.C.A and then edited into a book with commissioned essays by selected academics. The book will be freely distributed to educational institutes, libraries and interested individuals throughout England. The interviews will also provide the basis for the production of a revealing and stimulating exhibition, website and short documentary film that will be screened in several film festivals in London. The exhibition will tour to venues in North, East, South and West London before it is permanently housed in the Turkish Cypriot Community Association as a resource available to the local community and general public.

T.C.C.A is committed to developing a sustainable education strand to this project that will utilise the cross generational and interdisciplinary potentials of the project. Through partnerships and collaborations with arts organisations the T.C.C.A aims to create workshops for schools that will highlight London’s Turkish Cypriot heritage, as well as increase access, participants and contributors for the project beyond its touring life.

Funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund

Project Staff Hatice Abdullah and Yasar Ismailoglu as Project Officers.

Contact Details TCCA 628-630 Green Lanes, Haringey, N8 OSD 0208-8261089

http://www.turkishcypriotheritage.org

(No Longer Runing at the TCCA)