Home to one of the largest Middle East and North African diasporas in Europe, Berlin is also renowned for its queer spaces and clubs. In this event at The Whistler, internationally acclaimed music producer, DJ and queer activist Ipek Ipekcioglu will take us through their intersectional and non-binary pathways through what they call Eklektik Berlinistan—a space that straddles and reassembles Berlin and Istanbul, sex and gender, mobility and immobility, pain and joy.

In conversation with Emrah Yildiz, Assistant Professor of Anthropology and MENA Studies at Northwestern University, they will discuss Berlin’s queer Middle Eastern music world, the visibility of feminist cultural production, Ipek’s role as resident DJ of Gayhane-HomOriental-Party at SO36, and the political role of nightlife.

Afterwards, join us for a DJ set in honor of International Women’s Day, where Ipekcioglu will play a mix of Middle Eastern, Kurdish, North African, psychedelic Turkish funk, Anatolian folk, and other genres.

Event schedule:

6:00 pm doors
7:00 pm panel discussion
8:30 pm DJ set

no cover / 21+

BIOS

İpek İpekçioğlu
Based in Berlin and Istanbul, queer-living DJ, producer and curator İpek İpekçioğlu has an established reputation across nightlife scenes worldwide. She has performed at the Glastonbury, Fusion, Sziget, At.tension, Berlin Festival and others, and is a resident DJ at popular venues such as Gayhane-HomOriental-Party at SO36, Kanakwood-PostMigrantSounds, Berlinale, Radialsystem, and Maxim-Gorki-Theater. Her musical spectrum ranges from psychedelic Turkish funk to disco, Anatolian Folk to deep house, and Kurdish halay to electro. Besides djaying and producing music, Ipek Ipekcioglu is also an activist on issues relating to the rights of women, immigrant, and queer communities through her work with female:pressure, Aktion Courage e.V., and Gladt e.V.

Emrah Yıldız
Emrah Yıldız (he/him/o) is a socio-cultural anthropologist and the author of Zainab’s Traffic: Moving Saints, Selves, and Others across Borders (University of California Press, 2024). Editor of kaçak | qaçax | قاچاق: Fugitive Forms of Bureaucracy and Economy across Southwest Asia (Journal of Cultural Economy 17(2), 2024) and co-editor of “Resistance Everywhere”: The Gezi Protests and Dissident Visions of Turkey (JadMag 1(4), 2014), Yıldız published research articles with Cultural Anthropology, differences, Journal of Cultural Economy, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, International Journal of Middle East Studies, and Toplum ve Bilim as well as short-form analysis, translations, and interviews with Asoo, Bianet, Counterpunch, and Jadaliyya. Yıldız works as an assistant professor of anthropology and Middle East and North Africa studies at Northwestern University, where he serves as faculty board member for the Keyman Modern Turkish Studies Program, and founding co-convener of the Colloquium for Global Iran Studies (CoGIS).

Presented by the Whistler, the Goethe-Institut Chicago, and Northwestern University’s Middle Eastern and North African Studies Department, German Department, Department of Anthropology, Colloquium for Global Iran Studies, Alice Kaplan Institute for the Humanities, and Keyman Modern Turkish Studies Program.

Official Website

More events on this date

Tags: Chicago, EKLEKTIK BERLINISTAN: QUEER PATHWAYS THROUGH BERLIN’S MIDDLE EASTS, Emrah Yildiz, Goethe-Institut Chicago, İpek İpekçioğlu, Logan Square, The Whistler