Yolo Art Center is a safe place for people to enjoy life, Yolo comes from “you only live once”, yolo is an art and cultural place where they connect cultures. Yolo was opened in May 2022, located in Balat, “we chose Balat as we felt like it’s a worm place where the modernism meets the old town’s buildings”, Yolo started with the mission to have a safe place where people can come, sit, drink coffee, chill, and share their thoughts with no judgment.
Jihad Bakr – a filmmaker, director, and co-founder of Yolo Art Center – was born in Syria and raised there. After the war people were forced to leave their country to escape the tragedy, he founded Yolo with his partner Bayan Agha – an interior designer who also worked on films, writing, and journalism. “We felt like people needed a place away from Istanbul’s crowd, a safe place where they can be themselves,” Jihad said, they started from scratch, built the place, and made something out of nothing.
Yolo Art Center has 3 floors, the first floor is the theater where the magic happens, it’s a place where multiculturalism – the view that cultures, races, and ethnicities, particularly those of minority groups – meets art. They started having standup comedies and open mic events, where people can present their culture and language, in a comedian sarcastic way, by telling their stories starting with where they were born, the neighborhood they were raised in, to the social and cultural aspects they find adapting to the new society they live in, “we wanted to have entertainment events but with a message” Jihad said.
Yolo’s second floor is a café, with a rich menu from Arab countries.
William, a 27-year-old Syrian barista who has been working in Yolo café since it opened its doors. “It feels like we are a family,” he said. All drinks in Yolo were inspired by him, “We chose to name the drinks over country names and their cultures” William said, “I would ask our visitors where they want to travel and make their drinks upon that” he said. In addition, they have a drink called Jamaica, they made this drink by inspiration of the colors of the flag, it contains fruits, like bananas, pineapples, and pomegranates. They also offer mate, a South American drink, also famous in the Levant area, made by steeping dried leaves of the yerba mate plant, it has a bitter flavor, and it’s served in a gourd with a metal straw, and provides a mild energy boost due to its caffeine content. They also offer sandwiches such as Arabian cheese sandwiches made with Palestinian or Syrian fresh white cheese, in addition, they have a mix of Egyptian tea mixed with Yemenian tea, and they also offer a lot of choices that fit all categories.
Finally, the last floor is a training- workshop hall, where they host courses and workshops to help people develop their skills and gain even more skills and knowledge. With the belief that everyone needs support, yolo also made monthly sessions for art therapy, “we know our people went through a lot, and we want them to have a mentally safe space where they can express their emotions and talk about their traumas” Jihad said.
Yolo is an attraction for diverse cultures, with the Arab nationalities being their number one visitors, they still also get some Turkish visitors who are curious about the culture. In addition, they also have international visitors from around the globe.
They represent the Arabic culture through music, shows, food, and actions.
“We had faced difficulties just like any project,” Jihad said. They had some racist acts against them, but they ended up sharing food with the neighbors, “people are curious about what we do that’s normal” he said, people would come and the team would take them on tours, introduce the place, and tell them more about the culture, “I think it was a success” he said, eventually, they started having a lot of Turkish people visiting to see what they do and learn more about the culture. “We welcome everyone, we don’t care who you are, what’s your background, or your religion, everyone is welcome”.
When William was asked about his dream, he said, “I want to feel peace inside, I want the storm to pass and this is what Yolo is giving me”, Yolo offers a space for international people to feel like they belong somewhere, especially Arabs, “We don’t talk about politics, we don’t like mixing art and politics” Jihad said, yolo is a center where one of its visions is actually to show the world the importance of art and culture, “One thing people don’t get is the importance of art, it’s the soul to the body and water to earth”.
By Leen Deniz