6 March/Mart 2021 - British Council In Conversation: 80 Years 80 Women 80 Stories in Turkey
The British Council celebrated its 80th anniversary in Turkey with “Crossing paths: 80 years of changing lives” digital project, which tells the stories of 80 women whose paths have crossed with the British Council in the past 80 years. In this section, Director Turkey Cherry Gough presents the inspiring stories of Güneş Terkol, Esra Gönen and Ezgi Yalınalp from the selection.
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Cherry Gough: The Director British Council in Turkey, Cherry Gough is a graduate of University College London and has an MSc in Applied Linguistics from the University of Edinburgh. She took up the post of Director British Council in Turkey, based in Istanbul, in November 2017. She has a background in English language teaching (ELT) and was a senior lecturer in English in universities in China and Professor of Applied Linguistics at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, Poland. In China and Poland, she also contributed to national English language teaching reform projects. She joined the British Council in 1995 to run the English in Britain Accreditation Scheme for UK English language training providers. Later, as Deputy Director ELT, she led on ELT Innovation and the promotion of UK ELT through the British Council's global networks. Since then she has worked for the British Council as Deputy Director Poland, Director Venezuela, Director Libya and Director Vietnam. She was awarded an OBE in 2016 in recognition of her work in Libya between 2010 and 2014. Güneş Terkol: Born in 1981, in Ankara, Güneş Terkol is a Turkish artist based in Istanbul. She graduated from Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University Painting Department. She completed her master’s degree in Yıldız Technical University, Faculty of Art & Design. Terkol takes inspiration from her immediate surroundings, collecting materials and stories, which she weaves into her sewing pieces, videos, sketches, and musical compositions. She is also a member of HaZaVuZu artist collective and the music band GuGuOu. Her work has been featured in numerous group shows around the world. Terkol’s recent solo exhibitions include: “One Twoness”, Krank Art Gallery, Istanbul (2020); “She Wasn’t There and She Couldn’t Believe Her Ears”, Nev Gallery, Ankara; “Home is my Heart”, Krank Art Gallery, Istanbul (2017); “Storing Souls”, Nev Gallery, Ankara (2017); “The Holographic Record”, NON Gallery, Istanbul (2014); “Dreams on the Rive”, Organhause, Chongqing, China (2011). Esra Gönen: Esra Gönen is an entrepreneur, mainly interested in innovation and design in the service industry as well as creative and cultural industries. In 2009, she founded GNN Foreign Trade, offering sales and consultancy services to Turkish SMEs for expanding to international markets and to multinational companies for entering the Turkish market, followed by GNN Office in 2014, the first coworking space for businesses in Izmir. After observing the impact of coworking on local development, she co-founded Originn Coworking in 2016, where creative and social entrepreneurs work, socialize and develop projects collectively. In 2017, she co-founded Merak Creative Activities and Culture Association (Merak Yaratıcı İşler ve Kültür Derneği) to foster new work at the intersection of art, technology, and innovation. Gönen is the local facilitator of Nesta Creative Enterprise Program and has been named among the influential female leaders in creative and cultural industries by the British Council. Esra studied Business at Dokuz Eylül University and holds an MSc in International Business at Applied University of Mainz and London South Bank University. She continues her master's studies in Design Management at Izmir Economy University. Ezgi Yalınalp: Ezgi Yalınalp graduated from Hacettepe University, where she earned her Bachelor's Degree in Sociology. She received her Master’s Degree in Radio, Television and Cinema from Ankara University. After working as a Programmer at Far East Film Festival, she worked as the Program Coordinator of Ankara International Film Festival between 2007-2012, managing all aspects of international feature film programming functions of the festival, both creative and administrative. She also took part in the events held by the World Mass Media Research Foundation, the main organizer of Ankara Film Festival. She worked as the Program Coordinator of the 2nd and 4th editions of Malatya International Film Festival. In 2012, Yalınalp co-founded Puruli Culture & Art, which aims to improve access to culture by organizing events related to cinema and visual arts. She is currently working as the Director of Accessible Film Festival, which has been organized by Puruli Culture & Art since 2013; a festival which aims to make cinema accessible for all by presenting the best examples of the independent world cinema in an accessible structure.