Team

Betal Özay Co-Director

Born in Izmir on 1980, Özay began his career as an attorney at law specializing in copyright. Following his legal career he co-founded a software company DigiGuardians Inc. dedicated to combat digital piracy and protecting online reputation; later he jumped into film business by establishing Gipsybees Entertainment (GB) acting as a creative producer focusing on arthouse projects and women driven comedy. In 2018, he became active in music industry by co-founding LU Records, “360 degree Music Company” focusing on recording, production, release and digital marketing with a strong emphasis on collaborating with visual arts. In 2019, Özay along with his friends co-founded InogarArt which is the first center l that brings together co-working, incubation and business development in the arts, culture and entrepreneurship ecosystems in Turkey. He is also professional storyteller who has performed in festivals such as Oerol, Amsterdam Fringe and Amsterdam Storytelling Festival. As a lifelong student, Özay’s one of greatest pleasure is to attend workshops, seminars related to any creative process. At the moment he lives in both cities Istanbul and Amsterdam.

B. Ada Kıral Project Coordinator and Producer

Ada Burçak Döner studies Management of Performing Arts at Istanbul Bilgi University and spent one year of her studies in Norway. She started working for the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV) in different capacities, ending with being an Operations Coordinator and Promoter Representative. Meanwhile Ada worked as a freelance producer for many organisations in the cultural field, being responsible for the show advance. Ada has worked with different kinds of stakeholders, including municipalities, consulates and European cultural offices in her capacity as fundraiser for many different cultural festivals.

İpek M. Sür Founder & Director

Amsterdam and Istanbul based Ipek M. Sur, is an experienced arts and culture professional who has worked with many organizations, countries, disciplines and artists for diverse projects under various titles.After working for the Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands as the Senior Policy Officer for Culture, Public Diplomacy and Communication, she is now in Amsterdam, leading the ArtsMap network as well as working as the Head of Productions and business activities for Amsterdam’s important stage Podium Mozaiek. She is an expert on creative financial strategies, community building and artistic development and prefers to use the title of impact curator to define her work. After studying many years both applying and performance arts, she uses all her creative background to answer the questions of today’s arts and culture world and advises many organizations. She is also on the board of several organizations.

Valeri Boğosyan Project Assistant & Connector

After completing her master's degree in Cultural Management at Istanbul Bilgi University, Valeri started working at the Cultural Policy Department of the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts. She has been the project assistant of various international projects for two and a half years, such as Cultural Exploration Project (ArtsMap project were laid) and the Making Connections Through Arts and Culture conference. She has been working for ArtsMap as a Project Assistant and Connector since November 2021. She has also been a PhD student in Media and Cultural Studies at Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University since October 2021.

Zekican Sarısoy Communication Specialist

Zekican is specialised in the media and communications field with a specific focus on digital media and has been in charge of media and communication activities of Medya GaGa for six years. During this time period, they has managed and carried out media and communication activities of the NGOs, various EU programmes and UN (UNWomen and UNICEF) campaigns in Turkey on a professional basis. They is recently implemented the "Through The Window" project funded by Prince Claus Fund. The online exhibition project aims to make a cultural bridge between the Netherlands, Turkey, and beyond by displaying queer artists’ artwork unfinished due to COVID-19 since 2020. Theirs general duties in ArtsMap are content design, planning, updating various communication fields and corporate identity, and ensuring visibility.