About
After completing his B.A. in Acting in 2012 Burak Safa Calis started his career in the GalataPerform Theatre – the alternative space for contemporary playwriting and performing arts. At GalataPerform he gained experience in acting, playwriting and theatre directing. After starting a Master degree in Radio, TV and Cinema at Istanbul University in 2015, he moved to Berlin in 2017.
In Berlin, Calis has been organizing theatre workshops with youngsters of émigré background, which cover in their scope issues of migration and youth in the cityscapes characterized by socio-cultural variety. By introducing the young individuals to the art of theatre and preparing performances at the end of each workshop, local communities have an opportunity to witness the outcomes of the common efforts.
Between 2018 and 2021, Calis was taking part in an independent art collective (AUCH) which focused on the socio-cultural art projects in Berlin / Gesundbrunnen.
AUCH NACHBARSCHAFT IST KUNST FESTIVAL
During the festival series, documentary theatre projects were staged with the participants of the Jugend Auch youth theatre team, which Calis led.
Apart from organizing theatre workshops aimed at the amateur youth, Calis cooperates with institutions that focus on new theatre texts from Europe and develops projects in this field.
After 5 years of artistic research in Berlin (2018-2022), as the concept writer and producer of Dialogue Project, with the support of the European Union Sivil Düşün, Calis brought Dialogue Project - Istanbul to the audience for the 100th anniversary of the Republic of Türkiye (2023).
The documentary theatre performance, in which the autobiographical stories of émigré artists living in Istanbul are exhibited, has been performed 5 times.
The event was staged in Istanbul's most prominent museums and exhibition venues and attracted great attention from the Turkish mainstream media and news organisations.