Dr Gonul Bozoglu
Lecturer in Museum and Heritage Studies
Research areas
I am a Lecturer in Museum and Heritage Studies. My current work is about engaging with marginalised communities whose heritages have been suppressed. Although I’m interested in this problem at a global scale, I work in particular with the Greek Communities of Istanbul. This involves working with minority Greek-Istanbuli groups in Istanbul and Athens to develop online 'memory maps' and a documentary film. The project aims to save community memories at risk, giving voice, and increasing awareness and visibility of hidden or silenced memories that are rarely recognised in official heritage. My work links anthropological heritage and memory research with digital practice and filmmaking. My current memory map is available here and documentary film is here.
After an MPhil on Ottoman art at Mimar Sinan University in Istanbul and an MA in Museum Studies at Newcastle University, I worked in museums in the UK and on archaeological excavations in the Middle East. I then returned to study with a Ph.D. at CARMAH at Humboldt University in Berlin, with a thesis on Turkish historical museums and memory cultures. This turned into my first book Museums, Emotion and Memory Culture: the politics of the past in Turkey. I am currently working on a new book: Worlds of Memory and Sensory Heritage: Living with the Past in the Greek Communities of Istanbul, under contract with Routledge.
I was a Research Associate on the EU-funded project Critical Heritages (CoHERE): performing and representing identities in Europe project and the Katip Çelebi Newton Fund project Plural Heritages of Istanbul's World Heritage Sites: the case of Land Walls. Each of these has led to book publications including: Dimensions of Heritage and Memory and Plural Heritages and Community Co-production.
I have made two major documentary films. The first, Life After Life: the Greeks of Istanbul, co-directed with Dr Cem Hakverdi. It has been screened in public events in Greece, Turkey, Australia, Germany and the UK. It was shortlisted for 2021 AHRC Research Film of the Year, won the best second- award at the London Greek Film Festival in 2021, was selected for Chania Film Festival 2022, and is available on the Greek national TV channel, ERTFLIX. My most recent film, co-directed with Dr Evripidis Karydis, is The Journey and the Grief. This film won best documentary at the London Greek Film Festival 2023. The film premiere's took place at the Tyneside Cinema in Newcastle. It will be available online soon. The films are part of a trilogy that examines the histories, heritages, and experiences of the Greek populations of Turkey, exploring themes connected to forced displacement, marginalisation, belonging, and memory practice across generations. I am currently working on the final film in the trilogy.