BAK Collective Production Workshop: The Map of a Transforming City’ was realized in Diyarbakır March 1-6, 2019 with the participation of young researchers working on urbanization from Diyarbakır and İzmir. The workshop, which is designed as a research and production program focused on the themes of the city and transformation, was facilitated by artist/researcher Serkan Taycan. During and after the workshop that was based on the relationship between social sciences, mapping, and art, in which Serkan Taycan, Murat Tülek, and Fırat Genç served as instructors while photographer Tolga Güleç coordinated the text and visual preparation process with the BAK team, participants produced a collective walking map of Diyarbakır. The workshop process and the outputs were presented on Friday, May 24, 2019, at the A4 Open Art Space by the participants and the facilitators.

Recent political developments affecting the social, cultural and spatial aspects of Diyarbakır have not only determined the city’s ongoing urban transformation processes, but also led to a significant shift in the city’s cultural fabric following the appointment of trustees to its municipalities. In response, the BAK Collective Production Workshop organized a series including seminars, walks, and discussions focused on exploring the relationship between space, memory, mapping, and art to address the reshaping of the city through this transformation. Over the course of a six-day workshop, ten participants with diverse backgrounds in architecture, archaeology, art history, cartography, and sociology met with experts, trainers, and guests at the Diyarbakır Arts Center to explore and discuss various routes for a collective mapping work, utilizing concepts and tools from social sciences, architecture, cartography, and visual arts by walking around the city and examining specific locations. The resulting project, ‘Diyarbakır, A City in Transformation,’ is a two-day walking route through four districts of Diyarbakır, including Sur, Ofis, Bağlar, and Diclekent, where each district can be explored in half a day, offering a comprehensive overview of the transformation in the region. The outputs of the project include a map, an online booklet that accompany the map, and an online exhibition that features the traces of the transformation encountered during the routes.

Diyarbakir, A City In Transformation Booklet