Tag Archives: Turkey

Time Travel

Posted on August 7, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

In 1842, a French artist and scholar named Joseph-Philibert Girault de Prangey set out on a tour of the eastern Mediterranean to document sights and architecture via the brand new medium of photography. He started off in what is now … Continue reading →

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A mesmerizing journey

Posted on July 25, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

I ran across the stunning stop-motion video Takrar on a number of websites over the past week and watched each time. Takrar or Repetition is an experimental film that celebrates the timeless and intricate beauty of ancient craftsmanship. Filmed in Istanbul, the … Continue reading →

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I Love Big Books

Posted on March 7, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

I wish we had an amazing institution like the fantastic Karabuk University’s library, in Karabuk, Turkey. Designed to look like a row of giant books on a shelf; it’s obvious from a distance what the building has to offer. Renowned … Continue reading →

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The Walk

Posted on October 11, 2020 by Brian D. Butler

Good Chance is a humanitarian theatre company founded in 2015 in the unofficial refugee camp in Calais, France that’s often called “The Jungle”. It is behind an exciting  public art project that will travel across two continents and many national … Continue reading →

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Vacation in a Box

Posted on August 6, 2020 by Brian D. Butler

Thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic, most of us have been forced to postpone our summer vacation plans, but IKEA in Dubai has come up with a clever idea to offer “vacations in a box” to help send customers to far-flung … Continue reading →

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Bookstore Tourism: Istanbul

Posted on March 2, 2020 by Brian D. Butler

The recently opened Kitap Koala bookstore in Istanbul’s Şişli district offers 30,000 books to its customers with the commitment to give all of its profits to animal shelters and cover the medical needs of stray animals all over Turkey. The … Continue reading →

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My Kind of Recycling

Posted on January 22, 2018 by Brian D. Butler

During the last eight months, the trash collectors in the Çankaya District of Ankara, Turkey have rescued more than 5,000 books from the garbage. Thanks to their diligence, a lending library has been created in the townhall. The library is open … Continue reading →

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What It Says On The Tin

Posted on April 11, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

Last week, Karabük University in Karabük, Turkey inaugurated the new Kamil Gūlec Library. The impressive facade is composed of fifteen books up to 20 meters high. H/t to Ahmet Yildirim for the post.  

Posted in Asia, Books, Libraries | Tagged | 2 Comments

Tumblr this is not

Posted on October 23, 2014 by Brian D. Butler

Love old books? Check-out the terrific new website Quill from book historian Erik Kwakkel.

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Book Bench

Posted on June 12, 2014 by Brian D. Butler

H/t to Bibliodiverisidad for these pics of wonderful book benches in Istanbul.    

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