Share knowledge
Bring research about Ayvalık back to the town. Create a place where people interested in local history can sit together and talk.
AYEV / AYVALIK NOTES FROM A TO Z
A town’s memory,
letter by letter.
We brought Ayvalık’s identity, culture and past together through the alphabet. After more than a year of presentations and conversations at Atölye Ayvada, our series reached its final letter: Z. Now we invite you to explore what we shared.
01 / FROM A LETTER TO A TOWN’S STORY
Another way
to see Ayvalık.
A town’s stories are held in many places: photographs, research and personal accounts. Ayvalık Notes from A to Z (A’dan Z’ye Ayvalık Notları) brings this knowledge together through the alphabet, opening up conversations about local culture.
Led by Taylan Köken, the series grew through presentations by Lütfi Zafer Demirer, a contribution from Dr. Berrin Akın Akbüber and questions from the audience. Atölye Ayvada hosted the gatherings.
Bring memories together
Explore the town’s identity and cultural heritage through different subjects. Connect scattered knowledge in an alphabetical collection.
Keep curiosity alive
Let each presentation lead to new questions. Encourage younger generations to look closely at where they live and discover local research.
02 / ONE LETTER AT A TIME
Follow the letters.
Explore a gathering.
We have collected available announcements, follow-up posts and video clips in one archive. Choose a letter to find its date, speaker and original posts.
19 gatherings · 12 video links
VIDEO ARCHIVE
Letter A · The beginning
May 2025
The first evening began with the letter A. A clip from the gathering in Atölye Ayvada’s garden captures the beginning of this alphabetical exploration of the town.
PRESENTATIONTaylan Köken · Lütfi Zafer Demirer
ANNOUNCEMENT ARCHIVE
Letter B
11 June 2025
The June gathering continued with B. Lütfi Zafer Demirer’s presentation was announced as part of AYEV’s free events in the garden.
PRESENTATIONLütfi Zafer Demirer
VIDEO ANNOUNCEMENT
Letter D
July 2025
The D gathering was announced with a presentation by Lütfi Zafer Demirer. AYEV’s video announcement invites viewers to this session.
PRESENTATIONLütfi Zafer Demirer
VIDEO ARCHIVE
Letter E
13 October 2025
Taylan Köken returned for the presentation on E. Here you can find the original announcement and short clips from the session.
PRESENTATIONTaylan Köken
VIDEO ARCHIVE
Letter F
13 August 2025
Fazıl Doğan, factories and the French Consulate were among this session’s subjects. The presentation explored Ayvalık’s people, its history of production and its historic institutions.
PRESENTATIONLütfi Zafer Demirer
ANNOUNCEMENT ARCHIVE
Letter G
27 August 2025
The G gathering was announced with a presentation by Dr. Berrin Akın Akbüber. This summer evening continued the series’ exploration of Ayvalık through the alphabet.
PRESENTATIONDr. Berrin Akın Akbüber
ANNOUNCEMENT ARCHIVE
Letter H
10 September 2025
A September announcement invited people to gather for H. The event brought together subjects from the ongoing research into Ayvalık.
ANNOUNCEMENT ARCHIVE
Letters I and İ
29 September 2025
The letters I and İ were announced as a joint session. This gathering formed part of the series’ September programme.
ANNOUNCEMENT ARCHIVE
Letter K
8 October 2025
The October programme continued with K. A free gathering at Atölye Ayvada was announced for Lütfi Zafer Demirer’s presentation.
PRESENTATIONLütfi Zafer Demirer
VIDEO ARCHIVE
Letter M
18 January 2026
Lütfi Zafer Demirer presented the session on M. A video posted afterwards shares clips from the January gathering.
PRESENTATIONLütfi Zafer Demirer
ANNOUNCEMENT ARCHIVE
Letter N
23 November 2025
The November gathering was dedicated to N. The original event post invited people to Atölye Ayvada to explore subjects from the research into the town.
VIDEO ARCHIVE
Letters O and Ö
21 December 2025
Ayvalık subjects beginning with O and Ö were explored one by one. A video posted after the session includes clips from Taylan Köken’s December presentation.
PRESENTATIONTaylan Köken
VIDEO ARCHIVE
Letter P
27 February 2026
The February gathering explored P. This card brings together the announcement for Taylan Köken’s presentation and the video post marking the session’s completion.
PRESENTATIONTaylan Köken
VIDEO ARCHIVE
Letter R
27 March 2026
For R, the group brought together existing knowledge and returned to conversations about the town. Short clips were shared after the session prepared and presented by Taylan Köken.
PRESENTATIONTaylan Köken
VIDEO ARCHIVE
Letters S and Ş
22 April 2026
The April gathering explored S and Ş together. A video posted after the announcement marked the completion of both letters.
PRESENTATIONTaylan Köken
VIDEO ARCHIVE
Letter T
22 May 2026
The May programme focused on T. The follow-up post marked its completion and invited people to the next gathering for U and Ü.
PRESENTATIONTaylan Köken
ANNOUNCEMENT ARCHIVE
Letters U and Ü
26 June 2026
U and Ü shared the June programme. Here you can find the original announcement for the presentation and conversation prepared by Taylan Köken.
PRESENTATIONTaylan Köken
VIDEO ARCHIVE
Letters V and Y
28 July 2026
The July gathering brought V and Y together. A video shared after the session marked the completion of both letters.
PRESENTATIONTaylan Köken
VIDEO ARCHIVE
Letter Z · The finale
25 August 2026
After more than a year, the series reached its final letter: Z. The closing video thanked the organisers, presentation contributors and everyone whose participation enriched the gatherings.
PRESENTATIONTaylan Köken
No sections match this search. Try another letter or name.
Letters covered together share a card. Announcement links open the original event posts; video links open the related clips. This archive includes sections for which we could verify a source link.
03 / MOMENTS FROM THE GATHERINGS
Press play.
Revisit those evenings.
The excitement of the first gathering, the conversations as we learned together, the joy of reaching the final letter. Here are three clips from the series.
FIRST GATHERING / MAY 2025
It all began with A.
The first evening with Taylan Köken and Lütfi Zafer Demirer. A clip from the start of the series in Atölye Ayvada’s garden.
Watch on Instagram ↗LOCAL HISTORY / AUGUST 2025Many stories in one letter.
Fazıl Doğan, factories and the French Consulate. Subjects from Ayvalık in Lütfi Zafer Demirer’s presentation on F.
Watch on Instagram ↗FINAL LETTER / AUGUST 2026We reached Z together.
The finale of more than a year of shared work. Thanks to the organisers, speakers, contributors and everyone who came to listen.
Watch on Instagram ↗This selection features short clips from the gatherings. Find more videos in the letter archive above.
04 / SHARED WORK
Behind this alphabet
are ideas shared together.
Researchers, speakers, people sharing a memory or asking a new question. Every gathering grew through the contributions of people who wanted to talk about Ayvalık.
Taylan Köken
Led the series, bringing his local history research into presentations and conversations. Prepared and presented many of the letter gatherings.
Lütfi Zafer Demirer
Contributed from the first A gathering. His documented presentations include the sessions on B, D, F, K and M.
Dr. Berrin Akın Akbüber
Prepared the presentation for the G gathering on 27 August 2025.
Atölye Ayvada
Hosted the gatherings and shared announcements and clips from the presentations, bringing the series to the town.
About the archive and its sources
This page was compiled from official Instagram posts, original posters and series videos shared by AYEV and Atölye Ayvada. Where a detailed subject list was unavailable, we used only information confirmed in the announcement. The D gathering is shown by month because its announced weekday and date conflict. Every card links to its original source.
The series’ overall purpose was considered alongside AYEV’s organisation profile. For older recordings on local history, you can also visit Taylan Köken’s Ayvalık Visual Archive channel. View source details ↗
REMEMBERING AYVALIK TOGETHER
Share a note
of your own.
Have a photo from a gathering, a document about Ayvalık or a story to share? Get in touch. Let’s add to the town’s story together.
Contact AYEV