FULYA PEKER

"I create for an AND, not for an OR!"

Fulya Peker was born in Central Anatolia, where the East and the West intersect. She began her artistic explorations with painting and poetry. Her first poetry book, Umuda Uyanmak (Awakening to Hope), was published through the insistence of her painting teacher in 1994. She then decided to personify her images and words and pursued a BA in Drama at Ankara State Conservatory, Turkey. There she learned to embrace performing arts as a whole and strengthen her ground in classical theater.

Then, Peker went to the USA to explore the worlds of other languages and cultures and completed her MA in Theater, Literature,History and Criticism at Brooklyn College,CUNY. There, she explored different models of collaboration in experimental theater and created theatrical adaptations of philosophical and theoretical works. In her thesis, Peker developed her own working definition of catharsis. Her poems and articles on theater have been published in various sources both in Turkey and in the USA.

Aside from her academic studies, she attended various vocal and physical technique workshops designed by international performance groups. She worked with Richard Foreman at the Ontological Hysteric Theater for three years, had the chance to intimately explore Butoh dance and experimental music, collaborated with literature and philosophy organizations, while directing her own plays in NYC.

Peker is the founder of Katharsis Performance Project and Modern Mythologies Project and the co-founder of Hybrid Stage Project. She continues to present performances inspired by poetry, existential philosophy, physiology, philology and fine arts.