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 and experimental works and gained a critical perspective of theater. She wrote and directed plays, made adaptations and translations. In her thesis, Peker developed her own working definition of catharsis. Aside from her academic studies, she attended various vocal and physical technique workshops designed by international performance groups. She worked with Richard Foreman at Ontological Hysteric Theater for three years, had the chance to intimately explore Butoh, collaborated with literature and philosophy organizations, directed her own plays in NY. Currently, she is mediating between natural sciences, humanities, fine and performing arts, developing interdisciplinary projects to be presented in NYC and all around the globe!