Suna’nın Kızları Summer Institute: Istanbul Edition Held

In the Istanbul edition of Suna’nın Kızları Summer Institute, girls engaged with art, history, technology, and creativity. Enriched with special guided tours of collections and temporary exhibitions, VR experiences, and collective workshops, the program offered an inspiring space for learning and sharing.

As part of Suna’nın Kızları’s annual Summer Institute, the Istanbul edition brought girls together for an art-filled day at the Pera Museum. From exhibition tours and VR experiences to creative workshops and collaborative art production, the comprehensive program offered experiences that contributed to participants’ cultural and personal development.

The day began with an introductory session at Pera Café, where participants were briefed about Suna’nın Kızları, the Summer Institute, and the Pera Museum. The girls then took guided tours through the museum’s permanent collections, including The Art of Weights and Measures, The Extraordinary World of Minas, and Intersecting Worlds: Ambassadors and Painters. The next stop was the temporary exhibition Marcel Dzama: Dancing with the Moon.

In the afternoon, participants were invited into a creative space through a “collective memory workshop” and a virtual reality experience titled A Journey into the World of Osman Hamdi Bey, organized by Pera Learning. During the workshop, the girls reflected on the most impactful moments of the Summer Institute’s Istanbul and Şanlıurfa editions—especially those that surprised or fascinated them—and illustrated these experiences. Their drawings, created on a shared canvas, came together to form a collective piece of art.

Operating under the umbrella of the Suna and İnan Kıraç Foundation, Suna’nın Kızları supports the empowerment of girls through the Summer Institute, while also carrying out awareness-raising and capacity-building efforts in the fields of rural development, girl-centered design, and well-being. The program aims to provide girls with safe learning opportunities, foster peer learning and solidarity, encourage collaborative problem-solving, and help them develop lifelong skills for personal growth and empowerment.