Who We Are

The Skala / İskele Project

The Manifest

“sometimes a violin Nazim
is like a clenched fist
and the clenched fist
hides a pair of wings”

– Giannis Ritsos
from his poem to Nazim Hikmet
“Once a Name Turns into Music and Universe”

Clenched fists and pairs of wings. That was the origin story of Skala / İskele.

A group of comrades living in the contested borderlands of Lesvos and Izmir—where the imaginary lines that define two states were drawn in the sea by patrol boats and migrant bodies—came together in pursuit of the wings hiding in clenched fists.

The world is getting smaller. Yet the walls are getting higher, the barbed wires are getting longer, and more guards are surrounding us.

At a time when visible borders are dividing land, sea, and air between Greece and Turkey, invisible borders are separating our minds and collective consciousness from each other in this troubled geography of the Aegean.

Troubled by the indifference that constantly prevents us from overcoming nationalism and fear-mongering, there is much to celebrate and much to mourn together—yet no space allows it, no corner nurtures it.

Only a time like this could have given birth to Skala / İskele. It aims to unearth the treasures of common stories and struggles in this shared geography and hopes to shed light on the truth that made us who we are today. A square to celebrate, a funeral to mourn, a stage to sing—but ultimately, a pair of hands to lift the veil of reality and reveal the truth.

Fighting for a better past means fighting for a better future. At a time when we are forced to forget, we insist on remembering. At a time when hundreds lie dead, we insist on mourning—collectively, in anger.

At a time when the news calls for hatred and preaches holy war over who owns coffee, kokoretsi, or land—we insist on setting a table for many. And maybe with some raki!

Thus, Skala / İskele is an invitation.
An invitation that chants: “The Aegean Sea belongs to the fish!”
An invitation that screams: “To live, free and single like a tree / but in brotherhood like a forest.”
An invitation that sings: “Imagination to power!”If hospitality is a virtue commonly shared here, so too is accepting an invitation.
So take your seat, crank up the sound—we have much to catch up on.