Under the supervision of our trustee Dr. Nurcan Yalman, a pilot project began in October 2014 with the participation of five volunteer students. As part of the project, a series of oral history interviews were conducted with seven shopkeepers from the Grand Bazaar, focusing on its historical and cultural themes. The interviews aimed to explore the shopkeepers’ awareness of the cultural value they are part of and embedded in.
From a theoretical and methodological perspective, the project was evaluated within the field of cultural archaeology. The first phase of the study concluded with a preliminary training held at the Foundation in October and November, followed by fieldwork and oral history interviews conducted in the Grand Bazaar. Audio and video recordings were taken during the interviews, and a short film prepared at the Foundation was shown by Dr. Yalman during her presentation at the symposium Archaeology and Tourism: Heritage in Context II, held on November 28, 2014, at the German Archaeological Institute.
The project's content and outcomes were later presented by Dr. Nurcan Yalman at an international event titled Connected Through Heritage: Developing Regional Network for Heritage and Museum Studies, organized by New York University in Abu Dhabi on April 14, 2015.