Author: Eda Yiğit
In the heart of Istanbul’s dynamic Istiklal Street, Tokatlıyan Han stands as a symbol of artistic independence. Once a grand hotel, now a multi-purpose space, this historic building has evolved into a thriving spot where artists, musicians, and cultural workers live, create, and collaborate. From intimate artist studios to the powerful melodies of the music collective Vomank, Tokatlıyan Han embodies the spirit of self-reliance, offering a sanctuary for those who dream beyond convention.
On the left Tokatlıyan Hotel – © Eda Yiğit Archive
On the right Tokatlıyan Han, February 2021 – © Orhan Cem Çetin
As an independent cultural worker or artist, I have been residing in the middle of Istiklal Street, the busiest road of Istanbul situated at the heart of Beyoğlu, characterised by the presence of Tokatlıyan Han,1 a historical building that dates back from 1871 and has functioned for various purposes. The building has once been an hotel, and is now multipurposed, both a block of offices since 1958 and an artistic residence building on its second floor nowadays.
Tokatlıyan Han or Istanbul’s Independent Art Home
In the Han, there are people from various occupational fields such as craftspeople, lawyers, financial consultants and accountants, insures, journalists, and publishers. The cultural workers and artists, on the other hand, have been present here since the very beginning of the Han’s story. Particularly since 2022, its second floor has been serving as a living quarter for the cultural workers and artists where they neighbour each other and display their skill of acting in a collective spirit. The artists are in a heterogenic setting where each exhibit their own distinct practices for producing art, use their particular mediums, but still have the skill of acting collectively. Shape of the daily life in the Han has changed, and continues to change, with the creative touches of the artists. For over two years now, I, too, have been producing my work in my small room on the second floor of the Han. This room is the kitchen of my art works and also an office which I use as an intellectual base.
For the Armenian community, Tokatlıyan has always been an important and highly valued entity in historical, economic, and social aspects. The management, the decision-making mechanisms, and economic potentials of this entity has constantly been the subject of social disputes. The individuals and communities continued to live in this building, which hosted tens of tenants, hold features that are ever so worthy for the cultural ecosystem. At the head of these collective formations, to struggles, troubles and production processes of which I have witnessed in their rooms opening to the corridors of the Han, comes a music group. Focusing more on independence, we talked with the group’s member Ari Hergel about the years of adventure of Vomank2, the music collective that has continued its existence independently since the day it was founded. They have been in Tokatlıyan Han for ten years. This music formation is producing an alternative music with their renovative and creative ways, breathing a fresh air to Armenian music, and opening the place they use in the Han to the benefit of young musicians by turning it into a solidarity-based school. Since they have been preserving their existence with intricate efforts by building themselves a space that is outside the realms of the official ideology and beyond the traditional expectations, the experience they gained in acquiring the nature of self-reliance in musical field and the prices they have paid to remain self-reliant have become an inspiring example for, and they instil hope into, the free-standing structures which produce their works in different disciplines.
On the left, the pattern design workshop held in the Han’s corridor, 2024; On the right, the garden created after the artists have settled in Tokatlıyan Han – © Bilal İmren
A Musical Language
Vomank in Istanbul, places the Armenian culture into their focal point by means of music and language, and seeks a way to express their perception of the world and the geography they live in. They stay close to the traditional Armenian music, but also move around outside these borders. They are under influence of prominent musicians of the Armenian music; they compose music for the poems of Armenian poets; produce unique Turkish and Armenian songs written and composed by themselves. By placing their way of relationship with their geography into an independent frame, they open a space to face and confront the past.
With Vomank, it is not difficult to find the answers to the questions such as “How a musical production affects the survival of a language?” or “What are the conditions of producing music in an independent field?”
“‘Let us produce our own music and lyrics, but also make covers for traditional compositions,’ we said. We wanted to infuse literature into the new generation by composing music on poems of the poets. The Armenian schools are trying to save the Armenian language from extinction, but there are only a few people who produce new things. The Armenian language is wasting away and receding from the field of arts. Scarcely any people who are writing new poems, books, or composing new music. The western Armenian is in the list of languages that face extinction. With these concerns, we hoped that at least the youth will like our music. We are making rock-based music. We wanted to raise awareness that the lyrics belong to a poet and draw people’s attention to who that poet is.” -Ari Hergel
Meeting a not well-known Armenian poet by means of a poem, which is the main body of a song, and feeling a poem through music will surely enliven a language. To penetrate with music into the dynamics of daily life, where the Armenian language has lost power, which alienated its people from speaking and using this language, will support the survival of this language. They, furthermore, do this by adopting an alternative music style that draws young people’s attention and creating a medium of rediscovery.
An Independent Collective Backstage
Independence and self-reliance have been the unique ground where the stones of their production, dialogue, and temporal accumulation are laid. They get away from the familiar, accustomed, risk-free areas which do not bear the chance of becoming unpopular. They try to search for the unfamiliar calls and recitals that they dream about. By this way, they also have lit the candle that will illuminate the path where the young musicians will freely walk in their own creative fields—which makes this collective more than just a music group, rather an independent movement trying to shape a better future for artists in Istanbul, allowing them to grow and experiment.
This is an existence within the independent scene by being nothing else than yourself—it is a game of balance. This is to protect your self-reliance despite the economic deprivations; it is to make your musical desires happen without opting easy and comfortable paths, without leaning towards what is popular, and by bracing yourself for walks on thorny paths. This, at the same time, requires joining forces collectively. The built-together kitchen of the workshop hence has turned into a display of a gathering roof. It has been put together with the ingredients that the group’s members brought from the kitchens of their own homes. The fridge that was given as a gift has become a great source of joy, since if there is no cold beer in the workshop, the atmosphere palls. The kettle, coffee machine, cutlery, plates and glasses, and all kinds of utensils were brought together with this self-help way. Before they started to produce their music in Tokatlıyan Han, the members of Vomank met their needs in the Han by acting shoulder to shoulder.
“It was 2015. We needed a permanent studio (…) We had a sound engineer friend; he was looking for a place too. We found the rooms number 22 and 23 on the second floor. We opened a door between the two rooms. We designed one of the rooms as rehearsal room, and the other as recording studio. We founded a common deposit-box among the members of Vomank for the expenses of decoration, electrical installation, and soundproofing. We brought our own instruments, but more investment was needed. A brother from the Armenian community granted us a loan and thanks to that, we bought all the necessary equipment and started our rehearsals. We paid our loans with the money we earned from the concerts.” -Ari Hergel
On the left, the members of Vomank Group in their studio in Tokatlıyan Han. Standing from left to right: Saro Usta, İlkem Balseçen, Rupen Melkisetoğlu, Tayis Mutlu. Sitting from left to right: Lara Narin, Ari Hergel, 2017. On the right, the cover of Vomank’s album titled “Panalik” – © Vomank
Independence is then seen as a necessity, because being part of a cultural institution means there are possibilities of facing with censoring and controlling mechanisms. Chasing something that is avant-garde (radically new) and producing a piece that contains protest or criticism, bring along the possibility of facing oppression. Producing their music and helping young artists producing theirs by not falling into conflict with official, religious, or civil organisations turns into a difficult equation. The way to make a music that is not liked by the majority without giving an account to anyone is to live off of your own hump. They aimed to build their own style and influencing area, and write their own lyrics in line with their own targets. For this reason, the experience of Vomank has made the indispensability of building your own independent structures clearer.
Every stage of their album titled Panalik, from its design to translation from Armenian to Turkish, from its typesetting to publishing, were carried out inside Tokatlıyan Han3.
Releasing an album with no finance and without expecting any economic gain is a hard business. Only to cover the cost for the translation expense of the album, they received a small amount of financial support from a fund. This support was used for the production of the whole album. It has been re-shared by distributing it fairly among those who spent effort. With also the contributions of Vomank’s community of supporters, they found a way to receive a financial support for this album. Apart from this, the group has continued to find ways of producing without being associated with any institutional supporter.
Furthermore, this has also been a channel through which they have been able to freely affiliate themselves with their own community.
He underlines that for Vomank, Tokatlıyan Han where they produce their music, has been one of the significant pillars upon which they establish their independence and self-reliance. This tempting musical banquet, key of which belongs to them, which they can use whenever they want, where they can play music as long as they want, has become one with the building. Although answering the question, “Would Vomank be if the Han would not exist, or how would it be?” becomes difficult, it would not be wrong to say that the other residents of the Han could lose their polyphony if Vomank would not be there.
Lastly, despite the present political atmosphere in Turkiye, there is also a strong scene where independent structures do exist. There are formidable barriers to pass to be able to move around in this landscape. For those who always bear in their minds the idea of independence and want to fulfil their own existence, the streets and public areas that cannot be touched, the communities with whom relationship cannot be established for fear of oppression and censorship, now and then become subjects of dreams. Thinking over Tokatlıyan Han and Vomank, and many similar projects carry inside the keys and the clues of making the dreams a reality.
1 In brief, the Şark (Eastern) Theatre Hall, which had been built on a land that owned by Beyoğlu Üç Horan Ermeni Kilisesi (the Armenian Church with Three Altars), was damaged in a fire. Following this incidence, on the same land, Tokatlıyan Hotel which used to be run by Mıgırdiç Tokatlıyan, an Armenian came from the city of Tokat, was built. The architect of this building was originally Levantine origin Alexandre Vallaury. This hotel became a place where extravagant tables were laid, ballroom parties and dancing nights were thrown, weddings and circumcision ceremonies were held, where artists, writers, politicians and bureaucrats came together, had conversations and enjoyed meals in its cafe and restaurant.
2 When first formed, Vomank started its music works with Saro Usta, İlkem Balseçen, Lara Narin, Rupen Melkisetoğlu, Gökhan Ölke and İbrahim Odak. Today, the members of the group are Saro Usta, İlkem Balseçen, Lara Narin, Ari Hergel, Tayis Yıldızcı and Rupen Melkisetoğlu.
3 You can find Vomank’s music here.
Published on March 11th, 2025
About the author:
Eda Yiğit completed her Master’s degree in City Planning at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University (MSGSU), and her PhD at the Dept. of Sociology at MSGSU, specialising in social memory studies. She has been involved in the contemporary art/cultural and decision processes at Karşı Sanat Gallery since 2013 and at TÜYAP Art Fair since 2016. Since 2018, she is part of Rubber Hammer art initiative as artist and curator. She is a member in AICA Türkiye and the Association of Museology Professions (MMKD).