Istanbul’s Sounds and Its ‘Creative’ Hubs: Creative Actors Articulating the City into Transnational Networks Through Music

Abstract

This chapter elaborates on creative hubs in Istanbul by taking into consideration four of its music venues, which give stage to various contemporary forms of eclectic genres. It argues that the actors/entrepreneurs of these hubs engage in face-to-face interactions and through Internet technologies with a diverse range of musicians overseas, forming networks transnationally. Babylon, Salon, Minimüzikhol and Peyote in the district of Beyoğlu in Istanbul are the venues which have been scrutinized. Such an engagement and performativity through these hubs articulate the city into various other diverse places and urban topographies, cultures and lifestyles. In this respect, Deleuze and Guattari’s concept of ‘rhizome’ has been utilized to indicate how performativity through these hubs can stand in contrast to the political representations of the contemporary government and its implementation of policies. Babylon and Salon stand more hierarchized, and thus institutionalized, in comparison with Minimüzikhol and Peyote. Nevertheless, a common ground that can be made is that these actors/entrepreneurs can be considered as the curators of these hubs, where the regulatory regime which they had been operating under is becoming destroyed.