About Us
Diyalog Sosyal Girişimcilik Derneği (DİSODER)
The Dialogue Museum was established by the Dialogue Social Entreprise Association, hosted by Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and Metro Istanbul AŞ.
Istanbul Dialogue Museum* is an interactive and immersive museum that is delivered and performed in collaboration with people from disadvantaged and socially excluded backgrounds. The project explores universal questions around isolation, access, creativity, and human connection. The experience seeks to create tolerance and awareness about disability and difference. By bringing people together around arts and culture and creating dialogue and sharing experiences the Museum aims to create a more inclusive society. The Museum hosts a-four-pillar experience:
- Dialogue in the Dark is equipped with exhibitions and events in total darkness where blind facilitators moderate the experiences of visitors.
- Dialogue in Silence is an exhibition about non-verbal communication, where participants discover a repertoire of expression possibilities with the help of deaf and hearing-impaired guides and trainers.
- Dialogue Café employs and trains deaf and hearing-impaired people to become baristas. This enables the public to have dialogue with deaf people as they visit the café and order drinks in Turkish Sign Language (TSL), with assistance of the unique assets and signage around them.
- Dialogue Art events a place for artists from marginalised communities to share their stories through artistic expression. We collaborate with artists in creating an intimate forum for people of all walks of life to engage in thought-provoking conversations.
*ICOM (International Council of Museums) member.
Dialogue in the Dark and Dialogue in the Silence exhibitions, which first started in Germany in 1988 and have been in Turkey since December 2013, are important social enterprise projects that have proven their success in many countries around the world. By being located within a metro station, these experiences also gain significance as a first in the world. Thanks to the support that will serve as an example for all other social enterprise models in Turkey, the project has turned into a permanent Dialogue Museum and is also considered an example among all Dialogue Exhibitions in other countries around the world.
*Dialogue Social Enterprise Association (DİSODER); is a social entrepreneurship association that places the objectives of creating a more participatory social order, generating “measurable” social impact and developing “different” and “innovative” business areas at the center of its business model. It aims to support disadvantaged individuals in overcoming all prejudices, promote respect, support social creativity, and turn differences into a nourishing richness that helps individuals overcome their fears and realize themselves.
