ABSTRACT
This paper explores the Museum of Monologues as an example of experiential translation, which generates passages to communicate the built and lived spaces of the city. The Museum of Monologues is a contemporary theatre project that constructs the diverse historical, cultural, social, and lingual texture of Istanbul's Balat district as the source and transforms it from one semiotic system into another with its 15-minute monologue performances. The performances also provide the audience with an intense theatrical experience and bring a new breath to the theatre scene in Istanbul. Focusing on Balat as a translation zone and the source of the project, this paper seeks to examine how the Museum of Monologues transforms narrative and memory into performances and redefines the urban experience by responding to intersecting social and cultural relations. By doing so, this chapter analyses the Museum with an inter-artistic transfer perspective focusing on its performativity, embodiment, and intercultural mediation.
