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Logo of Orta Okul, a written orta okul illustrated in a car
A group of kids engaging with different art materials in a space that looks like a gallery
5 women standing in a garden and smiling to the camera. There is an artwork in front of them read YASASIN AKBELEN

ABOUT US

Orta Okul ("Middle School" in English) is a nomadic, multilingual art education platform committed to educational justice, anti-institutional pedagogy, and community-led cultural production. Emerging from a critique of the (un-)conscious elitism embedded in both the art world and formal education systems, Orta Okul challenges who gets to be called an artist, who defines knowledge, and where learning can take place. Physically built from industrial pipes and mounted on a bike trailer, the structure functions as a mobile classroom, exhibition space, and site for collective gathering, easily deployable in public parks, shelters, and informal spaces beyond the reach of bureaucratic regulation.

Rather than offering education for communities, Orta Okul works with communities by co-developing each program based on local needs, lived experiences, and collective decision-making. The project rejects hierarchical models of teaching, favoring horizontal, care-based, and context-specific approaches. It seeks to dismantle colonial-capitalist logics that dominate both cultural institutions and educational infrastructures, while creating accessible alternatives for those excluded by class, language, ability, age, or migration status.

Orta Okul is currently expanding its network through partnerships with grassroots organizations, educators, and cultural workers, aiming to build a translocal model of sustainable, inclusive, and radical pedagogy. At its core, it is both a structure and a statement: a mobile tool for reclaiming public space, reimagining learning, and resisting the erasure of community knowledge.

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Orta Okul is supported by: 

Logo of Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion
Logo of Urbane Praxis Berlin
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