http://www.italorondinella.com/

Italo Rondinella, Istanbul (2026)

13/04/2026

My video interview with Iranian artist Rend is now available on Radiotelevisione Svizzera (RSI)

LINK IN BIO

Photo 1 - On the hill where Istanbul’s metro crosses the Golden Horn, the artist wears a mask to conceal his identity.

Photo 2 - In the poetry of Hafez, the concept of “rend” evokes a free-spirited, ironic, rebellious figure who defies convention.

Photo 3 - The Iranian artist at work on his latest graffiti piece.

Photo 4 - Rend in the Karaköy district, on the eastern shore of the Golden Horn in Istanbul.

Photo 5 - In Tehran, graffiti is not only art but also a coded language that challenges censorship and convention.

USA Israel war

12/04/2026

REND, AN IRANIAN ARTIST

by Italo Rondinella

Rend is one of the pen names of the renowned 14th-century Persian poet and mystic Hafez, and also the alias chosen by a contemporary Iranian graphic artist to protect his identity, at a time when the Islamic regime of the Ayatollahs has grown particularly ruthless toward internal dissent.
Born in Tehran into an upper-middle-class, secular, intellectual family, Rend studied art in the United States. While he also paints on canvas, his first passion, discovered in adolescence, was graffiti.
He came of age within Iran’s underground scene, which in the early 2000s was especially vibrant despite government repression.
He now lives in Istanbul but frequently returns to Tehran, where his family still resides. Since the outbreak of the latest war, launched by Israel and the United States against Iran and Lebanon, his parents have joined him in Turkey for safety.
We interviewed him wearing a mask to ensure his anonymity.
His perspective on Iran’s complex political landscape, and on the heavy Israeli-American military strikes against his country, broadens the lens beyond the entrenched polarization between the ruling Shiite fundamentalists and supporters of the former monarchy, backed then, as now, by the United States.
This polarization effectively sidelines the only political force with the legitimacy to fight for regime change in Iran: civil society, embodied by young Iranian women and men whose highest expression is the Woman, Life, Freedom movement.
Before this unacceptable and criminal military aggression, they had already sacrificed many young lives in the struggle for their people’s freedom.
Rend, who also holds U.S. citizenship, spares little criticism for much of the Iranian diaspora that advocates the return of Reza Pahlavi, son of the last Shah. He considers support for U.S. intervention unacceptable, condemning what he describes as the reckless stance of its president, who, gripped by a constant sense of omnipotence, one day promises to restore the greatness of the Persian people, and the next threatens to bomb them “back to the Stone Age”.

06/10/2025

I had the pleasure of collaborating once again with La Biennale di Venezia to photograph and film the Turkish leg of the project THE WIND MAKES THE SKY.

in the Footsteps of Marco Polo: A Special Project by La Biennale di Venezia’s Historical Archive marking the 700th anniversary of the death of Marco Polo (1324–2024), curated by .

Following its inauguration in Hangzhou (China) and its subsequent leg in Venice (Italy), the itinerant installation Amfibio - commissioned by La Biennale di Venezia and created by - continued its journey to Istanbul, where it was hosted at for AMFIBIO SOUND DAYS.

In collaboration with , composers and musicians from Istanbul’s music scene (, , , , ) explored the sonic possibilities of Cevdet Erek’s performative space AMFIBIO over four consecutive evenings, fostering relational exchanges with visitors as they moved through the Feshane garden.

Thanks to the management of La Biennale di Venezia and their wonderful team: , , Andrea Del Mercato, ,

23/09/2025

published a feature about me, my work, and the project that my partner and I founded a year ago

LINK IN BIO

Thanks to for the interview and for writing such a great article

25/07/2025

My video report on the ambitious—and reckless, according to some—infrastructure project named Kanal Istanbul is now available on RSI: https://www.rsi.ch/info/mondo/Kanal-Istanbul-il-controverso-maxi-progetto-di-Erdogan-che-divide-la-Turchia--2999412.html
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Photo 1 - Mert is a livestock farmer living in Baklalı, in the Arnavutköy district of Istanbul. His business—like those of many other farmers and herders in the area—is at risk of disappearing due to the Kanal Istanbul project, which involves converting agricultural land into a high-density urban zone.

Photo 2 - Küçükçekmece is a district of Istanbul located along the coast of the Sea of Marmara, where the southern entrance of the Kanal Istanbul project is planned.

Photo 3 - Kanal Istanbul officially began on June 26, 2021, with the inauguration of the Sazlıdere Bridge (Sazlıdere Köprüsü) by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The bridge, the project’s first piece of infrastructure, will serve to allow road traffic over the future artificial canal.

Photo 4 - TOKİ is the Turkish government agency for public housing. It was founded in 1984 with the mandate to plan, finance, and build housing for low-income social groups. Over the years, it has expanded its role to include post-earthquake reconstruction and large-scale urban planning projects.

Photo 5 - Urbanization of agricultural areas has already begun. Regardless of whether the Kanal Istanbul project is completed, the farming and herding communities living along the proposed canal route are already facing significant consequences.

Photo 6 - Karaburun, with its long sandy beach, is a popular Black Sea resort located in the municipality of Arnavutköy, in the province of Istanbul, where the northern entrance of Kanal Istanbul is expected to be located.
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Thanks to .eldem, , , , , .art and the rural communities we met during our journey

28/06/2025

My report on the escape of Iranian citizens to Turkey, following bombings by the State of Israel, is now available on RSI: https://www.rsi.ch/info/mondo/Le-voci-e-i-volti-di-chi-%C3%A8-fuggito-dall%E2%80%99Iran--2935836.html
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Photo 1 - After an exhausting journey across Iran, this elderly couple crossed the border into Turkey; they are now waiting for a minibus headed to Van as their first stop.

Photo 2 - The Kapıköy border crossing between Iran and Turkey, located about 100 kilometers east of the Turkish city of Van.

Photo 3 - A young Iranian man appears to be in a moment of despair.

Photo 4 - Many of the families fleeing brought their pets with them: some brought dogs, others cats; this family brought their parrot.

Photo 5 - Many Iranians are welcomed at the Turkish border by relatives and fellow citizens who had already left Iran or who, living abroad, came to pick them up.

Photo 6 - Among those leaving Iran, a significant number of families are entering Turkey even just for short periods, to assess how the situation evolves and to protect their young children from the danger and horror of bombings.
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Thanks to , , and all the Iranian and Kurdish friends who prefer to remain anonymous.

26/04/2025

Bologna is celebrating 80 years since the liberation of Italy from Nazi-Fascism.

Piazza Nettuno, Via del Pratello, and La Bolognina – Bologna (Italy), April 25th, 2025

15/04/2025

My new video report on the ongoing peace process between the Turkish State and the PKK
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A DELICATE PEACE PROCESS

by Italo Rondinella

Following an opening to dialogue by Devlet Bahçeli, leader of the far-right MHP (part of the ruling coalition supporting President Erdoğan), PKK founder Abdullah Öcalan has called for an extraordinary congress to end the armed struggle and dissolve the organization.
Nowruz celebrations on March 21, 2025, marking the Kurdish New Year, highlighted hopes for peace and an end to the four-decade conflict between the PKK and the Turkish state. In Diyarbakır—the de facto capital of the Kurds in Turkey—the left-wing, ecologist DEM party, representing the Kurdish movement and holding 57 parliamentary seats, has led the call for peace. MP Ceylan Akça Cupolo stressed that current regional dynamics make this the right moment: "The planets are all aligned," the parliamentarian said. "This is the right time to make the right move. Considering recent developments in the region—the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, the war in Gaza, Iran’s encirclement by Israel—resolving the Turkish-Kurdish conflict is essential; the international context supports this solution."
While the DEM party is clear on its goals, skepticism persists among Kurds, particularly the youth. Their primary demands include the release of political prisoners—especially Selahattin Demirtaş, MP and former co-chair of the Peoples' Democratic Party (now the DEM party), imprisoned since 2016—and official recognition of Kurdish linguistic and cultural rights.
There are fears, however, that Erdoğan’s openness to peace may be a strategic move to win Kurdish backing for a constitutional change that would allow him to run again in 2028, further entrenching his rule. These doubts are heightened by the legal pressure on the opposition CHP, especially the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, Erdoğan’s main rival in the next crucial election.
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Thanks to Ceylan Akça Cupolo, Berfin Coşkun, Sevilay Çelenk Özen, Kurdish Studies Center (KSC), Reha Ruhavioğlu, Baran Yalçınkaya, Stefano Mazzola and Davide Lerner

06/04/2025

My new video report on the protests that broke out in Turkey following the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu is now available on RSI.

LINK IN BIO
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Photo 1 – A street vendor hands out cardboard masks of Ekrem İmamoğlu, Istanbul’s mayor recently arrested for alleged corruption, outside the metro.

Photo 2 – An elderly protester in a Pikachu headpiece. The 1990s pop icon became a protest symbol after footage showed someone in costume fleeing police in Antalya on 28 March.

Photo 3 – CHP officials, organisers of the 29 March 2025 rally in Maltepe, say over 2 million people joined the protest on Istanbul’s Asian side.

Photo 4 – Riot police were out in force at the Maltepe rally, but no clashes were reported.

Photo 5 – Among protesters in both Saraçhane and Maltepe were far-right Grey Wolves. Though claiming to be apolitical and part of a cultural foundation (Idealist Hearths), they are linked to the Zafer Partisi, which holds no seats in parliament.

Photo 6 – Most protesters share a near-idolatrous reverence for Atatürk, founder of the Turkish Republic. The term “nearly” matters, as Kurds, Armenians and other minorities often reject being called “children of the father of the nation”.
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Thanks to Lucia ✨ and /

05/04/2025

My new video report on the protests that broke out in Turkey following the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu: https://www.rsi.ch/info/mondo/I-figli-e-le-figlie-di-Gezi--2730583.html
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THE SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF GEZI
by Italo Rondinella

Not since the Gezi Park protests of 2013 has Turkey witnessed such large-scale public demonstrations of dissent against Erdoğan — and his system of power.
The trigger for the current wave of protests was the detention of Istanbul’s mayor, Ekrem İmamoğlu, who was accused of corruption and aiding a terrorist organisation. This occurred just four days before the CHP’s (the largest opposition party in Turkey) primary elections, which were expected to confirm him as Erdoğan’s main rival in the 2028 presidential elections.
On the morning of 23 March 2025, the Istanbul Court confirmed the mayor’s arrest, at the very moment when 15 million citizens were choosing him as their presidential candidate.
From 19 March 2025 onwards, despite government bans and the threat of brutal police repression, tens of thousands of citizens — mostly young people — gathered in Saraçhane Square, located between Istanbul’s main municipal building and the Roman Aqueduct of Valens, to show their solidarity with Mayor İmamoğlu.
Since then, more than 1,800 people — including journalists — have been taken into police custody, either during the protests or via home arrests in the days that followed, using facial recognition technology.
Even considering its scale, this popular uprising alone does not justify a full comparison with the protests that erupted in Istanbul more than eleven years ago. The motivations behind the dissent share similar social, cultural, and political roots — centred on opposition to Erdoğan’s despotism, now even more pronounced than back then. Nevertheless, the sons and daughters of Gezi are fewer in number than their fathers and mothers and — though equally courageous and resilient — have grown up in a harsher, more authoritarian society.
Yet, they have shown they’ve inherited their parents’ creativity and extraordinary sense of humour — as in the evening when a genius in a Pikachu costume bounced weightlessly between riot police wielding batons, becoming an instant global symbol of the protests, just like the penguins during the Gezi days (at that time, demonstrators mocked the fact that state TV was censoring crucial political news about the unrest by broadcasting penguin documentaries in late spring).
All jokes aside, the protest continues, expanding its actions through boycott campaigns targeting companies linked to the government, as well as by relocating public gatherings. It is an extremely delicate moment for Turkey. The country’s fate, domestically, hinges not only on the ongoing clash between Erdoğan and the CHP, but also on the fragile negotiation table of the peace process with the Kurdish PKK. These issues — and the interests they carry — are deeply intertwined, and it will take time to understand which direction events will ultimately take.
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Thanks to Mert, Kutay, Misra, Riccardo Gasco, Lucia ✨ and Özkan

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Italo Rondinella

13/04/2026

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06/10/2025

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25/07/2025

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