Al Jazeera forum draws 9 confirmed speakers to Istanbul
al jazeera says the World Decolonization Forum will convene in Istanbul on May 11-12 at the Ataturk Cultural Center, bringing scholars, journalists and experts into a two-day program organized by the Institute Social. The forum will examine decolonizing knowledge production and circulation, with organizers placing colonial legacies, occupation policies and algorithmic and data colonialism at the center of the agenda.
The confirmed participants include Walter Mignolo, Mireille Fanon, Lilian Thuram, Guo Changgang, Kemal Sayar, Enis Doko, Joseph Massad, Halil Berktay and Ann Pettifor. Partner institutions listed for the forum are the Al Jazeera Center for Studies, ISAM, Fudan University, the University of Leeds and CLACSO.
Ataturk Cultural Center in Istanbul
The forum is scheduled to take place at the Ataturk Cultural Center, a venue that will host the main discussions on May 11 and May 12. Organizers said experts will examine how colonial legacies continue to shape political, economic and social systems, linking the Istanbul gathering to questions of knowledge production rather than to a single regional dispute.
That focus makes the event broader than a standard academic conference. The program is built around contemporary global crises, including inequalities in education and culture, and it places scholars such as Walter Mignolo alongside figures including Mireille Fanon, Lilian Thuram and Ann Pettifor.
Institute Social and partner institutions
The Institute Social is organizing the forum as the first phase of a three-stage initiative running through 2030. The initiative will include academic publications, online seminars, roundtables and media outputs, giving the Istanbul meeting a role that extends beyond the two days in May.
For readers following the event, the practical timeline is already set. The exhibition The Burden of Humanity: Decolonization Today opens on May 9 at the AKM Art Gallery, the forum runs on May 11-12, and Decolonize Film Days follows at Atlas Cinema on May 13-14 with eight free screenings exploring colonial histories.
AKM Art Gallery and Atlas Cinema
Majid Majidi will attend the opening of the exhibition at the AKM Art Gallery, while Emel Mathlouthi will close the first day of the forum with a concert. Those additions place the Istanbul program on a wider cultural schedule that moves from exhibition to debate to film screenings within five days.
For anyone tracking the forum itself, the next fixed step is the opening of The Burden of Humanity: Decolonization Today on May 9, before the main sessions begin at the Ataturk Cultural Center on May 11.
