Volunteers

Melis Ari-Gürhanli

Melis has long worked in the Finnish NGO sector as an expert particularly on matters related to integration and mental wellbeing. She also is very active in various European and Transatlantic networks connecting people and organizations from diverse backgrounds. She holds masters degrees in social sciences as well as arts.

Melis is one of our founders. She is currently the chair of Kulttuurimaja Kamera ry and the contact person for stakeholder relations as well as advocacy work.

Melis is planning to give seminars on the mental well-being of immigrants for the members of Kulttuurimaja Kamera ry.

More about Melis:

Yonca Güzelpınar A.

Yonca worked in the cinema and television industry in Turkey for many years, directing numerous TV series, documentaries, and programs. Since 2017, she has been organizing the Film Workshop for Turkish-speaking Youth in Helsinki.

Yonca is one of the founders of Kulttuurimaja Kamera ry. She is responsible for organization, events, and communication.

Yonca is the organiser and tutor of our Film Workshops for youngsters. You can read more about the workshops here: Film Workshops

More about Yonca and the workshops she is organising:

N. Emrah Aydinonat

Emrah is a philosopher of economics at the University of Helsinki, primarily interested in how economic models and ideas shape our lives.

He is one of the founders of Kulttuurimaja Kamera Ry, where he manages finances, the website, and logistics. Emrah also designed our logo and website.

He is currently exploring how to design inspirational seminars and meetings for immigrant and multicultural youth in Finland.

More about Emrah:

Aslıhan Oğuz

Aslıhan is a PhD researcher at Tampere Peace Research Institute, working on immigrant foodways and food justice.

With a background in design and sustainability, she worked for many years as a food entrepreneur, organised baking workshops with adults and kids, introduced sustainable diets through catering, and collaborated with grassroots food collectives.

Below are some examples of workshops that Aslıhan has organized in the past or is planning to organize for Kulttuurimaja Kamera ry in 2025. Stay tuned!

  • All things phyllo workshop (for teenagers): In this workshop, we use phyllo like a handcraft tool and make unconventional pies.
  • Focaccia art and bread baking (for kids and teenagers): In this workshop, we learn how to bake bread. We make delicious focaccias and then we decorate them with colourful vegetables, herbs and spices.
  • Let’s cook vegan food (for teenagers): In this workshop, we use all our senses to learn how to cook delicious vegan food, while we discuss about sustainability and biodiversity.

More about Aslıhan:

Doğa Çal

Doğa graduated from the Philosophy department at METU (Middle East Technical University) and completed her MA in Time and Space Studies at the University of the Arts Helsinki. She enjoys working with human interaction and reflecting on different situations. Facilitating art ateliers with children in collaboration with different NGOs has also been a practice of hers.

Doğa will be organising the On Art workshop with Kulttuurimaja Kamera.