KıraARThane has been established as a co-creating space, converting an old town village coffee house to a dream-like gateway for art, gaming, and innovation.
It aims to invoke a reimagined rural heritage as creative inspiration for the future of games and culture in Ayvalık, Turkiye.
This means that, in today’s game industry, you no longer need to be in a big city to create meaningful work, said Simay Dinc, one of the pioneering women in Turkiye’s game industry. She is the cofounder of Recontact Games with her brother Eray Dinc in Istanbul, Turkiye. They took the earnings from their games and put it into this project.
The renovation work took 18 months.
“My goal was to prove what could be achieved with a minimal budget and a maximum vision,” Simay Dinc said in a message to GamesBeat.
“KıraARThane wasn’t born out of major funding, it was born out of vision. While financial resources were limited, our sense of purpose was limitless. With creative collaborators and a strong connection to the local community, the space came to life through time, dedication and a collective effort built on trust and shared values,” she added.
KıraARThane serves a wide ecosystem: emerging artists, game developers, creative minds and the especially village children, local community. It’s a space where contemporary culture meets rural heritage, Simay Dinc said.
“Young creatives can come here to produce, reflect and grow, while the village benefits from cultural engagement and visibility. We also aim to inspire visitors who are curious about alternative ways of creating and connecting. It’s retro-futuristic place for anyone dreaming of new inspirations from forgotten places,” she said.
She said it was built by a small but deeply committed core team. Everyone involved wore multiple hats from curating programs to physically shaping the space.
“In addition, we collaborate with volunteers, local supporters, artists in residence and partners who believe in the project. It’s a growing community rather than a traditional organization,” Simay Dinc said.
You can live in a village, surrounded by art and culture, and still find the inspiration to produce and launch your vision to the world.
That was the vision of Dinc. KıraARThane as a co-creating space is built exactly for enabling game developers and creatives to thrive in a rural, artistic, and collaborative environment, and to connect globally from a small village.
As Women in Games Turkiye, Dinc’s group hosted Marvin Alfaro, cultural attache of the U.S. Consulate General in Istanbul, at KıraARThane in Ayvalık.
For this special gathering, creative entrepreneurs working in gaming, technology and many more traveled to Küçükköy, Ayvalık for the very first time, from cities like Ankara, Izmir, Denizli and Istanbul.
Together, they explored how to build bridges from a small village to global impact, and how remote work can connect creative minds with the world, especially through the U.S.
This inspiring event was held under the theme: “Beyond Borders: Building Bridges from a Small Village to Global Impact.” It was organized in collaboration with Women in Games Turkiye, KıraARThane, and the U.S. Consulate General in Istanbul.
“Thank you for being part of this special moment in Ayvalık,” Dinc said. “We believe it marks the start of meaningful collaborations that will shape a more impactful and inclusive future.”
She added, “As the founder of both Women in Games Türkiye and KıraARThane, I was deeply proud and filled with hope.”
But for almost a decade, she has also been an impact-driven entrepreneur through KıraARThane, a one-of-a-kind art space and gallery in Ayvalık that challenges traditional norms.
As the cofounder of KıraARThane, she has been bringing together art, gaming, and technology to serve a greater purpose, creating opportunities and space for young talented people.
“Today, I feel incredibly proud to see how all my projects are now connecting under one powerful vision: To create value for the future of creative industries and empower the next generation,” Dinc said. “Thank you to everyone who believed in my vision and never questioned the intensity of my obsession.”
She said, “I’ve never asked myself, ‘Why was this needed?’ I’ve always asked, ‘Why not?’”
Simay Dinc said, “Why not create a place where art, games and rural heritage could meet? Why not open doors for young creatives far from big cities? Why not believe that a small village can be a home for big ideas? KıraARThane exists because we dared to imagine it and because we refused to wait for permission to make it real.”
And she said, “Because there’s a gap. Most creative opportunities are concentrated in big cities, while rural areas are often left behind. We wanted to break that cycle. KıraARThane creates space for imagination, experimentation, and production in a rural context where the pace is slower, nature is present and stories are rich. It was needed to open new doors, both literally and metaphorically.”