Yolda is a collective of artists working in performing arts, primarily focusing on physical and devised theatre. The collective was founded in 2025, in Brno/ Czech Republic, by artists from Czechia, Slovakia, and Turkey. Yolda is walking to build bridges across cultures and disciplines — striving to create a universal language through movement, encounter, and shared experience.
~ the joy of meeting people in the context of art and to share experience.
Being “on the way / walking" is not just a "passage/ passing through", but a practice — to stay curious, responsive, and open, meeting through the ever-changing landscape.
For Yolda, performing arts is about experimenting, experiencing, and sharing. Yolda is exploring how performance can connect people through shared experience rather than presentation. The collective values the process as a living space — a place of encounter and play. The process is not part of the result - the result is part of the process.
Even though the name YOLDA was first chosen for its sound — regardless of its meaning—, its translation — on the way / on the road — reflects its philosophy: Process over result, experience over success, audience over the piece, movement over waiting, searching over finding, playing over achieving. This "way" is a space in which we meet and create together.
Yolda values audience engagement and pays particular attention to moving theatre off the stage. It searches for diverse ways of communication through performing arts. Alongside stage creations, the collective develops community-based projects, autoteatro, participatory performances, devised processes, and tailored workshops for specific groups. It aims to merge the functional and artistic aspects of performing arts — using art both as a form of expression and as a tool for connection — and looks for ways to share artistic tools and experiences with both professionals and non-professionals.
Core Members
~ Yolda is devised by three friends ...
(written by Orkun) Barbora is the one who always finds the four-leaf clover. While walking across endless fields of grass, among thousands of clovers, her hand reaches effortlessly for the one that is rare. Even on a city pavement, she might quietly bend down, and pick up a small four-leaf clover to give you as a gift, as if the clover had been waiting just for that moment. She is the same in her art — holds the ability to notice what others might overlook. You would feel lucky to be around her. Barbora is a dancer, singer, clown, actress, and puppeteer — but above all, she is a performer. She searches for the most honest, finely tuned way to tell the story, not simply to repeat what she has been told. Funny enough - sometimes she might find herself struggling to play a character, and that’s because she insists on keeping sincerity alive. Kindness, openness, genuineness, simplicity, lightness, and a depth within the ordinary are what you might meet with her creation.
Barbora Türkmen
~ performer
(written by Šimon) Orkun is a person who cares. Often, I find him listening, observing, taking his time to understand, so he could relate in the proper way. Orkun chose to study acting and therefore steps into the field of arts primarily as a curious and inventive performer. But the box of 'an actor' is too narrow for him. He's an artist, author, creator... And because he's the person who cares, he uses his experience, understanding and skills to support others as well. That makes him a devoted pedagogue.
Orkun Türkmen
~ performer, facilitator, director
(written by Barbora) Orkun brings together creativity, artistic expression, and playfulness with diligence, reliability, and precision. He often notices things that are almost overlooked — he is someone who gladly chooses the role of the messenger rather than Hamlet. His strong sense of fairness makes him an excellent balancer of discussions and perspectives. Because of this — and also due to his empathy, ability to observe, improvise, and see situations in their wholeness — he is highly skilled in artistic work with communities.
(written by Orkun) Simon is kind, open, and genuinely welcoming — he doesn’t just hear you; he receives you. He is so fully present that he might even miss his train because he was truly listening to you. He embodies the here and now. He welcomes not only your presence, but also your thoughts and your actions. He is creating a space where you feel seen, understood and safe. That same presence lives in his art, he would invite you (the audience) to share that moment of here and now, to become part of the experience rather than just an observer. Simon is a dramaturg, writer, and teacher, — but above all, an imaginer. He might unfold thoughts in unexpected ways, placing them into new, surprising contexts. He has a rare gift for sensing the hidden artistic possibilities within what is not yet born — the potential waiting to take form. He brings energy, positivity, and a sense of creation to his environment. Being around him is inspiring.
Šimon Peták
~ dramaturg, writer, poet, teacher, father, zen buddhist
(written by Barbora) Šimon is a kind and warm-hearted person, an inspiring and multi-dimensional artist, a rare friend, and a wonderful father. He is an excellent listener and observer — he understands different artistic forms, languages, and intentions, and is able to decipher them, truly grasp them, articulate them, and further develop them. Working with Šimon is stimulating, profound, and passionate — he does not see obstacles, but always finds new paths. In the creative process, Šimon knows how to ask the right questions (without imposing his own answers), sparking creative dialogue and helping to clarify the creative process. In his work, he experiments with new forms and explores the field of socially engaged theatre.