Omar Berakdar is the founder of Arthereistanbul. He is a Syrian photographer and media artist, who also received training in media art history at Donau University in Krems, Austria. He co-curated and took part in many artistic projects in Syria and Turkey, where he arrived in 2012. Berakdar is a collector of photographic heritage, as well as involved in preservation of photographic heritage within the MEPPI project.