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Ufuk Tan Altunkaya was born in 1984 in Villingen, Germany. After studying Economics and Turkish Language & Literature in Izmir he graduated from Theatre Studies master degree in in Istanbul. He continues his PhD in Freie Univesitat Berlin in the Theatre Studies department. 

Ufuk Tan Altunkaya started his career in Izmir, Turkey. He worked in theatres like Theater Gessnerallee, Zurich; garajistanbul, Istanbul; Izmir State Theatre, Izmir. He also had been lecturer at Yeditepe University.

He established his own Theatre company Mekan Arti - a contemporary performing arts company - is a non-profit organization which was established in 2008 in Istanbul.

He has produced and directed/wrote performances and also did the art management in the company with his team. The aim of his company "Mekan Arti" was to have a regular programming of theater, dance and music, producing its own productions for theater, music and dance, managing international and local projects with partners and hosting independent artists and ensembles. The mission of Mekan Arti was to be a local formation of the universal contemporary performing arts and develop cultural transformation model. It aimed to create an innovative, provocative and dynamic center for the presentation of local and international contemporary performing arts productions and to be a meeting point for artists from different disciplines, for audiences from different cultures, languages and regions.

Ufuk Tan Altunkaya tries to find new staging techniques since 2008 and generally focuses on the relations between the audience and the performers. He is well known for his performances like performances for one audience, site-specific plays staged in different areas like abandoned buildings or in the forest in Istanbul. He chooses political topics (like the 1980 military coup, lives of transsexuals in Turkey, political conspiratorial…etc.) and focuses on the recent history of Turkey in his plays. 

The two plays prepared by Ufuk Tan Altunkaya, who focuses especially on political issues, ‘’Bizde Yok’’ about Cumartesi Anneleri, and ‘’Kalem’’ about crimes of thought, was shown at IKSV Theater Festival in previous years.

He still lives in Berlin.