Gunseli Yalcinkaya

Gunseli Yalcinkaya is an Internet Folklorist and Associate Curator at Somerset House whose work examines how emerging technologies generate new mythologies and cultural systems. Rather than treating technology as separate from culture, Yalcinkaya investigates the folklore, narratives, and belief systems that emerge alongside digital innovation, positioning herself at the intersection of folklore studies, contemporary culture, and technological change.

Yalcinkaya's track record spans significant institutional projects and editorial roles. As Features Editor at Dazed from 2021 to 2024, she shaped editorial coverage of digital culture and emerging technologies. She co-organized Cybernetic Serendipity: Towards AI at ICA London, a project that explored artificial intelligence through the lens of cultural history and artistic practice. Currently serving as Associate Curator of Abracadabra! at Somerset House (2027), she continues developing exhibitions that probe the relationship between technology, magic, and cultural meaning-making.

Yalcinkaya offers audiences a framework for understanding technology not as neutral infrastructure but as a generator of contemporary mythology. Her perspective reveals how emerging technologies reshape cultural systems and create new forms of folklore in real time. For audiences seeking to understand the cultural dimensions of technological change - beyond hype and speculation - her research provides concrete analysis of how myths, narratives, and belief systems crystallize around new technologies. She demonstrates why attending to folklore and cultural production matters when making sense of our technological present.