We are in unassuming Beşiktaş this week for our gallery walk, where most of the galleries are showing interesting group shows, with a few solo shows also in the mix. Again, as many of the galleries prepare to close for the summer months, this is one of the last chances to see some great art this season.

RUPTURES AND CONVERGENCES

First, pop into Kuad Gallery at Süleyman Seba Caddesi 52 to see the second part of the Ruptures and Convergences exhibition that we covered in a previous blog. Organised as part of the celebrations of the 600th anniversary of diplomatic relation between Turkey and Poland, the exhibition showcases Turkish and Polish artists who debuted in the 1990s or later, and who relate to the mythologies and archetypes deeply rooted in both cultures, yet in the context of today’s geopolitics. Prices from €3,000 to €10,000.

One of Onur Mansız’s works

ONUR MANSIZ’S TRAGEDY

The lower of the two Akaretler streets, Şair Nedim Caddesi, is actually where most of the galleries are located. Art ON at No 4 is hosting the hyperrealist paintings by the young artist, Onur Mansız. In Tragedy, the artist presents his super emotive portraits, that are full of melancholy and dark humour, and invites audiences to confront their own fears. Please enquire directly with the gallery for prices.

Nilbar Güreş, ‘The title of this collage is being a guest’, 2014, mixed media on paper, 74 x 104 x 4.5 cm (framed)

THIS SECRET WORLD THAT EXISTS RIGHT THERE IN PUBLIC

Stay on the same side and past some appealing cafés and boutiques, you will find Rampa’s main exhibition hall at No 20. Inside, Rampa’s first ever group exhibition brings together the works of 16 artists – both veterans and younger talent – from Turkey and beyond.

Ali Taptık, from the series ‘Towards a Flora’ (work in progress), 2014, digital C-print mounted on alubond, 30 x 30cm

Entitled this secret world that exists right there in public, the exhibition was curated by Lara Fresko and Esra Sarıgedik Öktem and focuses on the potentials of interpersonal relations and social movements to envision alternative worlds. Some compelling works spanning a number of disciplines are on offer. Please enquire directly with the gallery for prices.

Selma Gürbüz, ‘Daydream 1’, 2014, diasec print, 112.5 x 150 cm

SELMA GÜRBÜZ’S DAYDREAM

Across the road, at No 21, Rampa’s second space is exhibiting a photography series by the veteran Turkish artist, Selma Gürbüz, a prominent figure in contemporary Turkish painting. ‘Gürbüz’s works are in several public collections,’ says the gallery’s communications manager, Üstüngel Inanç, ‘including The British Museum, Galerie Maeght in Paris, Santral Istanbul, Istanbul Modern, Project 4L and The Painting and Sculpture Musuem in Ankara.’ Audiences know Gübrüz because of her paintings and ink on paper works, but this is the first exhibition that is comprised of her photographs.

Selma Gübrüz, ‘Daydream 14’, 2014, lightbox, 42 x 54 cm

Entitled Daydream, the photographs are quietly emotive, atmospheric shots of foliage – whether in dramatic black and white, or with spots of muted colours. ‘Gübrüz is also working on an ongoing project where she will take the viewers into this world of nature which she has created with a 3D-video with sound,’ continues Inanç. The only painting (150 x 300 cm) and ink on handmade paper work in the exhibition is priced at is €77,000. The photographs are €19,000 and the light boxes are €8,000. All works are unique. Rampa closes on July 12 and the next exhibition will open in mid-September.

Yusuf Aygeç, ‘62’, 2014, mixed tech on paper, 35 x 50 cm

START ‘ART WITHIN REACH’

Two doors down, C.A.M. Galeri has a group show that offers accessible and affordable art for art lovers and collectors, entitled Start ‘Art Within Reach’. ‘I am a big fan of small paper works’, says the gallery’s director, Melek Gencer. ‘I also love going to affordable art fairs that concentrate on young talent. Last year when I was going through our storage, I found that we had many small works from our represented artists so I thought why not make an affordable art show for potential young collectors. I think there are so many people who stay away from contemporary art just because of its unreachable attitude.’ The price range for all works is TL200 to TL4,000.  Yusuf Aygeç new series depicting animals with colourful frames is one of Gencer’s favourites.

Furkan Nuka Birgun, ‘From the islands of fashion’, 2014, 35 x 70 cm

‘Furkan ‘Nuka’ Birgun is a street artist but he has created paper works for this show, which depict islands with many details and characters,’ continues Gencer. Asking her about the current trends in the Turkish art scene, Gencer says that the way works are presented is increasingly important. ‘Rather than just showing a work, you have to present it in an aesthetically pleasing way as most viewers and collectors prefer works that are aesthetically perfect. Two ways to do this is by framing or hanging the work in a unique way.’ The gallery will close on July 19 and reopen on August 19, 2014.

A work by Gazi Sansoy

THEMELESS/CONTACTLESS 4

Next up are two more galleries located on the outskirts of Beşiktaş leading to Teşvikiye. Follow Şair Nedim Caddesi for a few hundred yards, past the daily hustle and bustle of this more humble part of the neighbourhood, and turn left up the steep Hüsrev Gerede Caddesi, a one-way street coming down the hill. About halfway up is Galeri Ilayda, which is not closing for the summer months but, as in previous years, is hosting a group exhibition during this time. Themeless/Contactless 4 is an exhibition showcasing the nine artists represented by the gallery presenting works under no particular theme and each under an unrestricted heading. Prices range between TL5,000 and TL25,000.

Atilla Galip Pinar, ‘Pig’, 2014, acrylic on canvas, 135cm x 85cm

‘To me, Atilla Galip Pinar’s new works are the standout pieces,’ says the gallery’s director, Sebnem Kutal. ‘In these works, humans, animals and plants are transformed and presented within an interior space such as a box. The artist chose the colours and forms fastidiously and considers the psychological reflections of his subjects. As a result, these are chaotically harmonious, powerful works with many layers.’

‘In the contemporary art scene, artists often use a range of materials (including oil, acrylic, latex paint, charcoal, pastels, resin, textile, newspaper clippings) and techniques,’ continues Kutal. ‘Usually, they use a mixture of several styles. The diffusion of borders and divisions among countries, classes and monetary systems has dramatically affected art. Contemporary art often confronts global issues, including economics, politics, illness, sexuality, race, human rights and war. While many artists address these issues, you can see the differences in their various styles.’

Deniz Gökduman, ‘Untitled’, 2005, 30 x 40 cm, 1,000 TL

Next door, RenArt is hosting the Turkish painter Deniz Gökduman. ‘It is possible to consider my works under two major categories: ‘political’ and ‘daily life impressions’,’ says the artist. ‘In my political works, I paints portraits of revolutionist pioneers who left deep marks on Turkish society from the foundation of the Turkish Republic up until now. In the meantime – despite some critics saying that I cannot express myself with painting – I try to communicate with audiences and create both visual and intellectual works by interspersing verses of a poem or sentences from writers on my canvases.’ Prices are TL 1,000–13,000.

Deniz Gökduman, ‘Untitled’, 2014, 84 x 100 cm, 5,000 TL

When asked to comment on the styles and techniques preferred in the Turkish art scene, the gallery’s manager Şeyma Öner says that peinture is becoming increasingly popular. ‘Young artists in Turkey are also rediscovering pop art and photorealism and examining Turkey’s agenda combining these techniques with a political and critical approach.’

Main image courtesy of www.remaxiz.com

Blue: Kuad Gallery, Red – Art ON, Green – Rampa, Yellow – C.A.M. Galeri, Purple – Gallery Ilayada, Magenta – RenArt

Click here for an interactive map.

The Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV) has recently announced that the 14th Istanbul Biennial will take place between September 5th and November 1st, 2015, and that it will be curated by the author and curator, Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev. With research interests spanning artistic practices, art history and the politics of aesthetics, Christov-Bakargiev will seek advice and help from a number of experts and artists, including the visual artist and musician Cevdet Erek, the prominent art historian Griselda Pollock, the French multi-media artist Pierre Huyghe, the curator and academic Chus Martínez, the Los Angeles-based artist and production designer Marcos Lutyens, the renowned Turkish artist Füsun Onur, the German painter and writer Anna Boghiguian, the curator Arlette Quynh-Anh Tran and the South African multi-disciplinary artist William Kentridge.

‘The 14th Istanbul Biennial will look at where to draw the line, to withdraw, to draw upon and to draw out,’ says Christov-Bakargiev rather cryptically. “It will do so offshore, on the flat surfaces with our fingertips but also in the depths, underwater, before the enfolded encoding unfolds.’ 

We are in Beyoğlu (seen from above in the main photo) this week for our gallery walk, with two solo shows, two group shows and a fascinating research exhibition on offer. Again, some of the galleries will be closing for the summer months so get in quick for one more injection of art. Coincidentally, most of the exhibitions covered display black-and-white works, whether photographs or interesting works on paper.

Kezban Arca Batıbeki

DOLLS

We begin at the Tünel side of Istiklal Caddesi where ALAN Istanbul, at No 5 Asmalı Mescit Caddesi, is hosting the provocative, kitsch photographs by the Turkish artist Kezban Arca Batıbeki. In Dolls, Batıbeki’s images are constructed using objects she collects from Turkey and beyond to present viewers with alternate worlds in black and white reminiscent of film noir scenes, but using dolls. Please enquire directly with the gallery for prices.

Erol Eskici, ‘Yüceler Yücesi’, 2014 acrylic on paper, 135 x 35 cm

SUBLIME

Further down the street at No 32, Sanatorium is hosting a group exhibition, entitled Sublime. ‘We decided to do this group exhibition at the request of our represented artists,’ says the gallery’s director, Feza Velicangil. ‘This exhibition is assertive. I can say that each piece has become prominent. Some examples is a new series by Sergen Şehitoğlu, which is inspired by the photographs of Thomas Ruff, the first piece from Ahmet Doğu İpek’s new series and Erol Eskici’s acrylic work on paper.’ Except for Luz Blanco’s piece, which is from the artist’s collection, all pieces are for sale. Prices range between TL1,000 and TL25,000.

Ahmet Doğu İpek, ‘Untitled’, 2014

‘When Feza asked me to curate a show with the gallery’s artists, it was a challenge to find a concept that would relate to all the artists’ practices on a conceptual level,’ begins the show’s curator, Elif Gül Tirben. ‘I could sense that all the artists, in one way or another, were dealing with phenomena that were exceeding them: the city, politics, gender inequalities so I asked the artists to reflect on the “Sublime”, namely the concepts and feelings that overcome us. Most of the artists produced new works. Ahmet Doğu İpek, for instance, drew dreamlike cityscapes with extremely detailed skyscrapers that he calls Building-Porn because of urbanization’s overwhelming effect. I am also very happy with how the works interact with each other in the space. You can see a tranquil, meditative watercolour opposite a photography series abstracted from the sharp objects we use in our daily lives.’

Arik Levy, ‘Iris Black Hole’, acrylic on handmade paper, 95 x 97 cm

CLOSEST DISTANCE

On perpendicular Meşrutiyet Caddesi, Galerist, at No 67 will open a group exhibition this Friday (June 27) of its represented artists, entitled Closest Distance. With a variety of top artists spanning diverse disciplines each focusing on the use of line, this promises to be a satisfying exhibition. Prices are from TL3,000 to TL60,000. ‘The trend in the current cotemporary art world is to try something new,’ says the gallery’s director and the curator of the exhibition, Eda Berkmen. ‘Each artist creates his or her own unique technique, experimenting with old and new materials.’

‘The Guestbook of Nazlı Hamdi’, 1907–1901, Edhem Eldem Collection

NAZLI’S GUESTBOOK

Come back onto İstiklâl Caddesi and, just to the left, the Research Centre for Anatolian Civilisations (RCAC) at No 181 is hosting yet another stimulating exhibition, entitled Nazlı’s Guestbook. ‘This exhibition is a project of the historian and curator Edhem Eldem. He received the guestbook of Nazlı Hamdi (the youngest child of the famed artist, archaeologist and museum director Osman Hamdi Bey) from her daughter Cenan Sarç,’ says RCAC’s events specialist Şeyda Çetin. ‘The guestbook, kept between 1907 and 1911, is an impressive document featuring signatures of leading figures of the time. The original book is on display in a glass case and visitors can read it page by page on the iPad next to it.’

‘Concert programme’, January 31, 1908, engraved silver plaque, Faruk and Zerrin Sarç Collection

‘Another vivid case in the exhibition belongs to Nazlı Hamdi’s music instructor, Michele Virgilio. The score in the notebook was played by the violinist Cecilia Varadi. Visitors can listen to it by touching an imitated gramophone. This piece stands next to a silver plate on which the program of a concert held on January 31, 1908 at the Union Française building in Pera is inscribed. Among the members of prominent families of that era, Nazlı Hamdi is mentioned as the soloist of Beethoven’s third piano concerto,’ continues Çetin.

‘A page from the guestbook of Nazlı Hamdi signed by her music professor, Michele Virgilio’, March 28, 1907, Edhem Eldem Collection

Eldem has been studying the life of Osman Hamdi Bey for many years wanted to explore the boundaries of creating a comprehensive narration based on one specific document of a subjective and arbitrary nature. ‘I think what I enjoyed most when preparing this exhibition was following leads concerning some of the individuals in the notebook,’ says Eldem. ‘This could range from discovering that a photograph in the Gertrude Bell archives registered as ‘a view of the Bosporus’ was in fact a photograph she took of Hamdi’s house in Eskihisar to realising that there were actually two different Max Kemmerichs, father and son, one of whom I was able to identify thanks to a postcard posted on flickr.com by a Texan World War I aficionado. Likewise, it was great to find out that Jeanne Bordes was related to the Reclus brothers, famous geographers-cum-anarchists of the time.’ The RCAC stays open during the summer months.

Elif Suyabatmaz

ELIF SUYABATMAZ’S TRACES OF ISTANBUL

Keep heading down İstiklâl Caddesi, go past the Galatasaray Lycée and turn down the first street on your right. On Turnacıbaşı Caddesi, at No 21, the tiny Gama is hosting the solo exhibition of Elif Suyabatmaz, entitled Traces of Istanbul. ‘The artist took instant photos while walking around Istanbul,’ says the gallery’s director, Şule Claire Altıntaş. ‘She has an exceptional eye and what makes her cutting-edge is that she only takes photos with her iPhone so she fits perfectly into the current art scene.’ Prices range from $250 (10 x 10 cm) to $500 (40 x 40 cm).

Elif Suyabatmaz

‘Suyabatmaz’s technique reflects the current trend: iPhotography. In addition, anything to do with Istanbul right now is very contemporary,’ continues Altıntaş. The gallery closes after this exhibition and reopens on August 15, 2014.

Main image courtesy of WikiMedia Commons.

Key: Blue – ALAN, Red – Sanatorium, Green – Galerist, Yellow – RCAC, Purple – Gama

Click here for the map link. 

This Friday (June 27), a dinner to raise funds for the Syrian plight will be held in the beautiful gardens of the Crimean Memorial Church. The organisers are hoping to raise $1,000 or more for two important causes. A donation of TL75 (£22) per head is suggested, and includes a hearty vegetarian Sri Lankan curry and dessert. To make sure that as much money as possible goes to the causes, please bring your own beer, wine or soft drinks. Please note that the donation amount is only a suggestion and any amount will be accepted.   

Spawning from the Syrian Supper Club, a movement that started in London in 2011 and which involves people holding dinner parties and charging their friends a small amount to fundraise for Syria Relief, the organisers of this dinner are raising money for two important causes.

The first is the Atareb hospital north of Aleppo, which, unless it finds another funding partner by the end of June, will be forced to close. It was first opened in May 2013 as a small A&E unit and then grew to offer 68 beds and a wide range of services – from maternity and neonatal facilities to many outpatient departments, three excellent operating theatres and a laboratory. It cares not only for those injured in the conflict but also non-conflict-related conditions such as cancer, heart disease, asthma and diabetes. It even has a dialysis unit. It provides free healthcare to anyone, regardless or political or faith affiliation. Click here for more information.

The second cause is Syria’s Civil Defence Teams. When the Syrian regime withdrew from areas across northern Syria, public services, including emergency services, collapsed. As the same regime continued its heavy bombing of these areas, local civilians formed makeshift civil defence teams to rescue people trapped inside collapsed buildings. Over the past year, these teams have finally received their first formal training in search and rescue, and now have small amounts of specialised equipment. However, the need is still enormous and includes everything from: vehicles to get to incident sites as quickly as possible, replacement uniforms, gloves and body bags. The teams are made up almost entirely of volunteers – men who used to be bakers, bus drivers, law students or tailors before the war but who are now risking their lives to save others and give their war-battered communities a sense of hope. For more on their training and work, you can watch the 17-minute film, Digging for Life, below.

Main image shows a social media campaign to save the Atareb Hospital.

There is just over a month to apply for The American Turkish Society's Moon and Stars Project autumn grants. The programme provides project and residency grants for burgeoning and established artists.

The residency grants are awarded only to projects under the auspices of an arts and culture organisation in Turkey or the United States, and applicants are required to include an invitation letter from the relevant institution(s) with their application. Grant recipients are also asked to provide a report upon completion of the programme that contains visuals and detailed works about the residency. Project grants, in support of travel and accommodation costs, are extended only to projects that will be exhibited in the United States. Due to limited resources, funding for film production, education programs, attendance to biennials and field/research trips are unfortunately not offered.

Previous recepients include the New York-based new-music ensemble ModernWorks and dance Nejla Yatkin, founder of the NY2 Dance company. The Moon and Stars Project also sponsors the Young Photographers Award (the 2014 shortlisted candidates will be announced in July). 

Click here to download the application form. The deadline is July 31 and successful applicants will be annouced in September. Email info@americanturkishsociety.org for more information.

Bursa and Pergamon have been added to Turkey’s nine other Cultural Sites on the Unesco World Heritage list following a 10-day meeting in Doha which concluded on June 25. The citations are for ‘Bursa and Cumalıkızık: The Birth of the Ottoman Empire’ and ‘Pergamon and its Multi-Layered Cultural Landscape’. The secrets of the Ottomans’ first capital were revealed in Cornucopia 38, The Big Bursa Issue, and Unesco says that the city’s historic centre ‘illustrates the creation of an urban and rural system establishing the Ottoman Empire in the early 14th century’. It identifies the commercial districts of khans, kulliyes (religious institutions), mosques, religious schools, public baths and a kitchen for the poor, as well as the tomb of Orhan Ghazi, founder of the Ottoman dynasty.

Joined in the citation is the nearby village of Cumalıkızık, created to support the capital and known today for its collection of historic buildings.

The citation for Pergamon can be seen as the second for the Classical city. To house the spectacular Pergamon Altar, one of the best known architectural elements in the diaspora of Turkish antiquities, the  Pergamon Museum was built on Berlin’s Museum Island, which was added to the Unesco World Heritage List in 1999.

On one of our last gallery walks for the season before some close up shop for the summer, we are back in Beyoğlu for five group shows, most of which don’t have a subject or a theme.

Duygu Nazlı Akova, ‘Chaos in Cosmos’, 2014, video
, 4’24’’, 
ed 5

YOUNG, FRESH, DIFFERENT

Let’s start at the famous building, packed full of galleries, at No 163 İstiklâl Caddesi. On the second floor of the Mısır Apartment building, Galeri Zilberman’s first space is hosting the group exhibition Young, Fresh, Different. An initiative started by the gallery with the aim of supporting young artists, 14 works – on any theme and in any discipline – were selected from the applications sent in by artists 35 years of age and under.

Sevinç Çalhanoğlu, ‘
Accidentally Chopped Tree’, 2014
, installation, photograph, sound recording, tree log, text

‘Instead of having an award for one participant, we prefer to financially support each artist with a grant of TL500TL,’ says the show’s organiser, Burçak Bingöl. ‘It is important for us to be aware of the work being produced by the new generation of artists and we think the series is a meaningful contribution to the art scene in Istanbul.’ Prices range from around TL500 to TL7,000.

On the third floor, the gallery’s second space is hosting the works of the American artist Kay Rosen, which we covered in a previous blog. The gallery will be closed from August 17 to 26.

Nancy Atakan, ‘Scarves (1935, 1934,1955, 1965, 1975, 1980)’, 2014, silkscreen prints on silk, 5 prints 75 x 75 cm; 1 print 50 x 1125 cm

GROUP EXHIBITION

On the fourth floor, Pi Artworks is opening a group exhibition this Friday (July 4) culminating the works of five artists represented by the gallery. What is unique about this exhibition is that it is being partly curated by the artists themselves, and will run throughout the summer. Please enquire directly with the gallery for prices.

Above is a work by one of the exhibited artists, Nancy Atakan. It is part of a series of five drawings resembling designs for square European-styled silk headscarves that were first manufactured in Turkey in the 1930s, and were worn by urban middle-class women for the next 50 years without religious or political connotations. ‘The borders around my designs were abstracted from photographs I took in January 2014 while visiting an Iznik tile factory,’ says the artist. ‘I combined the traditional with the modern, the east with the west, and fact with fiction in designs for objects that play a role in human relationships and interactions, objects that have become political symbols, objects that demarcate gender, objects that tell stories, objects that members of my family no longer wear.’

Nazif Topçuoğlu, ‘Wheelchair 1’, 2014, diasec, 120 x 80 cm

SUMMER SHOW

Opposite, Galeri Nev is similarly hosting a group exhibition, entitled simply Summer Show, with works by the gallery’s represented artists, to no particular theme.

Ali Kazma, ‘Untitled’, 2013, photo from the archive, 56 x 84 cm

‘We did not work with a curator for our summer show,’ says the gallery’s manager, Ibrahim Cansızoğlu. ‘The main idea is to introduce the recent practices of our artists to the predominantly international audience of visitors during the summer.’ Prices range from €1,200 to €100,000. 

The winning work by Burcu Yağcıoğlu

AKBANK CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS’ PRIZE 2014

Exit the building and head down İstiklâl Caddesi towards Taksim Square. At No 8, Akbank Sanat is exhibiting the prize winners and the runners-up of the Akbank Contemporary Artists’ Prize 2014. Announced on June 3rd when the exhibition opened, the first prize went to Burcu Yağcıoğlu (above), the second to Berat Işık and the third to İhsan Oturmak (below). The works are not for sale and the gallery closes until mid-September after this exhibition.

İhsan Oturmak

One of the judges and the exhibition’s organiser, Katia Anguelova, says that a possible mapping of current artistic research practices must take into account the large variety of artists, many from non-Western cultures and the ever-increasing number of exhibition opportunities. ‘A non-exhaustive list could start with the core issues in today’s cultural system: the relationship between disciplines, the encounters with different cultures, the various social and gender questions, the impact of new technologies, urban development and organization, and historical legacy,’ she says. ‘Some artists take inspirations from their direct experiences, travelling or crossing urban spaces; others develop their work in an anthropological sense, as a reconstruction of the historical memory of places or communities to propose new or alternative scenarios. Others work with issues such as the relationship between reality, representation and interpretation through the medium of cinema or the entertainment industry. The physical relationship to space is another important point that many artists explore today.’

Artur Malewski, ‘Agnusek’, 2014, sculpture (dust from the Polish Cathedral), 9 x 6 x 4 cm

POLES

Keep heading towards Taksim Square and when you are there, cross to the parallel Sıraserviler Caddesi, where at No 10, The Empire Project is hosting Poles, an exhibition organised both in the scope of the 600th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Turkey and Poland, and as an extension of the 4th edition of the Mediations Biennale in Posnan, Poland. The gallery’s founder Kerimcan Güleryüz is co-curating the main exhibit of the biennial, ‘Berlin Heist’, with Shaheen Merali. ‘We are very excited to examine the city of Berlin and delve into what makes it tick, why it is such a cultural magnet for artists worldwide and what effect it is having on the cultural landscape of Germany as a whole’, says Güleryüz. The biennial will open in Poznan on September 21. Meanwhile, the exhibition at The Empire Project is curated by the Polish artist, Tomasz Wendland. Prices range from €500 to €5,000. The gallery will close on July 20 for the summer months. 

Sławomir Sobczak, ‘Against the Wind’, 2014, interactive object, 88 x 88 x 12 cm

‘There are two works that stand out for me in particular,’ says Güleryüz. ‘The first is “Agnusek” by Artur Malewski. Agnusek is an old term for Easter Lamb, which is traditionally a cake that gets blessed or sometimes a butter mould of a lamb that gets consecrated. Here, the artist gathered the dust from the Polish Cathedral and made it into a sculptural form.’ The other standout work for Güleryüz is the interactive piece by Sławomir Sobczak.

Main image from www.beyogluinfo.com/beyoglu-ruyasi.

Key: Blue – Mısır Apartment (Galeri Zilberman, Pi Artworks, Galeri Nev), Red – Akbank Sanat, Yellow – The Empire Project

Click here for the interactive map.

Cool off with some hot jazz: the 21st Istanbul Jazz Festival opened yesterday with a concert by FOURinthePOCKET, a band formed by young Istanbul-based musicians, and will run until July 16.

As in previous years – and especially recently – the festival features a wide variety of musicians from every corner of the globe whose musical styles can span beyond jazz. There’s blues, pop, world music and a fusion of all three, but for purists, artists who more traditionally fit into the jazz genre are also performing. See below for some of our highlights.

Tonight is the Turkish premiere of the composer Zülfü Livaneli’s new piece ‘Mevlana Suite – The Eternal Day’, which features Livaneli’s compositions based on the English versions of Rumi’s poetry that will be performed by the Henning Schmiedt Ensemble accompanied by a rich orchestra. The German singer Romy Camerun joins on vocals and the young Turkish musician Burcu Karadağ plays a reed instrument. The venue is likewise unique: the 16th-century Sepetçiler Kasrı (Basketmasters’ Kiosk), the only surviving pavilion from the Topkapı Palace’s Outer Yard.

Tomorrow evening, as part of the anniversary commemorating 600 years of diplomatic relations between Turkey and Poland, the Możdżer Danielsson Fresco Trio (comprised the Polish pianist Leszek Możdżer, the Swedish double bass player Lars Danielsson and the Israeli percussionist Zohar Fresco) will be joined on stage by the renowned Polish trumpeter and composer Tomasz Stańko for a night of improvised, dynamic jazz. 

‘A Strange Place for Jazz’ will this year take place at the courtyard of the Istanbul High School – a strange place for jazz indeed. The performing musicians are first-rate, however, and include the Children of Light Trio formed by the world-renowned jazz pianist Danilo Pérez, the bass guitar virtuoso John Patitucci and the drummer Brian Blade, with the American bassist and composer Derrick Hodge warming up the crowd.

The headliners of the festival are Hugh Laurie perhaps better known as Dr House from the popular television series of the same name, who performs on the 9th, and the British-Georgian pop singer Katie Melua who performs on the 10th.

Other highlights include Chick Corea and Stanley Clark, two eponymous masters of modern jazz, on the 8th, and the Grammy Award-winning Beninoise singer-songwriter and activist Angélique Kidjo on the 14th, who is sure to wow audiences with her colourful costumes and commanding stage presence.

This year, the ‘Encounters with Masters’ series continues with a concert on the 16th featuring some of the most popular musicians in Turkey: the jazz vocalist Yıldız İbrahimova, the jazz guitarist Önder Focan (who is also the creative director at Nardis Jazz Club), the master trumpeter Şenova Ülker, the talented oud player Fatih Ahıskalı and the young drummer Ferit Odman, a rising musician in the Turkish jazz scene. They will be joined on stage by Salman Gambarov, one of the most important musicians of the Azerbaijani jazz scene.

Salon IKSV will also host the ‘European Jazz Club’, a series that perhaps attracts a younger crowd and is in a way more accessible. Highlights include the Turkish guitar virtuoso and composer Timuçin Şahin and the English musician John Escreet on the 9th and the Elvan Aracı Trio, featuring the silky vocals of the popular jazz songstress Dilek Sert Erdoğan and the Swedish double bass player Per-Ola Gadd on the 11th.

A full programme is available from the festival’s website and tickets can be purchased from Biletix.

Main image shows Brian Blade and John Patitucci from the Children of Light Trio. Photo by Alexey Karpovich.

For our last gallery walk of the season, we are in Istanbul’s gallery hub, Karaköy/Tophane, for five diverse group shows.

Hale Tenger, ‘Balloons on the Sea’, 2011, 7-channel, video installation, colour with sound, audio by Serdar Ateşer, 5’ 40”, courtesy of the artist, Green Art Gallery and Galeri Nev

Let’s start at Istanbul Modern (main image) on Meclis-i Mebusan Caddesi (visible from the Tophane tram stop), which is offering a new temporary exhibition. In the scope of its 10th anniversary (the museum was founded in 2004 and has since hosted more than 100 exhibitions and welcomed over five million visitors), Istanbul Modern is organising number of events emphasizing its multidisciplinary approach. The first exhibition in the series, Neighbours, concluded in June and focused on storytelling and narratives. The current exhibition, Plurivocality, is the first-ever group exhibition in Turkey to explore the relationship between visual arts and music. Over 40 works from 17 artists of different generations are exhibited and they are all ‘precious’, says the show’s curator, Çelenk Bafra.

Ergin Çavuşoğlu, ‘Quintet without Borders’, 2007, five channel video installation, colour with sound, 21’ 21”, a collaboration with Konstantin Bojanov, courtesy of the artist and Rampa Istanbul

For her video work and the accompanying sculpture (above), Ergin Çavuşoğlu collaborated with the Bulgarian film director Konstantin Bojanov. The artist sets out to question notions such as identity, culture and borders through music performed by five Romany musicians under the lead of the late clarinet virtuoso, Selim Sesler. The emotive work is being exhibited for the first time. Meanwhile, in ‘Balloons on the Sea’ (above top), Hale Tenger uses a variety of images and music composed by the musician Serdar Ateşer to explore the dilemmas of an individual torn between reality and illusion. Another new work is Nevin Aladağ’s three-channel video installation ‘Session’ (below), commissioned by the Sharjah Biennial in 2013, in which the artist focuses on the interplay of percussion instruments around the city.

Nevin Aladağ, ‘Session’, 2013, 3-channel video installation, colour with sound, each: 6’, courtesy of the artist, Wentrup Gallery and Rampa Istanbul

‘It’s hard to determine a single trend or even trends in contemporary art in Turkey or anywhere else,’ says Bafra. ‘But, in terms of media and aesthetics, large-scale fine art photography and hyperrealist or contemporary abstract paintings seem to be in demand by local collectors these days. The scene is more and more oriented by art fairs and galleries instead of biennials and museums, which was not the case even five years ago. What matters to me most is that the research projects and open archives that engage with the socio-cultural and political history of the country are being fuelled by a young generation of artists/researchers through the initiatives of independent centres.’

‘Nur’, 2013, C-Print, 80 x 120 cm

On parallel Mumhane Caddesi, at No 67, artSümer is hosting a summer exhibition, which is displaying the works of five artists represented by artSümer. Coincidentally – or not – many of the works in Summer Combo have a summery feel: the photographs and paintings show scenes of the beach, use bright colours or have youthful appeal. Please enquire directly with the gallery for prices.

Kasa Galeri, ‘Installation view’ showing Paolo Cirio’s work on the left

Come back onto Kemeraltı Caddesi and head west. When you come to the hustle and bustle of Karaköy Square, take a steep right onto Bankalar Caddesi. At No 2, Sabancı University’s downtown arts and culture centre, Kasa Galeri is hosting an interesting group exhibition. An Opera of Labour and Revolution came out as a side project which the co-curator Susanne Jaschko was involved in: a publication entitled Red Art – New Utopias in Data Capitalism, published in May 2014. ‘The publication explores what ‘red’ art could be in today’s post-communist, post-utopian world, a world shaken by conflicts engendered by contrary beliefs and ideologies which have little to do with communism. It also looks at ‘data capitalism’, meaning that is data becoming an object of production and trade,’ explains Jaschko. 

Revital Cohen and Tuur van Balen, ‘75 Watt’, video

Although it is impossible for Jaschko to identify a piece that stands out in the exhibition, she mentions that the above work by the artist duo Revital Cohen and Tuur van Balen was recently acquired by MoMa in New York. Paolo Cirio, whose latest project ‘Global Governance’ is also being displayed (above top), recently won the Golden Nica of the Arts Electronica.

‘If there were such a thing as a trend, I would say it is the increase of film works which attempt to expand the language of both video and cinema,’ says Jaschko. ‘Often these works are part of a bigger project that might also involve other media such as drawing, sculpture, text or photography. ‘75 Watt’ is one such example. Also more artists are building their artistic practice on the basis of extensive, almost scientific research. Personally, I am interested in exploring participation as a medium in art.’

Sema Özevin, ‘Paradoxical Loop’, 2013, premium pigment on paper, print application magnet sandwich, 106 x 212 cm

Come back down Kemeraltı Caddesi and head back towards the Tophane tram stop. After about a five-minute walk, turn left down Boğazkesen Caddesi, the street which leads all the way to İstiklâl Caddesi. At No 45, Mixer has a show finishing in a few days but starts its new exhibition next Wednesday (July 16) that will run throughout the summer. ‘Non-existing images builds its theoretical framework on the multi-layered relationship between the image and the viewer,’ says the gallery’s manager, Bengü Gün. ‘Every work was thoughtfully chosen so it is difficult to name a standout piece,’ she continues. ‘However, I find Sema Özevin’s interactive work appealing. It shows the human body in all its squirms and curves, and the tension within the work reflects on its form.’ Prices range between TL500 and TL7,000.

Ömür Alptekin, ‘Untitled’, 2014, ink on paper, 40 x 30cm

‘It is no longer possible to talk about trends in the contemporary art scene because there are no trends,’ begins the show’s co-curator, Elvin Vural. ‘But new media is definitely on the rise.’

Murat Can Kurşun, ‘Pink Elephant and Unconscious Analysis – Dream’, 2013, 70 x 35 cm

Keeping heading up Boğazkesen Caddesi and across the road at No 76, Daire Gallery is hosting the group exhibition, Focus 1: Free Association, which is in its last week. ‘The ‘Focus’ exhibition series gives a chance to select and show works of the artists who send us their portfolios throughout the year,’ says the gallery’s founder, Selin Söl. ‘The first in the series focuses on free association, which coincidentally insinuates freedom of association,’ she continues. Söl says she is quite fond of the surrealist photography by Murat Can Kurşun, ‘especially considering the recent political turmoil Turkey has gone through in the past year’. Prices range from TL1,250 to TL7,500.

Jacqueline Roditi, ‘Gezipark’

Commenting on the trends in the Turkish contemporary art scene, Söl believes digital works are becoming more prolific. The gallery closes after this exhibition and will re-open on August 5.

Main photo courtesy of WikiMedia Commons.

Key: Blue – Istanbul Modern, Red – artSümer, Green – Kasa Galeri, Yellow – Mixer, Purple – Daire Gallery

Click here for the interactive map.

I walk most days past Aslanyataği Street in the Cihangir neighbourhood of Istanbul – which translates as the Lion’s Den. It is a tiny loop of an alleyway and  I know it better for a particular building called Jones Apt which was home to the Mango family, scions of the Levent who went on to become sturdy pillars of the British establishment. Andrew (b 1926), whom I regarded as a dear friend, has just passed away and all of us who have spent careers trying to make sense of modern Turkey feel the loss. Summing up so vigorous a personality will be a task we now face. He is known for his comprehensive biography of Atatürk, but that tome, a life’s work for a lesser talent, was merely a project for his retirement. He started out as a Persian scholar, with a doctorate from SOAS and went on to head the South European Service of the BBC external service.

What puzzles me still is that I could feel such great affection for a man with whom I disagreed about most things. I suppose the great fun and challenge was trying to get a point past his sharp intellect – no easier than trying to dribble past Germany’s mid-field. He was, above all a cynic, he would probably say a realist, who saw politicians and societies as no better than they ought to be. And if he based his analysis on what would happen rather than what should, who could fault him for that. This made him an intimate friend of the Turkey he left behind as a youth, but never abandoned. He understood its frailties all too well and loved it all the same.

I don’t suppose he would have minded that some bright spark in the local municipality has changed the name of  Aslanyataği to Dr Mehmet Öz  Street, in honour of the television doctor (the  medical Oprah) now infamous for endorsing dietary nostrums of no proven worth. I mind desperately.  It’s not that I want it changed to Andrew Mango Street but that I remember the lion who once lived there.

Our condolences to Mary and the rest of the family. If we miss him already,  we can begin to understand the sadness they must feel.

This week, the water in my apartment in Beşiktaş was turned off, for at least an hour, every day. Tuesday proved particularly challenging as the water was off almost the entire day. As reported in the Cihan newspaper on July 3, the Istanbul Waterworks Authority (ISKI) has been resorting to water cuts in parts of the city because, apparently, it’s doing maintenance on the pipelines. But the city’s residents suspect that the real reason water is being cut off is for something else entirely: the city’s glaring drought problem.

It’s no secret that reservoir volumes have reached critical levels across Turkey due to the lack of rain in the winter and spring, and it seems the heavy rains last month didn’t do much to help the situation. The winter was one of the driest in history, and as of July 3, ISKI’s data showed that the reservoirs were at 23.28 percent, the lowest in 10 months. The city is also receiving almost 300,000 less cubic metres of water per day than is requires. Back in April, Balkaneu.com reported that the drought has left water levels in reservoirs running seriously low, especially in eastern and southeastern Anatolia, and that this may prompt Turkey to import electricity from Bulgaria, Iran and Georgia to prevent power cuts this summer. And as early as February, Istanbul’s mayor Kadir Topbaş admitted via Twitter that Istanbul was experiencing a drought.

The periodic water cuts started on June 20, reports Cihan, and last week locals residing in the districts of Bağcılar, Bahçelievler, Yenibosna, Üsküdar, Çamlıca, Arnavutköy, Bayrampaşa, Beylikdüzü, Esenyurt, Eyüp and Fatih suffered water cuts of up to 10 hours per day. Although ISKI was announcing when and where the cuts would be on its website, this information often proved inaccurate. It reached Beşiktaş this week and a friend in Şişli told me that the water in her apartment was turned off almost daily. And, Beyoğlu? Well, poor Beyoğlu experiences a water cut one day, a power cut the next. On June 26, shops and restaurants all along İstiklâl Caddesi were experiencing recurring electricity cuts. I was enjoying a nice cheese platter at a wine bar just off İstiklâl on Yeni Çarşı Caddesi when all the lights and music went off. Nothing like a bit of dinner in the dark.

Despite all this, government officials don’t seem to be too concerned. In a written statement released last month, as reported in Today's Zaman, the Forestry and Water Affairs Minister Veysel Eroğlu told Istanbul’s residents ‘not to worry about the water shortages as all planning up to 2040 has been done’. Besides this statement not really addressing the issue, it completely contradicts what he said earlier this year, as reported in Hürriyet on February 17: ‘There won’t be a lack of water. We will provide water, don’t worry.’

The Head of the Water Resources Program at the World Wildlife Fund, Bahar Dıvrak, recommends an integrated management plan for the 25 underground water tables in Turkey. ‘In addition to a comprehensive national water law, Turkey should introduce sustainable water policies in line with international standards to avoid a water shortage. Deep-rooted changes with regard to water usage and a general position on water resource management must be introduced,’ she told the Anadolu Agency.

As Turkey is not a water-rich country, it has to be very careful. According to a World Wide Fund report, Turkey will face ‘irredeemable’ water shortages, especially after 2050, if it continues to consume water at its current pace. The report also says that Turkish water resources will be used to full capacity by 2030.

Droughts in Turkey are nothing new. Climateadaption.eu discloses that the country is exposed to drought hazards frequently. Droughts have been recorded in 1804, 1976, 1928, in the 1930s and between 1970 and 1974. The late 1980s proved to be the hardest drought years, especially for southeastern Anatolia.

The government clearly knew what was coming. In the April 27 edition of Today’s Zaman, Sıtkı Erduran, from the Chamber of Meteorological Engineers, said that the Chamber had warned the government to put together risk management plans for the drought several times, but that government officials continued to neglect the issue and failed to take necessary precautions. Erduran added that the problem cannot be resolved with temporary measures and that instead a forward-thinking plan should be implemented.

The drought also hurts agricultural production. Turkey’s wheat harvest, for example, is expected to drop by 14.3 percent this year due to the low rainfall the country has experienced from September 2013, said a report released by the Turkish Union of Agricultural Chambers (TZOB) earlier this year.

A few reasons have been identified on why the management of this drought has been so shocking, with poor urban planning at the forefront of the discussion. Umit Sahin, the former chairman of Turkey’s Green Party, told DW in February that ‘Istanbul’s urban sprawl has overtaken fields, forests, wetlands and other areas where water resources lie’. He said that although the Istanbul metropolitan municipality has begun to build dams and new water channels, the growing population has prompted the rerouting of water from sources outside the city, such as the Istranca Mountains near Bulgaria and the Melen River, around 180 kilometres away. Sahin underlines that this method is not sustainable as all it does it take water from another eco-system. Nilsun Ince, an environmental scientist at Boğaziçi University, said that ‘bad water management and the resulting shortages have always been a problem of this city.’ She added that good management begins with controlling population growth and thus demand.

Megaprojects, especially in the northern part of the city, are also heavily affecting Istanbul’s eco-system. In the same DW article, Sahin warns that megaprojects such as the third airport and the third bridge would destroy the eco-system in the north.

The few intermittent days of torrential rain in June, which started in the first days and continued into the middle of the month, didn’t seem to have much effect on the reservoir levels. Instead, they caused local flooding and created utter chaos. The worst affected areas were the coastal parts of Üsküdar and Ümraniye on the Anatolian side of Istanbul. On the 2nd, heavy rains caused a shopping centre in Bayrampaşa to become inaccessible. Meanwhile, bridges and overpasses turned into artificial waterfalls. The Daily Sabah reported on June 6 that ‘heavy rains sparked flooding across the country, wreaking havoc in several provinces’, including Zonguldak, where 90.2 kilograms of rain per square metre fell in one of its districts, Devrek, and the Acılık River which burst its bank and submerged large parts of the region. Ankara was hit as well and at nearby Çankırı, a 9-year-old boy drowned while his family barely escaped, reported Today’s Zaman also on June 6. The floods also hit Honaz, a district of Denizli in western Turkey, where the relentless rain had an adverse effect and destroyed crops. Other hit areas were Mudurnu, a district of the northern province of Bolu, as well as in four provinces in southern Turkey: Adana, Osmaniye, Hatay and Kahramanmaraş.

On June 16, the rains continued and on my way en route to Levent, I was stuck for 40 minutes as it rained cats and dogs. Two days later, I took some visitors to the Spice Bazaar when the heavy rains struck again. Having no choice but to walk ankle deep in water to get inside a café and wait it out, the scene in Eminönü when the rains finally subsided was nothing short of apocalyptic. Reading the news later, I discovered that a tornado hit Istanbul’s Tuzla neighbourhood, a tornado (see above video) strong enough to ‘flip cars over, rip trees by the roots and blow roofs off of houses’, as reported by Daily Sabah on June 19. 

Although climate change is a lot harder to control, there’s no excuse for poor urban planning and no forward thinking. It is high time the government pulls its finger out. I want to be able to have my shower in the morning, especially in these hot summer days.

For some related art, the Bozlu Art Project in Nişantaşı is currently hosting an exhibition in which 13 artists explore human intervention in nature through painting, sculpture and video art. Curated by Özlem Inay Erten, Climate Change will run until August 16.

Main image courtesy of WikiMedia Commons.

As many of the city’s galleries close up shop for the summer, our gallery walks are also on a hiatus until September. But some galleries, museums and art institutions are still hosting a plethora of exciting exhibitions during the next two months. We bring you a round-up, by neighbourhood.

‘Plurovicality’ exhibition view

In Karaköy, head straight to the daddy of contemporary art, Istanbul Modern. Celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, the museum has staged a number of special events and shows. The latest is Plurovicality, an exhibition investigating the relationship between auditory and visual arts in Turkey. Curated by Çelenk Bafra and Levent Çalıkoğlu, the museum’s chief curator, the paintings, sculptures, videos and installations on display shed light on the cultural and socio-political role that sound and music play in Turkey and Turkish art practices. Seventeen important Turkish artists are exhibited, including the Cypriot-born couturier Hussein Chalayan, the late abstract painter Burhan Doğançay, one of Turkey’s pioneering contemporary artists Füsun Onur and the renowned conceptual artist Sarkis. The exhibition runs through to November 27. 

At the Photography Gallery, a new exhibition brings together a compilation of photographs from the Nar Photos archives, which present a panorama of events that took place in Turkey’s history and thus act as a sort of collective memory of the country’s recent past. On the Road was curated by Sena Çakırkaya and features 75 photographs from 20 artists. The emotive photographs show Turkish cities and urban transformation; migrants; the night life; celebrations; panoramas of diverse geographies such as Kars and Ararat; Armenians, Kurds, Greeks, Assyrians and their ceremonies; seasonal workers; strikes; and LGBT and women’s marches. The exhibition concludes on November 9.

On Boğazkesen Caddesi, Mixer has a new exhibition starting tomorrow (July 16), which brings together artists working in various disciplines to explore the multi-layered relationship which exists between the image and the viewer. Non-existing images was curated by Mehmet Kahraman and Elvin Vural and runs until September 14. Works are for sale and prices range between TL500 and TL7,000.

Füsun Onur, 'Dream of Old Furniture', 1985, installation view, photo: Murat Germen

In Beyoğlu, İstiklâl Caddesi has quite a few things of interest. At No 211, ARTER continues its exemplary 2014 season with a comprehensive exhibition by the abovementioned Füsun Onur. Curated by the gallery’s Exhibitions Director, Emre Baykal, the show borrows its title from Lewis Carroll’s famous book Through the Looking Glass, and brings together more than 40 works spanning the artist’s entire career. Focusing on the strategies that Onur has developed in order to expand the boundaries of painting and sculpture, there are early abstract geometric drawings, sculptures presented as linear drawings, three-dimensional spatial objects and installations that employ ordinary materials such as furniture, textiles, beads and toys on display. The exhibition runs until August 17.

Photo: Hasan Deniz

At No 181, the RCAC starts a new exhibition this Friday (July 18). An Innocent City: Modern Musings on Everyday Istanbul focuses on the everyday objects of Istanbul. The objects presented in the exhibition are inspired by the ones on display in the nearby The Museum of Innocence in Çukurcuma, a museum initiated from Orhan Pamuk's novel of the same name. Graduate students from Koç University chose 12 objects from the museum and researched their origins and history, and so this unique exhibition aims to bring an alternative perspective on the cultural heritage of the city through everyday objects such as a tea cup or a hairpin. The exhibition runs until September 3.

İnci Eviner, ‘Untitled’, 2010, ink on paper, 30x30 cm

In the famous apartment building packed with galleries, Mısır Apartment at No 163, Galeri Nev on the fourth floor is hosting a Summer Show which displays works by selected gallery’s artists including the renowned video artist Ali Kazma, İnci Eviner whose work deals with the tensions and complexities of being female in a country which straddles east and west, and the multidisciplinary artist Murat Morova, amongst others. Prices range from €1,200 to €100,000 and the show runs through to September 27.

Across the hall, Pi Artworks is likewise hosting a Summer Show of its represented artists including Nancy Atakan, Osman Dinç, Nejat Sati, Horosan and Ümmühan Yörük. The show is partly curated by the artists themselves and runs until September 12. Prices range from TL2,000 TL to TL70,000.

Joakim Eskildsen, ‘American Realities Series: Spirit Grass (South Dakota)’, photography, pigment print on archival paper, Edition of 7 + 2 AP, 91.5 x 109.5 cm (with frame), 89 x 107 cm, 2011

In Nişantaşı, x-ist hosts Collected North, an exhibition which brings together a selection of works from five internationally known photographers who all belong to the Helsinki School of Photography. The Helsinki School, which was initiated in the mid-1990s in the Photographic Department of Aalto University, has since become one of the most recognisable programmes of its kind and is an educational leader in how we perceive, interpret and use the photographic process in the 21st century. Works are for sale and prices range between €2,000 and €8,000. The exhibition runs through to September 6.

At the Bozlu Art Project, 13 artists explore human intervention in nature through painting, sculpture and video works. Curated by Özlem Inay Erten, Climate Change runs until August 16. Works are for sale but please enquire directly with the gallery for prices.

Galeri Işık is hosting an exhibition showcasing the works of the latest graduates of Işık University’s Fine Arts Faculty in Graduates 2014. Please enquire directly with the gallery for prices. The exhibition runs until August 25.

Barış Cihanoğlu, ‘Ophelia’, 2014, oil on canvas, 165 x 135, TL13,000, Galeri Ilayda

Not much in Beşiktaş, but Galeri Ilayda is offering a group exhibition of its represented artists. Themeless/Contactless 4 brings together paintings, sculptures and mixed-media works by the gallery’s nine represented artists. Prices range between TL5,000 and TL25,000 and the exhibition runs until August 31.

Sakıp Sabancı by Kutluğ Ataman

Further afield, the Sakıp Sabancı Museum in Emirgan is showing a unique work by the renowned video artist Kutluğ Ataman that was produced to honour Sakıp Sabancı, businessman and patron of the arts, on the 10th anniversary of his death. One of the largest video art works in the world, it consists of passport-sized photographs of the thousands of people whose paths crossed with the much-loved businessman. Don’t miss it; it is on display until August 10.

In Maslak, the Elgiz Museum/Proje4 is hosting its annual Terrace Exhibition on its 1500 m2 open-air space. The third exhibition in the series shows works from 32 Turkish sculptors under the age of 40, who were chosen by an advisory committee, which included the renowned sculptor Seyhun Topuz. The exhibition finishes on August 23.

Steina Vasulka, ‘The West’, 1983, video

At the Borusan Contemporary in Rumelihisarı, a new exhibition marks a rare occasion in which works from SFMOMA’s media arts collection are on view outside of the revered institution, famous for having one of the pre-eminent collections of media arts works in the world. West Coast Visions was curated by Rudolf Frieling, the Curator of Media Arts at SFMOMA, and is an exclusive presentation as Borusan as the museum shares a similar commitment to artists who work with technology. The exhibition runs until November 1. Common Ground: Earth – an exhibition which brings together works from the Borusan collection that are in some way connected with soil – has also been extended until November.

Main image shows Tolga Sezgin's photograph taken in Antakya in 2008. Mari Aydın is gathering tomatoes in a greenhouse in Vakıflı, one of the few Armenian villages remaining in Turkey. The village has been practicing organic farming since 2004. The photograph is part of the ‘On the Road’ exhibition at Istanbul Modern.

As usual, ARTER delivers in spades: its current exhibition delves – with precision and ingenuity – into the 50-year career of one of Turkey’s most prominent contemporary artists, Füsun Onur. Forty-three works are thoughtfully displayed over four floors.

The best advice I can offer when visiting the exhibition is not to think too hard about the meaning of the works or what they represent. Nothing is labelled, so the experience of moving from floor to floor is akin to being let loose in a wonderland of weird and wonderful objects. The title of the exhibition thus becomes very pertinent. ‘Just like in Lewis Carroll’s book, our perception of reality is altered and we find ourselves immersed in unusual spatial experiences,’ says the show’s curator, Emre Baykal. That is not to say the works mean nothing; of course, they all do. But it is just as pleasurable to wander between Onur’s works. Nothing is roped off – in fact, some works you can actually go inside – and you can be so up close with Onur's art that it's almost as if you can peer inside the artist herself.

Exhibition view, ‘Dividing Space on a White Piece of Paper’ (drawings), 1965–66; ‘Untitled’, 1970; ‘Ladder’, 2008, photo: Murat Germen

Onur studied sculpture at the Istanbul State Academy of Fine Arts in the early 1960s, then continued her education in the USA. Already searching for her own unique visual language even as a student, Onur became preoccupied with form, space and time, and with the interconnectedness of these elements, a concept which remained at the core of her work after her return to Istanbul in 1967. The ground floor of the exhibition displays early works, produced in the 1960s and 1970s, with a few from later in her career. The previously unexhibited drawings above are some of the first examples highlighting Onur’s interest in space and its reconstruction; these are crucial to the exhibition as they hint at Onur's handling of space in many of her later installations and sculptures. ‘Back in those days, one would expect an artist with her kind of output to have concerns about being understood,’ says Baykal. ‘Yet it was with great courage that she advanced on her creative path with no concerns about reception.’

Exhibition view; on the left: ‘Mirrored Labyrinth’, 2014 (model: 1972); on the right: ‘Those Who Have Washed Here’, 1994, photo: Murat Germen

One of the most impressive works greets audiences as they come in. ARTER is big on drawing people in from the street and in this it succeeds once again with a work created by Onur especially for the exhibition, modelled on an earlier work that has been lost. The ‘Mirrored Labyrinth’ was originally made in Styrofoam for a competition in 1972, but here Onur has recreated it in a mirror form, so you enter ‘Through the Looking Glass’ literally through a mirror.

‘Let's Meet at the Orient’, 1995, photo: Murat Germen

Also on this floor is one of Onur’s most prominent works, ‘Let’s Meet at the Orient’, created for the 4th Istanbul Biennial in 1995.

‘Third Dimension in Painting / Come In’, (1981), 2014 (detail), installation with wood, painted thread, foam rubber, fabric and spangle, 275 x 300 x 210, photo: Murat Germen

The first floor displays works from the 1980s onwards that delve into relationships between painting and frame, and between painting and sculpture, as well as into breaking the boundaries between them. My favourite work on this floor is the above – a blue-tasselled space inside which you sit on a cushion on the floor looking up at the starry sky dome. The work relates to a 1981 piece in which blue painted strings are woven inside a small frame to form a grid. In the 2014 piece, 'Onur tears the painting from the wall and offers a new space; she changes the viewer’s position to the painting so radically that she makes the viewer lie down inside.’ says Baykal.

Exhibition view: ‘Whisper’, 2010; ‘Istanbul Obsession’, 1994, photo: Murat Germen

Also on this floor are works exploring rhythm and music, an important element of Onur’s practice. One of these is ‘Whisper’, seen in the above photo in front of another exemplary work, ‘Istanbul Obsession’. Once again, this is a work you can enter, and what’s interesting here is the use of light and shadow, which pays tribute to the traditional form of Turkish shadow puppetry. Looking from the outside, you see silhouettes of Istanbul’s architecture.

Exhibition view, second floor, photo: Murat Germen

‘Onur’s oeuvre is very much inspired by the concept of the house,’ says Baykal, and this is evident on the second floor, where most of the works are related to the domestic sphere. Two works are objects brought from Onur’s own home – a wardrobe from the artist’s studio filled with clothes and toys from the artist’s childhood, and a wonderfully detailed doll's house which the artist began working on after her return from the USA.

‘Dream of Old Furniture’, 1985, photo: Murat Germen

Many weird and wonderful objects can be seen on this floor – from a tiny armchair rotating upon a music box, to a loaf of bread and an apple cut in half to reveal insects, and a Barbie doll inside a glass jar. The works posses a kind of duality: childhood innocence alongside something much more sinister. I was reminded of all the fairytales I read as a kid and how not all of them had happy endings. These smaller works culminate in the above installation – a surreal landscape of deconstructed furniture and objects demonstrating both Onur’s interest in domesticity and her clever use of materials. A copy of Alice in Wonderland lies on the small table – another reference to Lewis Carroll.

‘Counterpoint with Flowers’, (1982) 2014, photo: Murat Germen

The entire third floor is devoted to the above installation – what Baykal calls ‘a dreamy setting’. With this reconstruction of a 1982 work Onur offers the viewer another peculiar spatial perception, this time in a kind of hypnotic greenhouse.

Ali Kazma, ‘Home’, 2014, video, 5’, still, photo: Victoria Khroundina

Don’t leave without seeing the video artist Ali Kazma’s new work in the basement, made especially for this exhibition. The five-minute video Home was filmed inside Onur’s waterfront house in Kuzguncuk, where she was born and still lives and works with her sister, Ilhan. Entering Onur’s private space Kazma allows to come even closer to this monumental artist.

The exhibition runs until August 17, 2014.

Oyster.com has named Pera Palace Hotel, Jumeriah one of the eight best hotels for book lovers. Located in the cosmopolitan Tebebaşı district of Beyoğlu and dating back to 1892, the Pera Palace overlooks the Golden Horn with 115 rooms including 16 suites named after the Hotel’s most illustrious guests or their creations. Five of its luxury suites (above) are named after Ernest Hemingway, who had his protagonist, the writer Harry, stay at the hotel in the short story The Snows of Kilimanjaro. The interiors have been decorated in jade blue to reflect Hemingway's love of the sea and earth brown for his love for cigars.

How does Turkey look today? That is perhaps the question you can ask yourself when visiting the new exhibition at Istanbul Modern’s Photography Gallery. Curated by Sena Çakırkaya, On the Road brings together 75 pictures from the Nar Photos Archives, showing scenes and events from Turkey’s recent past. Whether it's a photograph of an 80-year old couple who have been married for 60-odd years and are now together in an Istanbul nursing home, or of traditional dances and ceremonies in Anatolia, or the rampant urban transformation taking place in Istanbul, each one gently captures the photographer’s emotion towards his or her country. While some tell stories of  joyful moments, others focus on the problems Turkey will face well into the 21st century.

In the above picture, Hüsamettin Bahçe captures an Assyrian ceremony led by Abuna (father) Gabriel Aktaş in the Orthodox Church of the Virgin Mary, taken in Midyat, Mardin in 2009.

Mehmet Kaçmaz snaps a happy resident of Ceylanpınar, granted permission to cross the checkpoint to see her relatives on the Syrian side for the Feast of Sacrifice celebration, taken in Urfa in 2007.

Serpil Polat photographed the barracks in Tunceli in 2013. Constructed for the Dersim Operation of 1938, these were converted into staff housing in 1950, accommodating thousands of civil servants and their families. Today they shelter low-income groups and the urban poor.

Kerem Uzel’s photograph captures a ceremony held at the Balıklı Armenian Cemetery after a march in Istanbul in 2007 in which over 100,000 people marched following the assassination of the journalist Hrant Dink.

Eren Aytuğ captures one of the many scenes of the riot police attacking protesters in Gezi Park in Taksim on May 31, 2013 – events njow ingrained in the country’s collective consciousness.

In 2005 Özcan Yurdalan turned his lens towards workers demonstrating against the privatisation of SEKA in Izmit, one of the first factories in Turkey. The workers’ resistance lasted 51 days, after which the factory was shut down.

Saner Şen’s black-and-white portrait of Davut Temiz, visiting the grave of his son who died from silicosis disease when he was only 18. Jobs were – and are – scarce in the Taşlıçay village of Karlıova, Bingöl, and young people thought themselves lucky to find work in illegal denim sandblasting ateliers. Unaware of the dangers they faced, many fell ill with this fatal disease and some, like Temiz’s son, sadly died. Today, there are more than 300 slicosis patients among the 3,000 villagers of Taşlıçay.

The exhibition runs until November 9, 2014.

Main image by Tolga Sezgin.

The Mimar Sinan Fine Art University’s ambitious Paintings and Sculpture Museum officially opened its doors last Thursday with an exhibition of landscapes by some of Turkey’s greatest artists. Expert brushwork on canvases of all sizes in (mostly) gold frames from such names as Hoca Ali Riza, Hüseyin Zekai Paşa, Halil Paşa, Osman Hamdi Bey, Şeker Ahmet Paşa, Hüseyin Avni Lifij, Hikmet Onan, Şevket Dağ, İbrahim Çallı, Avni Arbaş, Ali Avni Çelebi, Eren Eyüboğlu and Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu, as well as a few European Orientalists such as François Dubois, adorns the walls.

The museum is housed in a former shipping warehouse (antrepo), next door to Istanbul Modern – a sign of what’s still to come for this area, already flourishing in the arts. The renovation is über-modern, with plenty of grey steel, bright colours and a blocky design that lends itself well to the original structure. After passing through security at the entrance, climb to the first floor where you will be presented with two options: the red room on the right, showcasing works by 19th-century masters, and the green room on the left, paying tribute to 20th-century painters. Start with the red room.

François Dubois, ‘Greeting of a procession’, oil on canvas, 155 x 87 cm

Here there are works such as the one above: a grand view of a procession by the French Neoclassical artist François Dubois (1790–1871), some of whose greatest works reside in the Palace of Versailles. The painting doesn’t reveal where the procession is taking place, but it looks like the gates of Topkapı Palace, with Haghia Sophia on the right. Dubois’s better-known painting of a view in Constantinople is entitled ‘Asakir-i Mansure-I Muhammediyye’.

Hüseyin Zekai Paşa, ‘Mosque’, oil on canvas, 115.5 x 87 cm

Then there’s the view, above, of an unidentified mosque by Hüseyin Zekai Paşa (1860–1919), best known for his still lifes with fruit. His famous ‘Still Life with Watermelon’ belongs to the Sakıp Sabancı Museum collection.

Halil Paşa, ‘In Kalamış’, oil on canvas, 79 x 48 cm

Halil Paşa’s (1857–1939) muted landscape of the seaside in the Kalamış neighbourhood of Kadıköy is also lovely. This painter, who belonged to the ‘Asker Ressamlar’ (Soldier Artists) generation, a group who received their artistic training at military schools in Ottoman Istanbul – was equally skilled at portraiture. There are a number of other paintings from this master, including a cheerful beach landscape.

Osman Hamdi Bey, ‘View of Gebze, oil on canvas, 150 x 75 cm

There are two paintings by Osman Hamdi Bey (1842–1910), a great pioneer and the man responsible for giving us the Istanbul Archaeology Museum. The picture above shows his view of Gebze, a district in the Kocaeli Province.

Şeker’ Ahmet Ali Paşa, ‘Forest and Deer’, oil on canvas, 182 x 95.5 cm

‘Şeker’ Ahmet Ali Paşa’s (1841–1907) large forest landscape is also alluring. A government official and soldier, Ali Paşa was another important painter of the Soldier Artists generation. He specialised in nature-related subjects – forests, fruits, flowers and animals – and the above is a testament to his skills.

Şevket Dağ, ‘Landscape’, oil on canvas, 60.5 x 50.5 cm

In the green room there is the above landscape by Şevket Dağ (1876–1944), a renowned 20th-century Turkish painter, whose most famous work, ‘Repose’, was sold by Sotheby’s London for $212,574 last year.

Hüseyin Avni Lifij, ‘Front façade of Süleymaniye Mosque’, oil on canvas, 22 x 27 cm

In this quite small painting of the Süleymaniye Mosque, Hüseyin Avni Lifij (1886–1927) uses soft purples, pinks and oranges to show one side of the mosque bathed in the setting sun. Known for his romanticised views, Lifij paintied and sketched of the Süleymaniye from numerous different angles.

İbrahim Çallı, ‘Fishermen’, oil on canvas, 70 x 60 cm

Another 20th-century master, İbrahim Çallı (1882–1960), who studied fine art in Paris and was well known for his sensual nudes and still lifes, turns his brush here to a couple fishing from a boat, with kaleidoscopic mountains in the background.

Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu, ‘Coffee house’, oil on canvas, 45 x 38.5 cm

Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu (1911–1973), a governor’s son noted for combining traditional decoration and folk handicraft patterns in his work, depicts a coffee house in his signature patchwork style. Eyüboğlu was a pioneer of contemporary art in Turkey in the second half of the 20th century and was well known for his stunning mosaics, some of which (like the panel in the Özlem Et butcher shop at Karaköy Square) can be seen in Istanbul.

The exhibition runs until September 21, 2014.

Main image shows François Gilbert’s ‘Fountain Pavilion in Beirut’, oil on canvas, 135 x 95 cm.

A lion with two arrows sticking out of its neck marches proudly onwards; a sphinx sprouts a dragon's head from its rear; a pot of fragrant stew is taken towards the King by a servant girl; a chariot rolls over an Anatolian plain. All these things were depicted, along with swirls and geometric motifs, on the belts of the Ancient Urartians.

The view from a Urartan burial site: the caves above Ulupamir near Van are littered with pottery (photo: Harriet Rix)

The Urartians flourished during the 9th to 7th centuries B.C., most specifically when the various chieftains were united under Sarduri I (840–825 B.C.) From the capital at Van (Tushpa), control stretched over an Empire stretching from the Euphrates to the Kars plateau and the Taurus Mountains, and everyone from wealthy bureaucrats to the common man piled their wealth around their wrists and necks and waists.

Urartu war-machine: fully armed charioteers depicted on a bronze belt, 9th–7th century B.C.

The Urartian's lack of writing was their Achilles' heel. If we could look at the figured bronze of these belts and name the Gods; if we could look at the bulls or rams on the top of the exquisite pins and imagine a sacrifice; if we knew about the snakes which wound themselves sinuously around the arms of those bracelets; if we knew about the Urartus as we do the Assyrians, this remarkable exhibition would be packed to its rafters. And such rafters! The exhibition is underground in the museum, and the brick arches are left over from the original fabric of the building, an 11th-century Byzantine Cistern which subsequently became an Ottoman hamam. In the middle of this the display cases gleam gently, enticing the observer to breathe heavily on the glass and peer at the coils of earrings and rings, the gleam of beads and the tiny animals balanced on pinheads.

Left: Patterns on a belt from the 7th century B.C. Right: Mineral deposits in the mountains near Horasan.

It was the Urartu discovery and exploitation of the mineral deposits in the mountains around Van that gave it the ability to develop such sophisticated artistry. In the hills thereabouts are deposits of gold, silver, lead, iron and copper (walking through the mountains near Horasan this spring I came across the remains of some of these ores, often still mined on a small scale.) The sophistication of pins and fibulae are a case in point. Some simply have a prancing bull on a miniature scale poised on the head, others are headed with a trio of three animals gazing out upon the world, and strikingly large numbers have poppy seed capsules. Whether these are representations of the opium poppy (Papaver) or the poppy that I saw looking so beautiful all across that area of Eastern Turkey, the subtle variations squeezed out of their representation show all the artistry of the civilisation.

Also important to Urartian jewellers were chalcedony and many other semi-precious stones used for bead necklaces, and these are shown in this exhibition in all their richness and variety. Among them is Obsidian, which is mined still above the Kirgiz village of Ulupamir. A short scramble up above the mine are caves in the cliff which contain Urartian pottery, and have yet to be excavated; the obscurity of these sites is a measure of how much remains still to be discovered of the Urartian civilisation. In this exhibition, however, it is surely enough to focus on that soft bronze intricacy, in which flowers and trees and prancing bulls give us a picture of another world.

The exhibition, co-ordinated by Zeynep Çulha, includes 1,100 pieces of Urartian jewellery, restored with a grant from Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Harriet Rix was the 2014 winner of the Godfrey Goodwin Prize for Original Research.

When the Japanese, New York-based artist Ai Kijima spent spring this year in Istanbul, she enlightened me about something rather interesting: the presence of the Japanese community in Turkey and the fascinating blogs they keep. Here are a few of her favourites.

This Iznik tile blog is written by a Japanese Iznik tile artist who lives in Istanbul. Going by the nickname Zeytin (which means 'olive'), the woman behind the blog started learning Iznik painting three years ago. Initially, she started classes at Ismek (a free arts and crafts training centre) in Kadiköy, where she lives. These days, she is taking a class in Üsküdar and has had a few group exhibitions with fellow students. Unfortunately, says Zeytin, no one has bought any of her pieces yet. But she is still learning. The blog also features photographs of Zeytin’s favourite Iznik and other decorative tiles around the country and travel anecdotes.

Hiromi has been living in Istanbul since 1995. She fell in love with a Turkish man and the rest, as they say, is history. Her blog is primarily used to advertise her Turkish cooking classes, which are conducted in Japanese. She describes Turkish cuisine as “delicious and using plenty of oil”. The blog also details Hiromi’s culinary adventures around Istanbul. To sign up for her classes, email eruto5@hotmail.com (minimum four and maximum six people).

Masalgibi is a translator who has been living in Istanbul for 19 years after relocating here to live with her Turkish husband. She writes about her daily life, travel and food.

Kaori Goto runs Galenus Farm, a restaurant and a holistic health shop in Antalya, which promises “modern organic gourmet food and ancient medical wisdom”. With a doctorate in Medicine, Goto’s interests and expertise span ancient Mediterranean and southern Turkish herbs and spices and treatments. The restaurant/shop’s manager Yusuf Ziya Terzioğlu speaks Turkish and Japanese.

Teppei Yamashita is a ceramics artist who lives in Istanbul. He established his ceramic studio, which is open to the public, in Üsküdar (Fıstıkağcı) a year ago. He sells his ceramics at craft markets, exhibitions and at his studio, where he also teaches classes. His English-language website has more on the artist, his work and exhibitions.

The mutual love that Turkey and Japan have for hot springs lends itself well to this blog on the hot springs of Turkey. Nobuhito Kasai has travelled all over Turkey, writing reviews about hot springs and describing Turkey’s cultural riches on his blog. The detailed information provides useful titbits on transportation, accommodation, food, costs, etc. He especially recommends visiting Bursa, Kütahya, Simav and Gediz, but, as Ai tells me, he doesn’t specify a particular favourite hot spring site.

Main image shows the Koishikawa Korakuen garden in Tokyo (photo: WikiMedia Commons).

Islamic nero, a work by Alexis Veroukas, is from a group exhibition entitled Nepo/Water, opening this evening in the Old Primary School of Chora on Patmos (until August 23). The show celebrates water and all it means to us, and sets out to beguile, not to berate, but the motive behind it is to draw attention to the fragility of the marine eco-system, the threats of pollution and overfishing, the consquences of water shortage and wastage, and Patmos's irksome problem, the random drilling of artesian wells. The historian Anne McCabe, who has coordinated the show, tells us: 'Here on Patmos we face the problem of untreated sewage flowing into the sea on one hand (on a minuscule scale compared to Istanbul of course) and unchecked drilling of artesian wells on the other. So the (contaminated) sea is entering the water table and old wells and springs have become saline or run dry. Even the sacred spring of St. Christodoulos is dry, a message of warning for the island which we hope people will heed.'

Alekos Fasianos (Water/Nero, Patmos, August 3–23, 2014)

A timely pc to anyone in Turkey, now threatened with the hard reality of drought, though such watery subtleties will bounce off the political masters responsible like water off a crocodile's back. If Patmos has problems, pity poor Anatolia, facing a biblical comeuppance after a decade of unbridled exploitation and absence of environmental policy. The blue waters of Konya's Meke Crater Lake is finally a red sludge – the Konya plain, home to the oldest known city in the world, Çatalhöyük, will inevitably become salt-encrusted. As for Istanbul, Victoria Khroundina in her July 11 blog, One Hot, Dry Summer, notes the alarming level Istanbul's water reserves had sunk to, around 23.8%, though we understand that much of that water is, well, sludge and unsafe for human use. 

Robert McCabe (Water/Nero, Patmos, August 3–23, 2014)

With next week's election neatly in the bag, there will be nothing left to hold back Turkey's masters from their apparent determination to double Istanbul's already grossly inflated population. Who cares about science or logic? The latest predictions of doom concern the Black Sea–Sea of Marmara canal, Kanal İstanbul, west of Istanbul – a real-estate fantasy to rival the Bosphorus. One scenario is that it will kill off the Sea of Marmara, already struggling to cope with polution (the Black Sea is mostly dead) and bring a constant whiff of rotten eggs to Marmara basin. Another, that it will deprive Istanbul of its natural springs, and the underground rivers they feed. Many of these springs are sacred ayazma – woe betide anyone who tampers with them. They are largely fed by water from the İstranca Mountains. The new canal will sever the connection. If they flow at all, they will flow with brackish sea water. 

Venetia Young (Water/Nero, Patmos, August 3–23, 2014)

Istanbul is heading for the ecological rocks, with the man at the helm dreaming of El Dubai paved with gold-plated skyscrapers. No scientific analysis has been published, no public debate permitted, to justify locating the third airport in the centre of Istanbul's main rain-catchment area (it is no doubt needed, but not there!). No research has been done to allay fears of the consequences of Kanal Istanbul. The leader decided. And that is just fine according to the opinion poles. Over half of Turkey's population admire his manly manner (Güç – Power – is the motto of his well-oiled presidential campaign), and this will enable him to ignore the better educated other half and construct hell on the Bosphorus without so much as a by-your-leave (TOKI, the Prime Minister-controlled state building department, anyway requires no planning permission for any its mega projects).

Nikos Sefanou (Water/Nero, Patmos, August 3–23, 2014)

Sadly, Istanbul is in dire straits. Some of the horrors in store are outlined by Newsweek  this week (Erdogan's Grand Construction Projects Are Tearing Istanbul Apart, by Alexander Christie-Miller, July 31, 2014) – but they only touch the tip of the iceberg. We have just heard rumours of a 40-storey skscraper soon to adorn Çamlıca hill, across the Bosphorus from Topkapı Palace (the Arab investors were in town, and foundations have apparently been laid).

Nikos Sefanou (Water/Nero, Patmos, August 3–23, 2014)

Cheer us up, dear Patmos. With only raw güç to look forward to in Turkey, it is sad to know that even an island dependent on tourism is not spared the pangs of development, but it is good to know that people care, and awareness can be roused through art. Would that Istanbul's rulers were so sensitive.

The current temporary exhibition at Istanbul Modern explores the relationship between visual arts and music in Turkey. In the scope of its 10th anniversary celebrations, it seems very fitting that the museum is examining the history of the visual arts in the country and the surrounding region. First, Istanbul Modern hosted Neighbours (from January to June), an exhibition focusing on contemporary art practices in Turkey and the neighbouring geographies that have historical, political and/or cultural ties with Turkey. Now, the daddy of contemporary art brings us Plurivocality.

Plurivocality was curated by Çelenk Bafra and Levent Çalıkoğlu, the museum’s chief curator, and brings together paintings, sculptures, videos and installations by 18 of the most important contemporary artists in Turkey. As you can imagine, the exhibition is loud with different sounds and music emanating from each corner. But the exhibition’s organisers have done a great job of sectioning off parts of the large exhibition area and have provided separate rooms where some of the noisiest videos and installations can be properly appreciated. 

A prelude to the show greets us at the entrance to the main exhibition space. Entitled ‘Repertoire’, it is really a mini exhibition in itself and explores the role of music and the visual arts during the late Ottoman era, through to the early Republic years and up until the 1980s. A few of the highlights include a timeline of prominent artists and musicians and their achievements, Abdülmecid’s composition ‘Elegy’, a piano (above) belonging to perhaps the most renowned female Turkish composer Leyla (Saz) Hanım and Semiha Berksoy, one of Turkey’s first opera singers, reciting Nazım Hikmet’s 1957 poem Son Otobüs (The Last Bus) on video.

Sarkis, ‘The Scream of the Sainte Sophie’, 2011, oil on tambour, 47 x 8 cm, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Nathalie Obadia

On top of the doorway into the main exhibition space, look up to see a work by the conceptual artist Sarkis; the first part of his three-part installation paying tribute to Edvard Munch’s venerable painting ‘The Scream’. The painting holds a special significance for Sarkis who started painting after seeing a reproduction of the ‘The Scream’ in Istanbul in the 1950s. In the series of paintings inside, Sarkis uses colours from the painting, such as white, pink, red, blue and green, to create replicas of the screaming face on paper. But in the above, he virtually ‘performs the scream’ – as he applies the oil paint to the tambourine, the strokes make small sounds, not dissimilar from tiny screams.

Hussein Chalayan, ‘I am Sad Leyla’, 2010, sculpture, 173 x 45 x 45 cm, two-channel video installation, colour with sound, 7’ 17”, courtesy of the artist and Galerist

The artist and fashion designer extraordinaire Hussein Chalayan (profiled in Cornucopia 20) lends two works to the exhibition. The above centres on music as a cultural form. The multi-layered installation features a sculpture of the well-known Turkish pop singer Sertab Erener, whose lips digitally appear to be moving. Unusually for her, she performs a classical Turkish song, ‘Üzgünüm Leyla’ (‘I am Sad Leyla’), which we can hear through the speakers. In the background, we see a video of an orchestra playing traditional instruments. Erener wears a fashionable costume designed by Chalayan. With all these elements combined, the artist aims to reflect on the influences of diverse cultures and identities on both the creation process and the performance of a musical composition. It is a marvellous and ambitious work that demands to be seen.

Füsun Onur, ‘Prelude’, 2000, installation, courtesy of the artist, photo: from the archives of Yapı Kredi Cultural Activities Arts and Publishing

The veteran artist Füsun Onur (who currently has an excellent retrospective exhibition on at ARTER; read more here) offers a work that is both simple and abstract. The notion of rhythm is a major theme running through Onur’s oeuvre and the above comes from a series of works in which Onur uses domestic items to comment on notes and composition. She says: ‘The raw materials of music are notes. Alone, these don’t mean anything. But, when arranged with rhythm, they become disciplined and gain significance, turning into so-called tonal extensions. My raw materials are no different than that of visual arts: square, rectangle, dot, line, big forms, small forms – a rhythmic extension of forms. Taking everyday materials, I wanted to discipline them and give them a meaning they did not possess before.’

:mentalKLINIK, ‘French Kiss’, 2014, double French horn, lacquered brass body, rose brass, lead pipe, four mechanical-link tapered rotary valves, engraved valve caps, geyer wrap, 81 x 54 x 31 cm, courtesy of the artists

The Istanbul artist duo :mentalKLINIK, known for their reactionary art, installed double French horns parroting the shape of a snail’s shell. Their source of inspiration, the French horn, is an indispensable brass instrument. The title is a wordplay both on the ‘Frenchness’ of horns and on the French kiss – the lip-to-lip horns in this work share an intimate closeness. Historically used as a communication device due to its ability to produce powerful sounds, in this instance, the artists place the instruments so close together that they can’t produce any sound. The intimate nature of human encounters and the processes of communication and interaction are thus highlighted.

Ferhat Özgür, ‘I Can Sing’, 2008, video, colour with sound, 7’, courtesy of the artist

In his emotive video, Ferhat Özgür employs an iconic song to comment on a country caught between modernisation and tradition, between Islamic identity and Western culture. The video, shot in Ankara, depicts an Anatolian woman standing among the debris of a modern housing development. In traditional attire, the woman moves her lips as if singing, but instead a man’s voice is heard singing ‘Hallelujah’ by the singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen. Apart from its references to Christianity, ‘Hallelujah’ is an everyday exclamation used in Western society to express joy and gratitude. By placing the female figure in contrast with the male voice and the traditional attire in contrast with western popular music, set against a backdrop of urban transformation, Özgür’s video presents conflicting feelings of grief and joy and of approval and resistance in the face of change.

Semiha Berksoy, ‘Fidelio (Ludwig Van Beethoven)’, 1975, oil on hardboard, 244 x 122 cm, Semiha Berksoy Opera Foundation Collection

A whole room is reserved for the late opera singer Semiha Berksoy. A biographical wall outlining the artist’s music and art career is presented alongside five of Berksoy’s oil paintings. Produced between 1975 and 1987, these paintings draw their titles and inspiration from masterpieces of opera performed by Berksoy herself. The above shows the painting inspired by Beethoven’s only opera ‘Fidelio’. Arias sung by the artist blare from the speakers, allowing audiences to fully appreciate Berksoy’s talents. The room attempts to show, as summarised by the curator of this section, Rosa Martinez, Berksoy's ‘life as a work of art’.

The exhibition runs until November 27, 2014.

Main image shows a part of Merve Şendil's 'The Underscore Project'.