Thank you to one of our readers, Leyla Argun, for sending in her rendition of a black-and-white photograph taken of Istanbul in the winter of 1929.

Fresh news from the Turkish Cultural Foundation that the young opera singer Önay Kağan Köse is the recipient of the 2014–2015 Ahmet Ertegün Memorial Scholarship. Köse has won the scholarship for the fifth time and in this coming year will be studying under Dr Robert C White Jr, a professor of Classical Voice at The Juilliard School. Between November 19 and 23, Köse will sing the lead in Rossini's Il Turco in Italia at Juilliard’s Peter Jay Sharp Theater. In the past, he has performed in Janacek’s The Cunning Little Vixen, Wolf-Ferrari’s Le Donne Curiose and Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, all at Juilliard.

The Ahmet Ertegün Memorial Scholarship was launched by The American Turkish Society in the memory of the founder of Atlantic Records and the society’s long-time chairman, Ahmet Ertegün (1923–2006). From a childhood in a Turkish residence in Washington to moving to New York to his death at a Rolling Stones concert in 2006, Ertegün’s life was indeed a fascinating one. Thomas Roueché reviews the first major biography of Ertegün, The Last Sultan, in Cornucopia 47.

Main image shows Ahmet Ertegün and his brother Nesuhi at the Turkish Embassy in Washington, D.C., ca. 1940. Photo: WikiMedia Commons.

We are in chic Nişantaşı this week for a gallery walk in which painting and abstract art feature heavily. Besides perusing the galleries on the two main streets of Mim Kemal Öke Caddesi and Abdi Ipekçi Caddesi, we will also venture further afield to two new additions to our walks – one veteran gallery (above) and one new.

Seçkin Pirim, ‘Zero’, 2014, metallic auto paint on plexiglass, 109 x 125 x 25 cm

SEÇKIN PIRIM’S GLITCH

Let’s start on Mim Kemal Öke Caddesi, where the intimate Merkur Gallery, housed in a former apartment at No 12, is hosting an exhibition of the Turkish artist Seçkin Pirim, entitled Glitch. Noted for being highly disciplined, the artist presents his brand new series of minimalistic wall sculptures and accompanying drawings. Pirim’s fascination with symmetry shows itself in the obsessively repetitious lines evident in his works, which together form a serene narrative. Prices range from $10,000 to $30,000.

Seçkin Pirim, ‘Untitled – II’, 2014, auto paint on Bristol paper cut, 80 x 110 cm

Merkur’s owner Sabiha Kurtulmuş promises the gallery will continue to exhibit ‘new and energetic works’ by promising young artists throughout the coming season.

Sarkis, ‘Signature’, 2007, neon lights, 35 x 60cm

SARKIS’ SIGNATURE

Pop into the excellent auction house Portakal at No 8 to marvel at Sarkis’s neon signature. Please enquire directly with Portakal for the price.

Cenk Akaltun, ‘Untitled’, 2013, oil on canvas, 200 x 150 cm

CENK AKALTUN’S STRATUM

Parallel on Abdi Ipekçi Caddesi, the consistently good Dirimart at No 7 hosts the first solo exhibition of the Turkish painter Cenk Akaltun, entitled Stratum. Akaltun, who studied both at Yıldız Technical University in Istanbul and at St Martins in London, examines the meaning of reality in his work. These rich, textured paintings look colourful and almost messy from afar, but up close present a totally different perspective.

Nejat Satı, ‘struktur 68’, 2014, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 95cm, TL6,000

START WITH ABSTRACTION

Further down the street, the seasoned Kare Gallery at No 22 has opened with a group show presenting Turkish abstract artists, primarily through painting and sculpture. When Kare opened in 1992, it was mainly concerned with showcasing artists of the post-1960 Turkish abstract movement. The current exhibition, Start with Abstraction, focuses on the state of abstract art in Turkey today. Prices range from TL3,500 to TL36,000.

Emin Çizenel, ‘Provocation’ series, 2007, candle soot on canvas, 112 x 150cm, TL15,000

The gallery’s founder, Fatma Saka, wants audiences to pay particular attention to the unique works of Emin Çizenel. The painting above, for instance, was drawn using candle soot. 

Coming up is an exhibition of Fatma Tülin’s new works, including prints on canvas and woven carpets, exploring the artist’s favourite subjects: organic objects and the human body.

Engin Konuklu, ‘Respect’, 2014, acrylic on canvas, 150 x 200 cm

ENGIN KONUKLU’S ÉTERNITÉ

Further down, x-ist, in the basement of Kaşıkçıoğlu Apartment at No 42, is hosting the young Turkish artist Engin Konuklu, who aims to take his audience on a journey through their own memories via nostalgic imagery. His latest series of hyper-realistic, sepia-toned paintings, Éternite, explores death by mimicking post-mortem photographs. The accompanying series of doll paintings adds to the macabre feel of the show. 

Treaty of Lausanne map

THE REPUBLIC OF LAUSANNE AND İSMET İNÖNÜ

Make your way to the parallel Teşvikiye Caddesi through the narrow Atiye Sokak and find Galeri Işık at No 6, which offers something entirely different. Held as one of the commerative events surrounding the 90th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Lausanne, The Republic of Lausanne and İsmet İnönü explores – through archival documents and photographs – the state of domestic and foreign policy and the various social, economic and cultural transformations achieved under the presidency of İsmet İnönü, Turkey's second, who served from 1938 to 1950.

Utku Varlık, ‘Fragment 6’, 1992, mixed media on canvas, 27 x 21 cm

UTKU VARLIK’S FRAGMENTS

A bit further up the street, new kid on the block Bozlu Art Project opens its season with a comprehensive exhibition of the renowned figurative painter Utku Varlık. The artist has lived and worked in Paris for the past 40 years, so this show provides a rare opportunity to see his work. In Fragments, Varlık’s technique comes to the forefront in dreamlike oils on canvas that combine modern-day figures with ancient architectural elements.

Utku Varlık, ‘Evening’, from the ‘Fragments’ series, 2013, mixed media on canvas, 113 x 93 cm

Bozlu Art Project’s new season will showcase a range of work from the gallery’s roster – a mix of young and established Turkish artists.

Mehmet Güler, ‘The sun melted’, 2012, 160 x 72 cm

WEDDING

Turn right down Valikonağı Caddesi and take a right at the third street. At No 14, the veteran TEM Art Gallery, one of the neighbourhood’s oldest, is hosting the group exhibition Wedding. Having taken almost two years to come to fruition, the show combines poetry, paintings and sculpture, and showcases works from some of Turkey’s greatest artists and poets, as well as up-and-coming talent. Prices range from TL1,500 to TL 30,000.

Abdulkadir Öztürk, ‘Love Furnace’, 2013,wood and metal, 154 x 55 x 32 cm

Looking ahead, there will be solo shows by such artists as Mehmet Güler, Gülden Artun, Abdulkadir Öztürk, Ömer Kaleşi and Devabil Kara.

Key: Red – Merkur, Blue with dot – Portakal, Green – Dirimart, Yellow – Kare Gallery, Purple – x-ist, Magenta – Galeri Işık, Light Blue – Bozlu Art Project, Blue without dot – TEM Art Gallery

Click here for the interactive map.
 

It’s almost time for Filmekimi! A popular film festival, this year over 40 high-quality films are showcased – a mixture of award-winners from the year’s festival circuit, indie favourites and thought-provoking documentaries. Thankfully, there isn’t a blockbuster in sight! The !f festival is another independent film festival that is gaining momentum but that takes place at the beginning of the year and the Istanbul Film Festival is often hit-and-miss, so I really look forward to the gems offered at Filmekimi.

Still from ‘Goodbye to Language’

Every year, the festival screens the films that won awards or wowed audiences at Cannes. This year is no exception. There’s the Hungarian director Kornel Mundruczo’s sixth feature, White God (main pic), an unconventional man versus dog adventure dedicated to the late director Miklos Jancso, which took the coveted Cannes Best Film – Un Certain Regard prize. There’s the 39th feature film from the master himself Jean-Luc Godard, Goodbye Language, which won the Jury Prize. The 83-year old proves he’s still got in with an interesting film which combines drama and experimental 3D. The bold and heavy-going Leviathan, from perhaps the greatest living Russian director Andrey Zvyagintsev, won Best Screenplay. Xavier Dolan’s heartwarming Mommy – which impressed the jury with its 1:1 screen ratio, the colour palette and ground-breaking editing – took the Jury Prize. The Italian production The Wonders, a moody drama about a beekeeper and his four daughters, came away with the Grand Prix. Timbuktu, the latest film from celebrated filmmaker Abderrahmane Sissako was one of Cannes’ most striking films and took the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury. The film follows the destroyed lives of families under the newly-installed sharia laws in northern Mali. Another Cannes winner was the charming romantic comedy, Love at First Sight, if you’re looking for something funny and a bit light (the French are good at that).

Still from ‘Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence’

Other festival winners being showcased include the Nordic black comedy In Order of Disappearance, which won its director Hans Petter Moland the Best Director gong at Festroia (Portugal). Stations of the Cross, a satire about religious fundamentalism, took the Ecumenical Prize for Best Script at Berlin. Renowned American director Richard Linklater’s Boyhood, an experimental film in the form of a video memoir, was a big winner taking the Grand Prix at Fiprescı, Best Director at Berlin and the Best Director and Best Actress at Seattle. Return to Ithaca, which was penned by Cuba’s acclaimed novelist, Leonardo Padura, and directed by Laurent Cantet, best known for his Palme d’Or-winning The Class and Foxfire, won Best Film as part of Venice Film Festival’s ‘Venice Days’ programme. The French Production Two Days, One Night, starring the excellent Marion Cotillard, won Best Film at Sydney.  Master director Roy Andersson’s absurd, darkly comic and somewhat disturbing A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence – which won the Golden Lion at Venice – is highly recommended for the more adventurous film-goer. Human Capital, which paints a grim portrait of Italy’s economic demise, won its leading lady Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi Best Actress at Tribeca, as well as a myriad awards at Italy’s Donatella Awards. Whiplash, about the relationship between an unwavering jazz master and his young apprentice drummer, was awarded the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance. And the ‘science versus spirituality’ drama I Origins won the Scientific Award at Sundance.

Still from ‘Maps to the Stars’

American independent cinema is again highlighted with a few films of interest. Gregg Araki’s latest, White Bird in a Blizzard, is a psychological coming-of-age story. The Drop is the final film of the late actor James Gandolfini, and a very worthy crime drama. The hipster Palo Alto is the first feature film written and directed by Gia Coppola from the Coppola dynasty of film directors, and is based on a book by the actor James Franco. Expect long scenes and a fantastic score. David Cronenberg’s Maps to the Stars, which is an interesting and rather depressing look at Hollywood is set to become a cult classic and is a much better offering than his previous two films. Cronenberg has the phenomenal Julianne Moore in the lead in this one and things are looking brighter (she won Best Actress at Cannes for her performance). And if you’re a fan of either Clint Eastwood or Frankie Valli (or better still both), Eastwood’s Jersey Boys tells the story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, whose hits included ‘Big Girls Don’t Cry’, ‘Beggin’ and ‘Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You’.

Still from ‘Corn Island’

Disappointingly not a single Turkish film but the Georgian-German production Corn Island has been particularly praised for the performance of Turkish master actor İlyas Salman. This almost dialogue-free film follows an old peasant (Salman) and his obedient granddaughter through one farming season.

In Istanbul, each film will be screened a number of times and usually at more than one of the four venues: Atlas Sineması, Beyoğlu Sineması, CityLife in Nişantaşı and Rexx Sineması in Kadıköy. Tickets are now available from Biletix and booking ahead is strongly advised as sessions sell out. All international films have Turkish subtitles but not all have English subtitles – remember to check on the Festival’s website before booking.

The festival takes place from October 11 to 17, 2014.

What a happy mix, the mingling of Islamic and Indian worlds under the umbrella of Islamic sales week in London. The three big auction houses stage their biannual Islamic art sales this week, and it is not too late to see what’s on offer. At Sotheby’s, Arts of the Islamic World is on Wednesday (10.30am, October 8), followed by their Art of Imperial India sale in the afternoon – this includes the delightful miniature of  ladies at their toilet, above (Lot 277, est. £25,000–35,000). Christie's start with Oriental Rugs and Carpets on Tuesday morning (October 7, 11am) and continue with Art of the Islamic and Indian Worlds on Thursday (October 9, 10.30am), both at King Street, and Arts and Textiles of the Islamic World at Christie's South Kensington. Bonhams, meanwhile, is holding its Islamic and Indian Art sale at 10.30am on Tuesday. Here are a handful of the rich pickings, typical of the incredible aesthetic diversity on show. A feast for the eyes.

This magnificent late 16th-century Lotto Carpet from Uşak in Western Anatolia (Christie’s, October 7, Lot 25, est. £250–300,000), measuring an astonishing 19 by 9ft (580 x 272cm).

The Duke of Northumberland’s 40-volume printer’s copy of Edward William Lane’s Arabic–Turkish Lexicon, the fruit of the great Egyptologist's last 34 years and still in production at his death in 1876. This monumental work of scholarship, annotated in the author's hand, is being sold with ten volumes of al-Saghani's Ubad, dated H653/AD1255 (Sotheby's October 8, Lot 59, est £200–300,000).

The Lexicon was commissioned by Algernon Percy, 4th Duke of Northumberland, who travelled to the Ottoman Empire in 1826. The then Lord Prudhoe (he was the second son of the second Duke of Northumberland) met both Lane in Cairo and another great Egyptologist, Jean-François Chompollion.

Also at Sotheby’s, this exquisite 16th-century Ottoman miniature Koran, just 4cm in diameter, complete with the silver gilt box that contained it (October 8, Lot 52, est £10,000–15,000).

Lot 148 at Sotheby’s is this 18th-century Ottoman gaming board, inlaid with tortoiseshell and mother of pearl (est. £20,000–30,000) – such pieces were in great demand in Europe.

A Mamluk ivory comb (Sotheby’s Lot 100, est 14,000–20,000), seen here back and front, from 14th-century Syria or Egypt. Few such examples have survived, but there was such a vogue for them that the city of Al Qantarah El Sharqiyya, close to the Suez Canal, had a souk dedicated to combs. The inscription reads al-Sultan al-Malik al-Ashraf, a title used by several Mamluk sultans of the period.

The Ottoman star of the sale at Christie’s is this handsome 15th-century blue and white pottery dish. Made in Bursa or Edirne, it is clearly influenced by Chinese porcelain (est. £120,000–180,000).

Indian art dominates the Bonhams sale, but note the charming Fikret Mualla’s ‘Paris Bar Scene’ (Bonhams, Islamic and Indian Art, Lot 101, £12,000–18,000).

This week we are in Beşiktaş for our gallery walk, where mostly solo shows and one group show explore the spectrum of size, colour and materials in contemporary art. All the action takes place in Akaretler, a two-pronged street of townhouses built at the end of the 19th century to accommodate palace servants. These were refurbished in 2008, bringing a plethora of hip boutiques, trendy eateries and excellent art galleries. For lunch, you might want to try the newly opened Gile, reviewed in Cornucopia 51.

Komet, ‘Cushions’, 2007, silk, patchwork, embroidery, 39 x 39 cm

SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL

Let’s start up the hill on Süleyman Seba Caddesi, where one of the neighbourhood’s best art spaces, Kuad Gallery, is hosting a group exhibition entitled Small is Beautiful. Using the economist Ernst Friedrich Schumacher’s eponymous collection of essays as a starting point, the exhibition explores how negative social and economic impacts on art can be overcome. Most of the paintings, sketches, photographs, video works and installations on display are small-scale. One of them is a series of cushion covers by the veteran Turkish painter, Gürkan Coşkun, aka Komet. His use of embroidery is a modern take on an ancient technique. Please enquire directly with the gallery for prices.

Ulrich Erben, ‘Untitled’, 2008, oil on parchment paper, 60 x 70 cm

ULRICH ERBEN’S THE RECOLLECTION OF COLOURS

Make your way to the lower of the two Akaretler streets, Şair Nedim Caddesi. The modestly sized but impressive Art ON Istanbul at No 4 is hosting the first solo exhibition in Istanbul of the German painter Ulrich Erben. In The Recollection of Colours, curated by Necmi Sönmez, 40 of the artist’s signature works on canvas and paper are displayed, marked with bold colours and tonal associations. The gallery points out that Erben’s works are purely abstract and make no allusions to forms in nature. Please enquire directly with the gallery for prices.

Ulrich Erben, ‘Untitled’, 2009, acrylic on canvas, 135 x 135 cm

This season Art ON Istanbul will focus more on international artists and has added new names to its roster. Next month – simultaneously with Contemporary Istanbul – the gallery will host Ilgın Seymen’s solo exhibition, which will make a social statement on the dangers of consumption.

Nevin Aladağ, ‘Stewpan-tabor’, from the series ‘Music Room’, 2014, ceramic pot, goatskin, thread, h: 14 cm, d: 26 cm

NEVIN ALADAĞ’S DIAPASON

The always excellent Rampa has started its season with a comprehensive exhibition by the talented Turkish artist Nevin Aladağ, whose oeuvre is concerned with the transformative potential of music and sound. For Diapason the smaller space (at No 21) has been converted into a kind of music room, where Aladağ’s series of hybrid household objects and furniture converted into musical instruments are scattered around. Meanwhile, the walls at the all-white 900m2 space across the road at No 20 have been converted into a giant sheet of music. Please enquire directly with the gallery for prices.

Nevin Aladağ, ‘Diapason’ exhibition view

One of the artist’s excellent video works, 'Session' – like portraits of a city, integrating various forms of musical and rhythmic elements – can currently be seen at the Plurivocality exhibition at Istanbul Modern.

Neslihan Başer, ‘Layla’s Dream’, 2014, mixed technique on canvas, 90 x 67 cm

NESLIHAN BAŞER’S FACES OF MEMOIRS

Next door, C.A.M. Galeri is hosting a solo exhibition by Neslihan Başer, who shows presents latest series of portraits in Faces of Memoirs, integrating embroidery and acrylic paint to create deformed, textured works. The price range is TL5,000 to TL12,000.

Neslihan Başer, ‘Queen Layla’, 2014, mixed technique on canvas, 142 x 108 cm

Başer is greatly influenced by her grandmother, with whom she spent her childhood and in whose house in Adana she would watch as her grandmother and friends worked at their embroidery. The curator, Melek Gencer, tells us that each of the patterns the artist uses in her work is a like a legacy from these women. The work ‘Queen Leyla’ (above) is particularly special. Here Başer depicts her grandmother and the patterns she learnt from her.

Coming up is the solo show of the American-born, Istanbul-based artist Peter Hristoff.

Main image: Brian McKee

Key: Blue – Kuad Gallery, Red – Art On, Yellow – Rampa, Green – C.A.M. Galeri

Click here for the interactive map. 

Entries are now open for Ancient & Modern, a scholarship for original research sponsored by Cornucopia and Halı magazines, and by Bonhams, Christie’s and Sotheby’s.

The ninth (2014/15) grant of £1,000 for a research project will be awarded to a candidate less than twenty-six or over sixty years of age. The runner-up will be awarded the £500 Godfrey Goodwin Prize, named after the leading authority on Ottoman architecture who supported the award in its inaugural years.

This year, the Ancient & Modern award for original research went to Dr Peter Andrews (76), who is using the grant to support the examination and recording of two important tents. Harriet Rix (23) took the £500 and will use it to follow the footsteps of Francis Vernon, a 17th-century Levantine traveller, who made his way across the Ottoman Empire c1676. Read more here. And Cornucopia 51 has an article on all the wonderful entries received this year, written by the art historian, sculptor and author John Carswell who started the award over 10 years ago.

Application deadline is April 30, 2015. Click here for how to apply. Please send all entries and enquiries to secretary@ancientandmodern.co.uk

Four years ago, about four months after I’d arrived in Turkey, I went to Mardin for a slightly trumped up work visit. I was researching NGOs serving at-risk children and youth, and I could have gone to any city in Turkey, but Mardin had been calling to me ever since I’d arrived. I had no knowledge of the city at the time, except as a place on the map, but whenever my eyes wandered to that side of the map, they didn’t seem to want to go any further. My great grandfather was Syrian and one can see the lights of Syria across the flat expanse that separates the two countries late at night. Perhaps it is his spirit in me that pulled me there, but since that first visit, which happened to take place during Ramazan, I have been back with my son and plan on going back again and again.

That visit showed me a Turkey totally at odds with what I knew from Istanbul. It was not the conglomeration of villages that is Istanbul, it was more than co-existing – it was actually a melting pot, a place where several cultures and languages were all mixed up together, without borders. On the streets, wandering from sand-coloured madrasa to sand-coloured monastery, I heard people speaking a language I didn’t know and kissing each other three times in greeting. I found out they were Suryani, ancient Christians speaking a modern form of Aramaic, the language of Jesus. I heard Arabic. I heard Kurdish. I heard Turkish. I heard all three issuing from the mouth of one person, or two from the mouth of many. 

At the time, I had no experience of fasting and imagined it to be a very difficult thing. I also had little awareness of what Ramazan actually signified or the customs involved. Also, being a big fan of Turkish cuisine and food in general, I knew that I must have içli köfte while in Mardin and I tried to order some at the rather nice hotel my Brazilian counterpart and I were housed. I soon discovered that Mardin is not the place to sneak a daytime meal during Ramazan, not even in a fancy hotel. Again, this was not Istanbul. They made us menemen (scrambled eggs with tomato and peppers) and I felt guilty and secretive as I ate it. My Brazilian friend did not feel guilty in the least, mind you.

And so it was that that evening, on the second to last day of Ramazan, we were wandering the streets, marvelling at the architecture and the colour of things, when we heard the evening call to prayer and the end to another day of fasting, and began to follow the general crowd, a slow march to a place we did not know. On the way, a young man in the middle of the road watched a day’s work come unfurled as the ropes around his cardboard-laden mule loosened and his karton (cardboard scraps) came tumbling down. He stood stricken for the longest of seconds. Then he looked up to the heavens and cried: ‘I am H U N G R Y!’ After my son’s tears, it was the saddest sound I had ever heard. My Turkish was better than my Arabic, in which he had uttered his plaintive cry, so I offered to help him. He told me that it was no work for a woman and too heavy and I wouldn’t know how to tie the ropes, but I ignored him as I often do with such comments, not understanding if they come from a place of machismo or chivalry, and piled his mule back up and tied the ropes just fine. Then I continued to follow the crowd into a giant tent and I wondered over to the counter to see what was going on. Someone apologised for it being the dregs and handed me a bowl of soup. I tried to refuse, feeling like an impostor because I’d already eaten that day and didn’t deserve such an offering, and a free one at that, but the server just waved me away. That was the other thing about Mardin – I felt less a foreigner there than in Istanbul. The guy at the iftar çadırı (‘breaking the fast tent’ set up by the municipality) didn’t even look at me twice, or wonder what I was doing in there, or ask me anything personal. He just served me as he served the person before and after me, and I’m blonde and blue-eyed and look people square in the face, all of which usually award me the notice of the average Istanbullu.

So I thanked the municipality in my heart, and the people of Mardin who had made me so welcome, and raised my cup of lentil soup in deference to Ramazan and the melding of faiths and cultures I felt all around me, and enjoyed my first iftar in Turkey.

Tara Alisbah’s book ‘Turkish Hands: Gesturing You Way Home’ is available from the Cornucopia store.

All photos by Andre Porto. 

We are back in Karaköy/Tophane, the city’s undisputed gallery hub, for a chock-a-block walk this week.

Taus Makhacheva, still from the video ‘Walk’

TAUS MAKHACHEVA’S DAGESTAN. NOT FOR SALE.

Let’s start on Mumhane Caddesi, which runs parallel to the main drag, Kemeraltı Caddesi, where the tram runs. At No 67, artSümer is hosting the first solo exhibition in Istanbul of the Dagestani artist Taus Makhacheva. Travelling around Dagestan, the artist shot lots of video footage and collected the material that forms the basis of this exhibition. Together, the powerful pieces in Dagestan. Not For Sale. attempt to understand how the region is changing under the influence of new political conditions. Prices range from €300 to €4,000.

Taus Makhacheva, ‘Dagestan’

Looking ahead, there will be two group shows, one with the gallery artists and the other with young artists who as yet have no representation. This will be followed by solo shows of Merve Çanakçı and Onur Gülfidan.

Rana Begum, installation view, 2014

RANA BEGUM

On the narrow parallel street, Ali Paşa Değirmeni Sokak, you will find Galeri Mana (main image) at No 16, which is in its last week of hosting the London-based artist Rana Begum. Begum’s colourful abstract metal sculptures (above) are presented alongside a work created especially for the exhibition – an installation comprised of locally hand-woven baskets, which investigates the relationship between light, movement and spatial perception (below). Please enquire directly with the gallery for prices.

Rana Begum, ‘No:545’, 2014, installation view

Unfortunately, this is Galeri Mana’s final exhibition, as it has been announced that the gallery will close in November. So this is one of your last chances to see wonderful conceptual art in this beautiful venue – a converted 19th-century flour mill.

‘Does Mirror Lie’, installation view, 2014

ZDRAVKO TOIC’S DOES MIRROR LIE

Our next stop is at a new gallery a few minutes’ walk down the street. Space Debris Art represent mostly Turkish and American artists. Currently it is hosting the Croatian-born, New York-based artist Zdravko Toic’s show Does Mirror Lie. Here Toic – who experiments with form and colour and investigates such issues as body politics and gender identities – presents his latest colourful cut-out paper works. Please enquire directly with the gallery for prices.

Ismail Saray, ‘Envoy’, 1972, detail

FROM ENGLAND WITH LOVE, ISMAIL SARAY

Navigate through the backstreets back onto Kemeraltı Caddesi and head west. When you come to Karaköy Square, take a steep right onto Bankalar Caddesi. At No 11, SALT Galata is hosting a comprehensive exhibition of the neglected artist Ismail Saray, entitled From England with Love.

Ismail Saray, ‘Awaiting Black Mail’, shown at the 34ème Salon de la Jeune Peinture at the Grand Palais, Paris in 1983

Saray was active in avant-garde art in the late 1970s in Turkey. After completing his studies in Ankara he moved to London, where he was introduced to conceptual art. His work is deeply grounded in politics and the artist books he produced throughout his career are amongst his most important works, as are two critical installations made in 1983 (above) and 1984 for the Jeune Peinture exhibitions in Paris.

Fatma Bucak, ‘Blessed are You Who Come. Conversation on the Turkish-Armenian Border’, 2013, video, 8’40’’

OXYMORON OF NORMALITY

Make your way out onto Kemeraltı Caddesi and head back towards the Tophane tram stop. At the bottom of Kumbaracı Yokuşu, the steep straight lane leading up to Istiklal, you will find the former tobacco warehouse that now houses DEPO. This Friday (October 17) an exciting exhibition opens in which eight Polish and four Turkish artists explore the condition of countries in Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans.

Zbigniew Libera, ‘Freelancer (self-portrait)’, 2013, print, pigment ink on cotton paper, diptych, 110 x 218 cm, 110 x 147 cm

In Oxymoron of Normality, works range from a video by the Turkish artist Fatma Bucak, who's work problematises gender- and identity-based discrimination, to surreal photographs by Ali Taptık and self-portraits by the Polish artist Zbigniew Libera, best known for the controversial LEGO Concentration Camp Set he designed in 1996.

Erica Baum, ‘Zebra’

THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT

Backtrack across the park to the next street leading up to Istiklal (directly opposite the Kılıç Ali Paşa complex), Boğazkesen Caddesi. Mixer, at No 45, is hosting a fascinating exhibition, The Built Environment, comparing the art scene on New York's Lower East Side to that in Tophane, with work from both American and Turkish artists. Prices range from $720 to $10,000.

The curator, Kathleen Madden, says: ‘New York has not one, but multiple art worlds, with a vast and dynamic amount of activity. As I spent only a week in Istanbul last year, it’s difficult for me to compare it with Tophane, but the neighbourhood seems to have a great deal of dynamism and current engagement with changing culture in Turkey. Artists open their eyes and see things in our culture and communicate with us, sharing what they believe. It seems to me that Tophane is a zone where artists can come together to support each other in conversations.’

Joshua Abelow, ‘Self-Portrait’, 2008, oil on canvas 

Coming up is a solo show of Berkay Buğdanoğlu. Mixer’s ArtWriting project, programmes on collecting and reading exhibitions and art, and the Mixer Editions will also continue.

Maura Sullivan, ‘Brett’, print

MAURA SULLIVAN’S THE LOST DREAM

Across the road at No 76B, PG Art is hosting the American photographer Maura Sullivan. In A Lost Dream, the artist presents atmospheric black-and-white portraits exploring such themes as memory, loss, love and dreams. Please enquire directly with the gallery for prices.

Erdem Taşdelen, ‘A Southpaw Pitcher’

ERDEM TAŞDELEN’S A PETITION OF THE LEFT HAND

And if you still have it in you and are brave enough to continue the steep climb, Galeri NON, on a side street called Nur-i-Ziya Sokak, is hosting a second solo exhibition of the Turkish artist Erdem Taşdelen, who investigates left-handedness as a socio-historical phenomenon in A Petition of the Left Hand. Please enquire directly with the gallery for prices.

The ‘Syria in Transit’ project

TANDEM

If you are doing the gallery walk this weekend, make sure you also stop by Studio-X, which is hosting a special event from this Friday (October 17) to Sunday. Spanning documentary, music, dance, photography, performance, theatre and crafts, 15 projects created by cultural managers and organisations from Turkey and Europe will be shown in TANDEM. One of these is ‘Syria in Transit’, a photography, sound and video exhibition documenting the stories of Syrian refugees and exiles who have migrated to Turkey or are attempting the dangerous journey to Europe. The exhibition was previously shown in Rich Mix London and Kırkayak Art Centre Gaziantep.

Studio-X is also currently hosting the HEY! IGI OPEN CALL Exhibition platform, inviting students, government agencies, artists, advocacy groups and creative minds in general to contribute ideas specific to Istanbul’s urban context. The contributions from the OPEN CALL Exhibition and this online portal (under six categories and covering 100-plus topics) will be published, and the portal that will endeavour to act as an open resource, collating and discussing better approaches to city design.

Key: Blue – artSümer, Red – Galeri Mana, Green – Space Debris Art, Yellow – SALT Galata, Light Blue – DEPO, Purple – Mixer, Magenta – PG Art, Blue with dot – Galeri NON, Red with dot – Studio-X

Click here for the interactive map. 

Main image: Galeri Mana

The Association of Art Historians (AAH) has announced its next batch of funding for academic collaborations with museums and galleries. The next deadline is in two weeks’ time on November 1st. If you have an idea for a project but need more time, you can apply for the next round before May 1st, 2015.

There are two streams: The Collaboration Award is for collaborative research projects between museum professionals and academics that lead to an event, publication, exhibition or display. The Individual Award provides financial assistance for museum professionals to undertake original research towards a publication, exhibition or display. Applicants can apply for any amount between £200 and £5,250. The award is tenable for a maximum of 12 months and can only be used for one project.

Previously funded projects (over the last two years) have included a collaboration between the Manchester Art Gallery and Michael Hopkins from the School of Computer Science, University of Manchester who produced new artworks for the exhibition The Imitation Game that will take place at the gallery in 2015; Kirstie Gregory from the Henry Moore Institute in Leeds who received funding to do research for an exhibition of the sculptues of the Romanian/British artist Paul Neagu (1938–2004); the Centre for Contemporary Art, Derry–Londonderry and Dr Marina Vishmidt, an independent art historian and writer who collaborated on the exhibition Momentous Times; and the Photographers’ Gallery in London and the Manchester Metropolitan Museum, with Dr Patricia Allmer and Dr John Sears who put together the exhibition Taking Shots: the Photography of William S Burroughs.

To apply, at least one party must hold current AAH membership (either individual or institutional). The grants are open to museum professionals (curators, conservators, educators), academics from HE and FE sectors, indepedents, i.e. individuals of postdoctoral standing or with equivalent experience not affiliated to an institution, and freelance curators. Non-UK nationals may also apply.

Download the application form here. For more information, email awards@aah.org.uk.

I was delighted to hear that a new photography festival is descending on my neighbourhood. From this Saturday (October 18), the Beşiktaş municipality will host a month-long festival featuring 50 exhibits, and numerous lectures, roundtable discussions, workshops and special presentations.

Ken Schles’s ‘Nightwalk’

The municipality worked with a team of art directors, curators and photographers to put together a rather ambitious sounding programme. And all power to them. Istanbul lacks a comprehensive photography festival and I hope this one brings the goods. The loose theme is ‘cities and stories’, with many of the exhibiting photographers embracing the ‘the city’ – real and imaginary, contemporary and of the past – in their oeuvres.

Murat Germen’s ‘Muta morphosis’

The majority of the exhibits will be displayed on Barbaros Square in the middle of Beşiktaş, accessible by many buses and boats. There’s lots of interest: intimate black-and-white portraits of passengers on Brooklyn’s elevated trains by the award-winning American photographer Thomas Roma; the excellent Istanbul-based photographer Murat Germen’s Muta morphosis project, which documents the damage that construction projects are having on Istanbul; Yusuf Darıyerli’s landscapes of the Anatolian countryside; the Iranian photographer Gohar Dashti’s series of women born after the Iranian revolution in their many guises; the veteran photographer Ozan Sağdıç’s ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ which collates his shots of Istanbul and Ankara taken over the last decade; the English photographer Guy Martin’s compelling series centred on Turkish soap operas; the documentary photographer Kerem Yücel’s series on Syrian refugees who have called Turkey home in the past three years; and much, much more.

Chris Anderson’s ‘Capitolio’

Just down the road – where Barbaros Bulvari starts – the smaller Democracy Square is displaying a few exhibits. The biggest names are the American-born French photographer and filmmaker William Klein, known for his avant-garde photography, and Magnum photographer Christopher Anderson. A collection of photographs has been collated from Klein’s four city books – Rome, New York, Moscow and Tokyo. Meanwhile, Anderson’s photo essay on the transformation of Caracas, Venezuela will be exhibited. 

Monique Jaques’s ‘Gaza’

Finally, at the Orphanage further down on Palanga Caddesi in Ortaköy, there will be photographs of homeless youth in Toronto by Berge Arabian, musings on daily life in Soviet Russia by the late Anatoly Garanin, the Dutch photographer Arjen Zwart’s series tracking a 13-year journey of a Gypsy family, the Istanbul-based photojournalist Monique Jaques’ essay on Gaza, street photography by the Japanese master Seiji Kurata and a series of photographs taken on a night walk in downtown New York by the Brooklyn photographer Ken Schles. Click here to download the exhibition brochure.

Cem Ersavcı’s ‘Northern Forests’

The accompanying programme – which takes place during the first week of the festival – sounds scintillating and very diverse. International and Turkish photographers, publishers, designers and editors will present on, discuss and dissect such topics as photographing the city, photojournalism, the future of photography, censorship, new media, photography and society, and urbanisation and photography (a hot topic at the moment). Some will be general but others will get specific and zero in on locations such as Istanbul, Gaza, London, Russia and Afghanistan. Every evening at 8pm there will be a masterclass: Thomas Roma will present on Sunday, followed by Murat Germen on Monday, Ken Schles on Tuesday, Yusuf Darıyerli on Wednesday, Christopher Anderson on Thursday and Seiji Kurata on Friday. Mimar Sinan photography students will also present works honouring the late photographer and activist Cem Ersavcı – known for his photographs of the Gezi protests and northern forests – who died in a motorcycle accident in August. All events are free of charge and take place at Bahçeşehir University. Click here to download the events brochure for timings and exact locations.

Thomas Roma’s ‘Higher Ground’

The line-up of workshops is likewise impressive, with some seasoned photographers in the mix. The English publisher and photography curator Dewi Lewis will host a practical two-day workshop on developing a book project from draft to publication (October 22–23). Thomas Roma will lead a workshop on the artistic, technical and commercial concerns in the process of publishing a monograph (Oct 21–22). Ken Schles will host a workshop for advanced photography students looking to take their projects beyond the ‘selfie’ and the news cycle to a fuller and more nuanced statement in book form (Oct 19–21). Finally, the young photographer Juliana Beasley will share her experiences and ideas about forming intimate relationships with subjects (Oct 19–22). Please register for all workshops via the website.

Anatoly Garanin’s ‘Ballad of Life in Soviet Russia’

The well put together website is user-friendly and has more information. Although the exhibits and all events except for the workshops are free to attend, it is asked that you register. Click here to do so. Saturday kicks off with an opening ceremony at Barbaros Square at 4pm, followed by cocktails at the Orphanage from 6:30pm. See you there.

Founded in London 12 years ago, the Frieze art fair is a massive October art jamboree now under luxurious pavilions in Regent’s Park. At the original Frieze London, 162 galleries this year showed the contemporary art scene at both its innovative best and its market-driven worst. Nearby in the spin-off Frieze Masters section, 127 galleries show works dating up to the 20th century, including, this year, a $48.5 million Rembrandt portrait. 

But Frieze has also become the anchor for an extraordinary series of openings across London, from auction houses to private contemporary galleries to the greatest masterpieces in the greatest galleries. They include, in a particularly rich line-up this autumn, blockbuster shows on Constable, Turner and Rembrandt. 

This week one could stroll from the opening of Rembrandt: The Late Works, at the National Gallery on Trafalgar Square, to a nearby second-floor space on Charing Cross Road now occupied by Rodeo. After Pi Artworks last year, Rodeo is the second major Istanbul gallery to open up shop in London, with the opening timed for Frieze week.

As in Istanbul, you can only find Rodeo from the sign on the buzzer. The gallery often seems to specialise in the most conceptual of conceptual art. But its exhibition by Tamara Henderson, the Canadian artist leading its London debut, was thoroughly accessible. It included uplifting wall pieces in a pastel-coloured mix of paint and glued sand on canvas.  

A standout piece from the gallery show, in my view, was ‘Dare Safara’ (above), along with some very jazzy furniture (below) – though one ceramic circular table was sadly smashed in an accident on the gallery’s opening night.

Henderson’s work – which Rodeo featured both in the gallery, and in its linked stand at Frieze itself – is inspired by visits to a ‘past life therapist’, who discovered she had been an archaeologist named Low Harvard, explaining why she used sand and sponge materials, according to gallery staff. Context aside the artworks were priced from €60,000 for a chair and table to a few thousand for the wall pieces.

Rodeo will use part of the Charing Cross Road premises for a project space – guest curated – that it will share with the neighbouring Claire de Rouen bookshop, famed for its fashion and photography. But upstairs was the Turkish artist Banu Cennetoğlu’s contribution – her project called ‘Gentle Madness’ (above), with 46 bound books of British newspapers laid out on seven tables.

Cennetoğlu’s work takes one aspect of contemporary art – arranging, selecting, editing, rather than making – to extremes. The work is an ongoing research project where a team collects every possible newspaper from a country on a single day, and ‘collates and archives’ a day’s news.

Ankara-born Cennetoğlu has carried it out in Turkey, Switzerland, Cyprus and 19 Arabic-speaking countries. This time there were copies of he Anderstown News of Belfast, or the Bangla Post and the UK published Al-Quds Al Arabi. 

In a copy of the Glasgow Evening Times, a special investigation into lives wasted by drugs was juxtaposed with an advert for an art class. In the Chester Chronicle, a story asked, “Have Ghosts been Caught on Camera in Pub?” But I’m afraid I found this project, in this context, fairly unilluminating; the contrasts and the content flat rather than provoking.    

Last year Istanbul’s Pi Artworks opened in East Castle Street in Soho, a street which in recent years has drawn a cluster of interesting galleries, like Art First, across the road. This October’s show is Cairotraces, the gallery’s third solo show by the Egyptian-German artist Susan Hefuna. It includes works on paper and striking sculptures in her buildings series (sculptures, above, €14,000).

When it came to showcasing Turkish art, however – though galleries will tell you these national boundaries don’t matter any more – it was Istanbul’s Rampa gallery, that was doing the heavy lifting, with a telling retrospective of Gülsun Karamustafa at its Frieze stand.

Rampa has been at Frieze for four years. On the fair’s seething opening night – there is a reported $2 billion dollars of art on sale in London this week – there seemed a danger of Karamustafa’s work being lost in the sea of galleries, where success can mean making a splash at all costs. 

But the following day, gallery staff were pleased to have sold two editions of ‘Trellis of My Mind’ (above), an arresting wall scroll of transparent images of Islamic, Christian and Jewish manuscripts overlaid with each other so that they seem to merge (€35,000). A version was first shown in Kassel, Germany in 1998.

‘The Sanctuary’ (above), a series of quirky ceramic sculptures, saw Karamustafa drawing on the toys she made as a child from things she found around her house. A large fabric piece on the wall behind was one of eight textile collages she made, titled ‘An Ordinary Love’, using materials she collected when working with film director Atıf Yılmaz in 1983. 

Karamustafa first exhibited them in an apartment she used as a gallery in the mid-80s, at a time when art in Istanbul was still conservatively centred on painting and sculpture. The wall piece was already on reserve for a client, one day into the fair, at €70,000.

It was last year that Frieze began to stage two separate shows, 15 minutes walk apart in Regent’s Park. The super-wealthy collectors in power suits strolling the Frieze Masters galleries were offered everything from works by El Greco, Picasso or Rembrandt still in private collections to one mosaic of ‘eastern Roman Empire’ origin – few other details were offered, though it wouldn’t have looked out of place in Gaziantep – at €390,000.

Other Turkish work at Frieze London included ‘Red, Old Woman, Yellow, Black Eyes, Brown, Pride Belt, Blue, Drilled Ears, Silver, Carpet, Seeds, Blue, Teenage Acne’ (above), by Austrian-Turkish artist Nilbar Güreş, showing at Galerie Martin Janda’s stand. She is currently showing at the São Paulo Biennial, and the nine-foot high work is ‘an investigation of the concept of the skirt’ in Western and Indigenous culture. 

One Glasgow gallery, Kendall Koppe, showed marble wall pieces and a fetching marble table by the London-born artist George Henry Longly – who works typically in stone and found materials but has been asked to do a film project, his second, for Istanbul’s Moving Museum. 

Rampa has no plans to follow Pi Artworks and Rodeo to London, staff say, but it’s keeping up its presence at Frieze. There seemed a general consensus that sales at ArtInternational in Istanbul this year were less than strong; galleries at Frieze have to do well to pay off fees there that can easily run to £20,000, but Rampa plans to stay the course here.     

‘It’s one of the missions of our gallery to promote Turkish artists and the way to do that is build connections,’ said a spokesman. ‘In that sense fairs are important, and we have to be patient. You have to keep faith and keep on coming.’

We are in Beyoğlu – the city's European centre – for a fun, diverse gallery walk. All the galleries we visit are on or off the main thoroughfare, İstiklâl Caddesi (above).

John Wreford

JOHN WREFORD’S RAQS SHARQI

Let’s start at the Tünel end, in the backstreets of Asmalımescit, where Galatea Art is hosting an exhibition of the photojournalist John Wreford. Now based in Istanbul, Wreford spent ten years in Damascus from 2003 until 2013, photographing dancing, among other things. The series Raqs Sharqi (Eastern Dance) focuses on the art of belly dancing, with sepia photographs full of movement, shadows and light.

Each photograph is 60 x 40 cm and priced at TL550.

Mud brick reinforcement and mud plastering applied in the southern section of the Square 33.32, located in the courtyard of the Level VII Palace. Hatice Öz is resting during the mud plastering. While mud brick-making is performed by men, mud plastering is a special skill done only by the women of the Varışlı village (Açana). August 2011, Koç University Alalakh Excavations Archive, Murat Akar

THE FORGOTTEN KINGDOM

Navigate your way to İstiklâl Caddesi and head towards Taksim. At No 181 the RCAC is hosting – as usual – a fascinating exhibition. The Forgotten Kingdom provides a comparative look at the community landscape and site of Tell Atchana, ancient Alalakh, with photographs taken during the British archaeologist Sir Leonard Woolley’s excavation seasons (1936–1939 and 1946–1949), alongside photographs of recent excavations (2006–2014) by one of curators, Murat Akar. All are on display here together for the first time, courtesy of University College London's Institute of Archaeology and the Koç University Archive.

One of the many commoners’ burials found at Alalakh. The deceased were often buried with a simple jar for the afterlife [18th–17th century BCE]. July 2012, Koç University Alalakh Excavations Archive, Murat Akar

The curators Akar and Hélène Maloigne have both been working at Koç University’s Tell Atchana excavation – Akar as the site's field director and photographer (since 2003), while Maloigne has been excavating there since 2012, as well as working on digitalising the Woolley excavation photographs at UCL. Together they formed the idea of merging the two archives – past and present – in a single exhibition.

An exhibition on war and propaganda marking the centenary of the First World War will open in late December.

Şükran Moral, ‘Child-Bride II’, archival pigment print, 80 x 120 cm

ŞÜKRAN MORAL’S WELCOME TO TURKEY

Further up at No 163, Mısır Apartment – a famous building packed with galleries – has plenty to interest. On the second floor Galeri Zilberman is hosting an exhibition of one of Turkey’s best-known performance artists, Şükran Moral. In Welcome to Turkey the gallery space disguises itself as a tourism office, complete with postcards, maps and information about Turkey. But this is no regular tourist agency. The map is a bloodstained mattress (above), and the postcards show not the Blue Mosque or Haghia Sophia, but a little girl in a wedding dress. The video, ‘Tales to a Young Girl’ (below), can only be seen by peering through a peephole while kneeling on a stool: it starts with heavy panting and painful shrieks as a doll is mutilated. Through this horrific ‘welcome’, Moral confronts such issues as polygamous marriage, marginalised transgender individuals, virginity and female circumcision. Her work is remarkable in identifying, criticising and challenging gender roles. Prices range from €7,000 to €50,000.

Şükran Moral, ‘Tales to a Young Girl’, video, 03’23”

Galeri Zilberman has turned its second-floor venue into a space for artists wanting to exhibit a single project. The first, to be exhibited this November, will be Eşref Yıldırım’s Prison For Minor Offenses, which was shown at Sinopale this summer. Coming up on the third-floor space is a solo show by Walid Siti, and this season will also see works by Alpin Arda Bağcık and Guido Casaretto.

Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige’s, ‘The Golden Record’, 2011, video

DISQUIET

Upstairs, on the third and fourth floors, Galeri Zilberman and Pi Artworks have collaborated to present a group exhibition, Disquiet. Curated by Nat Muller, the exhibition brings together different artists from the same region, working in a variety of disciplines including photography, installation, sculpture, painting and video.

Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige’s video installation (above) is from a multi-part project The Lebanese Rocket Society, which investigates the almost incredible, and virtually forgotten, history of Lebanon’s 1960s space programme. Meanwhile, the excellent Istanbul-based artist Volkan Aslan opens up a fairytale world of whimsy, populated by porcelain figurines (below). Prices range between $1,250 and $50,000.

Volkan Aslan, installation view, found porcelain and ceramics, different sizes

This year Pi Artworks has two different programmes for Istanbul and London. New artists will be added to the roster and there will be a number of specially curated shows.

Inci Eviner, ‘Staging Daily Politics’ series, 2014, mixed media collage on paper, 51 x 72 cm

AGON

Opposite Pi Artworks, Galeri Nev is also hosting a group exhibition, Agon, showcasing the works of eight of their represented artists. Works range from a new series of ink drawings by the wonderful feminist artist Inci Eviner (above) to Tayfun Erdoğmuş’s water paintings, and a performance video (below) by another artist dealing with feminist issues, Gökçen Dilek Acay.

Gökçen Dilek Acay, ‘Barking Woman’, 2012, still from a performance video, 3’01”

Please enquire directly with the gallery for prices.

Exhibition view

NO. 4

On the fifth floor, the not-for-profit space the Nesrin Esirtgen Collection hosts its fourth collection exhibition, NO. 4. The show brings together works by well-established artists and later additions to the collection exemplifying a new era of contemporary art. The works are not for sale.

Exhibition view, with a mixed media piece by Burhan Kum on the left

The space is currently inviting submissions for its upcoming ‘Open Call, Open Door’ event, which aims to support young artists while making use of the space during the winter period.

Metin Tütün’s photography of a woman’s body next to a sculpture he made of the same body

METIN TÜTÜN’S WHEN SHADOWS RETREAT

Leave the building and keep heading down İstiklâl Caddesi towards Taksim. Go past the Galatasaray Lycée and turn down the first street on your right. On Turnacıbaşı Caddesi, a narrow street full of interesting art boutiques and vintage shops, at No 21, the tiny Gama Gallery is hosting the first exhibition of the young artist Metin Tütün. In When Shadows Retreat, Tütün explores the human body through atmospheric photographs and clay and stone sculptures. Please enquire directly with the gallery for prices.

Exhibition view

MARCEL BROODTHAERS’S WORDS, THINGS AND CONCEPTS

Come back onto Istiklal Caddesi and head towards Taksim. On your left, at No 8, Akbank Sanat hosts a comprehensive exhibition of the late Belgian artist, poet and filmmaker, Marcel Broodthaers, considered to be one of the greatest conceptual artists of the 20th century. The works are not for sale.

Exhibition view

Curated by Hasan Bülent Kahraman, Words, Concepts and Things focuses on the three aspects of Broodthaers's work that justify his reputation a significant artist: his relationship to language, his concern with the notion of museum and art history, and highly imaginative, brilliant works produced in a variety of mediums ranging from collage to ready-mades, and from arte povera to installations.

Coming up in December is an exhibition on the history of new media art entitled History of Today: Snapshots of Media Art Since the 60s. In March 2015 there will be an exhibition curated by the winner of the International Curator Competition 2014, Niekolaas Johannes Lekkerkerk. And in June the space will host the winners of the Akbank Contemporary Artists Prize Exhibition.

Main image: Wikimedia Commons

Key: Blue – Galatea Art, Red – RCAC, Yellow – Mısır Apartment (Galeri Zilberman, Pi Artworks, Galeri Nev, Nesrin Esirtgen Collection), Green – Gama, Purple – Akbank Sanat

Click here for the interactive map. 

A lot more accessible (and in some ways interesting) than the major IKSV-run Istanbul Jazz Festival that takes place during the summer, the Akbank Jazz Festival – with the moniker ‘the city in a state of jazz’ – starts today.

Now in its 24th year, this popular jazz festival brings an eclectic mix of musicians to Istanbul. With 30 international and major Turkish artists and a plethora of other local talent performing in over 40 venues of all sizes, there’s something for every jazz – or really music – lover. Here are some of our highlights.

The artists who perform at this festival are often more underground and musically adventurous than can be seen at other jazz festivals around Turkey. Of course, even Akbank Jazz Festival has its headliner, who – this year – is the English jazz-pop singer-songwriter Jamie Cullum. He performs next Thursday (October 30) at the Zorlu Performing Centre for the Arts.

Tonight, the jazz vocalist China Moses (above), who is the daughter of jazz great Dee Dee Bridgewater, performs at Sakıp Sabancı Museum’s state-of-the-art concert hall, The Seed. Also tonight, one of the most important jazz trumpeters of the last decade, Ambrose Akinmusire, performs at Babylon. There are still tickets available for both.

Tomorrow night (October 24), at the Cemal Reşit Rey Concert Hall (a great venue), the Philly-born jazz bassist Christian McBride will perform with his trio. Expect a night of a melding of genres: McBride is into his pop, R&B and rock as much as he is into his jazz.

On Saturday night (October 25), one of the best neo-soul singers and producers of our time, Bilal (above), performs a late-night concert at Babylon (starts at 11pm). I’m excited for this one. Also tomorrow, the Lebanese-born, Paris-based trumpeter and composer Ibrahim Maalouf (whose father is the renowned trumpeter Nassim Maalouf, known for his integration of the trumpet into Arabic music) performs tracks from his latest album Illusions at the Cemal Reşit Rey Concert Hall.

Next Wednesday (October 29), José James, who combines modern jazz, hip-hop, soul and drum’n’bass, will grace audiences with his smooth vocals and guitar skills at Babylon. His latest album was greatly inspired by soul singer Al Green and guitar virtuoso Jimi Hendrix so expect something special.

Next Thursday (October 30), the Lebanese singer Yasmine Hamdan (main image) – a cult figure in the Arab word as she is one of the first Middle Eastern musicians to combine folk with indie and electronic music – will perform at the Moda Stage. One element which makes Hamdan unique is her playful use of various dialects of Arabic, which alternate between Lebanese, Kuwaiti, Palestinian, Egyptian and Bedouin.

Lovers of a good jazz duo, don’t miss the American pianist Kenny Barron, known for his lyrical style of playing, and the English jazz double bassist Dave Holland – both masters in their field – perform next Friday (October 31) at the Zorlu Centre.

Photo: Lisa Frieling

Next Saturday (November 1), Chet Faker, an Australian composer and singer – whose name is a playful homage to jazz great Chet Baker – will bring his unique blend of downtempo, soul and dub-step for a night of ‘spiritual compositions’. He performs at Black Box Istanbul in Sarıyer.

As 2014 marks the 600th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Turkey and Poland, a number of Polish musicians perform. Tonight, the pianist and film music composer Leszek Możdżer (above), considered to be the most important jazz musician in the Polish jazz scene after Tomasz Stańko, will perform at Akbank Sanat. And next Friday, the composer and clarinetist Wacław Zimpel will take the stage with his project ‘Hera’, also at Akbank Sanat.

A full programme is available on Akbank Sanat’s website and tickets can be purchased from Biletix.

Main image by Amlie Rouyer.

We are in Nişantaşı – the commercial centre of the city and one of the first contemporary art hubs – for an interesting walk featuring mostly solo shows of Turkish artists. Many of the works seen on this walk are concerned with bending perception, whether in pop art, op art, abstract art or photography.

Serpil Aslan

SERPIL ASLAN’S AMYGDALA

Start on Mim Kemal Öke Caddesi. Opposite Maçka Park and near the Istanbul Technical University, the veteran Maçka Art Gallery, founded in 1976, is hosting an exhibition of the latest sculptures by the young artist Serpil Aslan. Borrowing its title from the almond-shaped part of the brain which regulates the processing of memory, decision-making and emotional reactions, Amygdala investigates childhood trauma and anxiety. Please enquire directly with the gallery for prices.

Hasan Pehlevan, ‘LWL 5’, 2014, mixed media on canvas, 150 x 150 cm

HASAN PEHLEVAN’S HOME

Further up at Mim Kemal Öke Caddesi No 12, Merkur Gallery is hosting the latest works of the multi-media artist, Hasan Pehlevan. In Home, the artist presents dizzying, colourful compositions inspired by everyday objects: a carpet motif, the light reflected by a street lamp, a pattern on a dress.

Hasan Pehlevan, ‘Implicit’, 2014, mixed media on canvas, 120 x 120 cm

Pehlevan is interested in op art, a style of visual art that makes use of optical illusions, and this series is no different. The linear expression seen in his first solo show has now evolved into more colourful and dynamic compositions. The techniques of zooming and cutting-out also appear in these works. Prices range from TL7,000 to TL12,000.

Exhibition view

EKREM YALÇINDAĞ’S VICHY PAINTINGS
 
Parallel on Abdi Ipekçi Caddesi, Dirimart is presenting the latest works of the painter Ekrem Yalçındağ, which also challenge and transform perception. All completed this year, the series Vichy Paintings, references pop art and 1960s minimalism. The walls resemble a patchwork quilt with Yalçındağ’s geometric paintings in different colours hanging side by side. The space feels smaller, cosier, homelier. Prices range from €13,500 to €28,500.

Exhibition view

FATMA TÜLIN’S CHIARA

Further down at No 22, Kare Gallery is hosting an exhibition of the veteran painter, Fatma Tülin. In her 34th exhibition, entitled Chiara, Tülin uses oil brush strokes on canvases that were produced digitally from previously taken photographs. Expect bright colours and abstract compositions. Each painting is unique. Please enquire directly with the gallery for prices.

Ryan Schude, ‘Toaster’, 2010, photography, 120 x 120 cm, 3 ed. + 1AP – 90 x 90 cm, 3 ed. + 1AP

RYAN SCHUDE’S TABLEAUX VIVANTS

Further up at No 42, x-ist is showing a solo show of an international photographer for the very first time. The Los Angeles-based artist Ryan Schude’s series of ten photographs was taken over the past six years and is based around the Tableaux Vivants (‘living pictures’) genre, which is also the name of the exhibition. As per the genre, Schude articulates multiple narratives within a single image. Most of the time, the viewer is asked to decode a number of potentially ambiguous situations. The embellishments of the location, set design, props, costumes, lighting and acting is signature of Schude’s work. Some of the photographs, like the above, were inspired by literature and cinema.

Ryan Schude, ‘Treehouse’, 2014, photography, 100 x 150 cm, ed. 3 +1 AP | 80 x 120 cm, ed. 3 + 1 AP

Others (above) were inspired by Schude's family experiences. These photographs, which were taken over five days, are centred on the difficulty faced by single mothers in raising children (the motivation for this series was his sister’s divorce). Prices range from €2,250 to €4,250.

Coming up is a solo exhibition of the renowned painter Ali Elmacı, entitled Kill Him, Make Me Laugh. The gallery will also have two booths at the upcoming Contemporary Istanbul fair: the painter Ekin Saclıoğlu will have her own booth to exhibit a solo project and the latest works of x-ist’s artists will be displayed at the second booth.

Wojtek Wieteska, 1996

SHOCK THERAPY

Make your way to the parallel Teşvikiye Caddesi through the narrow Atiye Sokak, filled to the brim with appetising cafes and chic bars. Down Maçka Caddesi slightly to the right is the not-for-profit art space Milli Reasürans Gallery, which is hosting an exhibition in the scope of the 600th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Turkey and Poland. Shock Therapy collates photographs taken in the aftermath of the polish transformation which happened in 1989 when Communism fell and an a new era of ‘democracy’ (capitalism) was ushered in. Scenes of marches and grim Soviet architecture are juxtaposed with desolate landscapes and the faces of Poland. The works are not for sale.

Witold Krassowski

Coming up is an exhibition telling the story of the Ece Ajandası, one of the oldest diary companies in Europe (December). Next year, there will be a show of new paintings by Mustafa Pancar (February), followed by a photography show of Murat Germen (March) and recent paintings by İsmet Değirmenci (April).

Ali Şentürk

ALI SENTURK’S DON’T TELL ANYONE ABOUT ME

Backtrack to Teşvikiye Caddesi and make your way down the perpendicular Osman F Seden Sokak. Turn left down the second street you come across, Şakayık Sokak, and at No 37 the contemporary art and design space SODA is in its last days of showcasing the Turkish artist Ali Şentürk. The name of the show – Don’t tell anyone about me – was the title of Şentürk’s blogs on which he shared photographs of his relationships in a five-year period. The show collates six works (permanent marker on canvas) copied from those photographs. The artist starts with a simple and continuous line and completes the piece with wire. The wire is an abstract representation of the feelings the artist felt in the moments being depicted. Prices range from €2,000 to €4,500.

Coming up is an exhibition of the Korean sculptor Seo Young Deok, followed by a show of the French photographer Alain Darre.

H. Avni Öztopçu

H. AVNI ÖZTOPÇU’S SHELTERS AND INDIVIDUALS

Further afield, another veteran gallery, Mine Art Gallery, hidden in an apartment building on Prof Dr Müfide Küley Sokak, is displaying the Turkish artist H. Avni Öztopçu’s oil on canvas and acrylic works in Shelters and Individuals. Prices range from TL4,500 to TL28,000.

Coming up is an exhibition that will celebrate the gallery’s 30th birthday.

Key: Blue – Maçka Sanat, Red – Merkur Gallery, Green – Dirimart, Yellow – Kare, Purple – x-ist, Light blue – Millî Reasürans Art Gallery, Magenta – Soda, Blue with dot – Mine Sanat

Click here for the interactive map.

Although the wonderful Millî Reasürans Gallery in Maçka left it to the end of the year to celebrate 600 years of diplomatic relations between Poland and Turkey, the show it has staged brings the goods. The gallery is hosting Shock Therapy, which brings together works of ten photographers offering a glimpse into photography in Poland of the last 25 years, and consequently, the transformations the country has undergone since 1989.

What I like about this show is that whereas the majority of the exhibitions organised to commemorate the anniversary focused on Poland and the Ottoman Empire (the Distant Neighbour, Close Memories at the Sakıp Sabancı Museum, Orientalism in Polish Art at Pera Museum), this exhibition provides a look into a more contemporary Poland. SALT is opening an exhibition this month that will feature a group of modern art works from the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, but whereas SALT’s show will be deeply grounded in history and explore religion and spirituality in art, Shock Therapy tackles daily life in Poland through candid photography.

We start with the British-Polish photojournalist Chris Niedenthal’s series, which captures the workers involved in the 1988 Polish workers’ strike at the Lenin Shipyard (above). The strikes and associated street demonstrations were so massive and shook up the Communist regime to such an extent that many say this is what eventually made Communism crumble.

The only female photographer in the mix, Anna Beata Bohdziewicz, shot the 1992 student demonstrations.

The veteran photographer Tadeusz Rolke – known for his images of wartime Warsaw and of cultural life in post-war Poland and Germany – presents a series focusing on daily life in the early 1990s. The above shows a street vendor by the Palace of Culture and Science on Marszałkowska Street in Warsaw, 1992. As a child of the Soviet Union, these kinds of scenes are very familiar to me.

There are images of desolate landscapes such as the one above by Wojtek Wilczyk who photographed a cement factory in snowy Goleszów in 2005.

Some of the photographs focus more on the faces rather than the places of Poland. Witold Krassowski black-and-white series Poland During the Transition Period 1989–1997 features shots of village dances, lovers kissing, a fight with a drunk, a beauty contest and a men’s social club (above).

Meanwhile, Wojtek Wieteska got up close to snap a little girl and a nun in Warsaw in 1991.

I also really like the series by the young photographer, Kuba Dabrowski, whose oeuvre is concerned with ‘first person narrative’. Dabrowski’s photographs, all taken after 2005, show Poland as it looks today. In the above photo, he sneaks up on a teenager in the shower (with shampoos from Western brands in the background) and photographs youth in their nighttime hang spots (below).

The exhibition runs until November 29, 2014.

We are in Beşiktaş this week, visiting some of our favourite galleries for five solo shows exploring the use of unusual techniques.

Ilgın Seymen, ‘Blind Love’, 2014, plastic bottles, polyurethane foam, spray paint, iron rods, epoxy adhesive, 70 cm x 100 cm x 70 cm

ILGIN SEYMEN’S FOREVER BLIND

Let’s start in Akaretler, a two-pronged street of townhouses built at the end of the 19th century to accommodate palace servants. On the lower of the two, Şair Nedim Caddesi, you will find Art ON Istanbul at No 2, which is hosting Ilgın Seymen’s tongue-in-cheek show, Forever Blind.

Ilgın Seymen, ‘Doomed Happily Ever’, 2014, polyester moulding, printing on aluminium foil, cardboard, MDF, 50 cm x 70 cm x 80 cm

Highlighting society's addiction to consumerism, Seymen’s sculptures, installations and mixed media works are at once attractive to the eye but also carry a deeper meaning. Each work tells its own story using colourful and allusive language that lets the viewer have fun. The show is divided into two parts: ‘the pink world’ and ‘the real world’, each exploring a different metaphor. Please enquire directly with the gallery for prices.

Çağdaş Kahriman, ‘Wooding 1’, 2013, ink on paper and marker on acetate, 50 x 50 cm

ÇAĞDAŞ KAHRIMAN

Opening this Saturday (November 8), Rampa (main image), further down the street at Nos 20 and 21, presents works by the Ankara-born artist Çağdaş Kahriman over the past two years. Kahriman’s technique involves cutting into large pieces of black paper and interlacing these cutouts with drawings on tracing paper. She also reconstructs foam boards (below) and superimposes acetate on paper (above), playing with light and shadows. Kahriman’s drawings question our physical and physiological responses when confronted with paradoxes and dilemmas relating to the human condition. Prices range from €2,000 to €10,000.

Çağdaş Kahriman, ‘Prairials de Gezi 9’, 2013, ten pieces of carved and glued foam board, 127 x 190 x 5 cm

Unfortunately, this will be Rampa’s last exhibition in its Akaretler location. The gallery is moving elsewhere and will celebrate the opening of its new space with a group show. The neighbourhood will be sad to lose this exemplary gallery.

Peter Hristoff, ‘Untitled’, ‘Heroes’ series, 2014, mixed media on unstretched canvas, 60.96 x 45.72 cm

PETER HRISTOFF’S HEROES

Next door, C.A.M. Galeri is hosting the Istanbul-born, US-based artist Peter Hristoff. Heroes was inspired by the themes in Homer’s Odyssey: homecoming, identity, exile and disguise. Hristoff’s recent paintings, works on paper and rugs reference Classical antiquity, current events and popular and military culture, and ask: ‘Who are our heroes?’

Peter Hristoff, ‘Untitled’, ‘Heroes’ series, 2014, mixed media on unstretched canvas, 60.96 x 45.72 cm
 
There are many layers in Hristoff’s works. He brings together images and colours from places such as museums, archaeological sites and the media. His unique technique aligns with the themes he explores. Prices range between $500 and $4,000.

Barış Cihanoğlu, ‘Transformation’, 2014, oil on burnt wood, 195 x 198 x 2 cm

BARIŞ CIHANOĞLU’S ASH

Now to our final two galleries, located on the outskirts of Beşiktaş – more precisely Teşvikiye, the neighbourhood leading to Nişantaşı. Perhaps it’s easier on the legs to catch a cab. But if you want to walk, follow Şair Nedim Caddesi for a few hundred yards, past fruit markets and kebab shops, and turn left up the steep Hüsrev Gerede Caddesi (a one-way street coming down the hill). About halfway up, at No 37, Galeri Ilayda, is hosting the figurative artist Barış Cihanoğlu. In Ash, the artist moves away from regular canvas and uses wood, on which he ‘paints’ in oil. Exploring universal themes through his own style, Cihanoğlu continues to surprise viewers with his prolific output, creativity and innovation. Prices range between TL1,000 and TL24,000.

Barış Cihanoğlu, ‘Empty Plate and Lamb’, 2014, oil on burnt wood, 185 x 82 x 2 cm and 92 x 73 x 2 cm

This season, Gallery Ilayda will host solo exhibitions of Ardan Özmenoğlu and Kerim Yetkin, and a group show curated by Gülben Çapan.

Özgür Kıyat

ÖZGÜR KIYAT’S FIRE OF HOPE: ETHIOPIA

Next door, RenArt Gallery opens a new photography exhibition this Thursday (November 6). The young artist Özgür Kıyat presents his new series, Fire of Hope: Ethiopia.

Please enquire directly with the gallery for prices.

Key: Blue – Art ON Istanbul, Green – Rampa, Red – C.A.M. Galeri, Yellow – Galeri Ilayda, Purple – Ren Art Gallery

Click here for the interactive map.

The biggest week for contemporary art in Istanbul lands exactly a week from today. The four-day Contemporary Istanbul fair takes place at the Istanbul Congress Centre, in Harbiye (between Taksim and Nişantaşı), which has this year been given a makeover by Tabanlıoğlu Architects.

Bigger than ever, this ninth Contemporary Istanbul has 108 galleries from 23 countries participating (as compared to 95 last year), 42 of them Turkish. Last year, around 50 Turkish galleries participated and this drop could be a warning sign of the art world’s current climate. The newer fair ArtInternational is providing competition for the veteran Contemporary Istanbul and as participation in art fairs is expensive, most galleries have to chose just one. The spike in Turkish galleries at this year’s ArtInternational has no doubt contributed to lower numbers at Contemporary Istanbul. Another factor could be the closure of some galleries, such as Tophane’s excellent Galeri Mânâ and the photography gallery, Elipsis, both of which close down this month.

One Istanbul gallery to watch is Krampf Gallery, which will showcase Marc Quinn’s fabulous bronze and gold-leaf sculpture ‘Maquette for Siren’, modelled on the supermodel Kate Moss contorted into an extreme yoga position (2008, dimensions: 34 x 24 x 18.5 cm).

Tophane’s hip industrial space Mixer, which calls itself ‘an accessible art space’ rather than a commercial art gallery, is participating for the first time this year in the ‘Emerging Galleries’ section. It will show various works, including the one above depicting a rather gloomy view of the ‘Haliç’ (Golden Horn) by the young Istanbul-based artist Berkay Buğdanoğlu (mixed media on metal, 2013, 135 x 100 cm).

Galerist celebrates a very important addition to its roster – the prima donna of the Turkish opera and painter Semiha Berksoy. Her magnificent 1970 oil painting ‘Voice’ will be shown alongside works by Rasim Aksan, Arik Levy and others. The Plurivocality exhibition, in its last few weeks at Istanbul Modern, has a room dedicated to Berksoy and her opera-inspired paintings.

In the lead-up to the Mehmet Güleryüz retrospective at Istanbul Modern in February, some of the artist's recent works will be showcased by The Empire Project, which is owned by Güleryüz’s son, Kerimcan. The above is a colour ecoline on paper work entitled ‘Graffe and the Swimmers’ (2013, 55 x 77 cm).

London’s Kashya Hildebrand gallery will have works by the Moroccan feminist artist Lalla Essaydi. Her chromogenic print, ‘Harem 1’, from the Harem series (2009) is shown above (102 x 229 cm – triptych).

The New York-based Galerie Lelong will showcase works by Joan Miró (don’t miss the excellent exhibition currently on at Sakıp Sabancı Museum) and a fellow Catalan artist, Jaume Plensa. The above is one of his mixed-media-on paper works entitled ‘Shadow study XXXIII’ (2012, 158 x 112 cm).

The New Horizons programme will focus on China this year, though curiously there’s only one Chinese gallery participating. Island6, an artist-run space and creative platform, will present works by the multidisciplinary art collective, Liu Dao, who have been working out of Island6’s Shanghai headquarters since 2006. The above is a laser work entitled ‘All you remember’, 2014.

There is also a programme of side events focusing on art in the digital age. A new addition, ‘CI 90 Minute Shows’, curated by Dr Marcus Graf, will see a new solo show performed by a different visual artist every 90 minutes. Unlike previous years, the accompanying festival, Art Istanbul, will not take place this time.

Last year Contemporary Istanbul welcomed 72,000 visitors, reportedly with ‘a total value of exhibited works amount[ing to] 92 million dollars of which 67 percent, the equivalent of over 3,000 works’ being sold. It will be interesting to see what this year will bring.

The website has more.

Main image shows ‘The Parade’ a 2014 work by Armen Gevorgian, oil on canvas, 145 x 170 cm (Galeri 77, Istanbul).

We are in Taksim/Cihangir for our walk this week, visiting two of our favourite galleries who are each hosting a solo show of a mononymous artist. We also have a new addition to our gallery walks.

The Revolutionary Years of Turkish Contemporary Art: 1980s

THE REVOLUTIONARY YEARS OF TURKISH CONTEMPORARY ART: THE 1980S

Let’s start at the new addition – Piramid Sanat (main image) – housed in a pretty blue building about 70 metres walk from Gezi Park (towards Harbiye). The current exhibition, The Revolutionary Years of Turkish Contemporary Art: the 1980s, examines social and political art from that decade, highlighting the work of 10 artists who challenged the political pressures of the era. These works are not for sale.

SENA, ‘Miriam’, 2014, ink on paper, 152 x 122 cm, TL12,500 TL (€ 4,350)

SENA’S 5

Make your way back to Taksim Square and go down Sıraserviler Caddesi, the street linking Taksim to Cihangir (parallel to İstiklâl Caddesi). At No 10, The Empire Project is hosting the latest solo show of the artist SENA. In 5, she presents 3D, paper and canvas works exploring the way we become desensitised to scenarios that we face in our daily lives. In this collection, her most mature to date, SENA goes beyond the image and its production. It is the subtle poetry of her work that the gallery’s owner, Kerimcan Güleryüz, says she finds particularly engaging. A satisfying balance between the sculptural elements, drawings and the single massive painting in the show makes it a pleasure to visit. The works are priced from €800.

SENA, ‘Black Widow’, 2014, mixed media, 30 x 30 x 52cm

Coming up is a solo show of the master photographer, Halil, who has produced a new body of work and an accompanying book entitled I Am Playing Ping-pong Now, which has received critical acclaim. Next the gallery will be helping to co-ordinate a retrospective of the veteran painter Mehmet Güleryüz (Kerimcan’s father) at Istanbul Modern.

Komet, ‘Baroque Fields’, 2013, (detail), sculpture, 25 pieces, different dimensions, photo: Rıdvan Bayrakoğlu

KOMET’S A GRAVE MATTER

Further along at No 81, Pilot is hosting the well-known painter Komet (aka Gürkan Coşkun). Though Komet's work since the 1960s – dividing his time between Istanbul and Paris since the 1970s – has focused on painting, in this current show, A Grave Matter, he also presents video works, drawings and a sensational installation (above) which you can walk around. Please enquire directly with the gallery for prices.

Uygur Yılmaz

UYGUR YILMAZ’S TAKEN

Nextdoor, Co-Pilot hosting the latest project by Uygur Yılmaz. The artist is fascinated with the aftermath of the summer and what happens to the seaside tourist destinations when the weather cools off.

Uygur Yılmaz, ‘Vision’

In Taken, Yılmaz presents photography (the medium he most often works in) and a series of ready-made objects, such as dusty vacuum cleaners and diving equipment, which together paint a solemn picture of tourism’s ‘dead’ season. Please enquire directly with the gallery for prices.

Key: Red – Piramid Sanat, Blue – The Empire Project, Yellow – Pilot

Click here for interactive map.

Istanbul is determined to prove itself as a contemporary art and design stronghold, and the second edition of the Design Biennial takes the city in its desired direction. The curator, Zoë Ryan, believing that 'design is inextricably linked to every aspect of our daily lives', chose the future of design as the focus of this year's Biennial. Ryan uses the idea of the ‘manifesto’ to discuss ways in which it can be used to frame ideas, and to explore the new forms it might take in the digital age.

The main exhibition venue is the Galata Greek Primary School, with a few more exhibits at Antrepo No 7 (across the road, next to Istanbul Modern). The former is cleverly set up with each floor acting as a separate ‘department’, each exploring, as their names suggest, the role of design in different aspects of our lives: broadcast, personal, norms and standards, resource and civil relations. It is easy to navigate through the venue as the organisers have done a good job with the layout. Splattered in black on the white walls, slogans such as ‘Will you need to sleep in the future?’, ‘Technology is not magic’ and ‘Can you smell the future?’ create a vibrant feel.