Gencer Emiroğlu, small-craft historian and sailing enthusiast, has another passion: mushrooms. This week he took a small group to the Belgrade Forest to amble along paths so rich with fungus you had to be careful not to step on them.

Paths, Gencer explained, are perfect habitats for mushrooms because the forest is degraded. Trees have protective mechanisms for keeping mushrooms under control and there is a constant battle between the two. Paths are ‘where the mushrooms chose to grow their babies and their spores are easily blown by the wind’. Mushrooms, therefore, have a symbiotic relation with man; we make the paths for them and they reveal themselves to us.

The first mushroom we came across, on the path along the reservoir at Topuzlu Bent, an impressive Ottoman dam built in 1750, was the turkey tail, Trametes versicolor, named after its shape, colour and pattern resembling tail feathers. (The Japanese have a more poetic name for it: kawaritake, or cloud mushroom.) Turkey tails, Gencer explained, are saprobic mushrooms, which means they live on dead and decaying matter and help break down a forest. What we call a mushroom is only the spore-bearing fruit; the true body of the fungus is the white strands of mycelium, which Gencer pointed out in rotting wood and decomposing leaves.

Mushrooms can be divided into three groups: saprobic, symbiotic and parasitic. Symbiotic mushrooms help break down nutrients which trees are otherwise unable to absorb. Mushrooms of the genus Amanita are believed to play this role. One species we saw was Amanita citrina, a pretty pale-yellow mushroom also called the false ‘death cap’ due to its resemblance to its killer cousin.

An example of a parasite mushroom – ‘a killer for trees, Gencer said – was the honey fungus in the genus Armillaria.

The most delicate of all the species we saw was the porcelain mushroom, Oudemansiella mucida, its brilliant white translucent cap covered with a slimy substance that makes it look wet and shiny as if just glazed.

We paused our mushroom safari in order to walk across the Valide Bent, built in 1797 by the reformist Sultan Selim III, before the janissaries deposed and imprisoned him. Here we sat on high platforms atop the dam’s two towers. In their day, Ottoman Sultans would ride up to the Belgrade Forest by horse to enjoy the cool air from the Black Sea, indulge in lavish picnics, and then take a boat down the Bosphorus back to Sultanahmet. A short walk from Valide Bent took us to our final dam, taller and more European in its embellishments, built by his successor Sultan Mahmud II.

The stroll from here to lunch took us past a cluster of light grey Coprinopsis, or ink caps. Several walkers remembered making ink and spore prints from mushrooms in their schooldays. Soon Gencer stopped at the largest tree trunk he has come across in his forays into this forest for some storytelling. He says he likes to think that this tree, most likely an oak, lived through what he called the forest’s ‘Inauspicious Day’. The story began at the start of the 19th century after Sultan Mahmud II took on the janissaries and killed 4,000 in their barracks. Driven from the city and facing execution, many fled here and formed groups of bandits. Eventually the Belgrade Forest became so dangerous that the Sultan ordered it to be set on fire, ‘on a day the wind came from the south’. That was in 1826. British despatches from the summer embassy in Büyükdere describe the walls of the aqueducts glowing red from the heat, Gencer told us. ‘It’s one reason why we don’t see very old trees in the forest today.’

Approaching our lunch place, Yeni Dunya, just before the ruins of the Belgrade Village, we saw our final mushroom. The Belgrade Village was named for the Serbs brought here by Süleyman the Magnificent in 1521 to look after the dams and aqueducts, and is the place where Lady Mary Wortley Montagu lived two centuries later, and where she wrote her famous letter to the poet Alexander Pope (which Gencer read aloud to us). Nearby are the ruins of the large St George’s Anglican Church, which attests to the size of the British community in her day.

Known in Turkish as köygöçuren (village killer), the death cap, Amanita phalloides, was a green, almost golden colour with a distinctive bulb at its base. ‘A killer of emperor and popes’, Gencer enthused. The most poisonous mushroom in the world, it is especially dangerous because it resembles several edible mushrooms, has a pleasant taste and because its lethal effects are not felt for two or three days – by which time its victim’s liver and kidney have packed in. ‘A time-release poison,’ someone said. Gencer had been hoping to find this species on our walk, and he had succeeded.

Photographs copyright Alice Greenway, 2013
 

The Belgrade Forest walk was organised by ARIT, the American Research Institute Turkey

In the forthcoming Cornucopia, No 50, Gencer Emiroğlu reveals the gilded treasures of the newly reopened Naval Museum in Beşiktaş, in a special Connoisseur feature with photographs by Fritz von der Schulenburg.

The last decade has seen an explosion of contemporary art in the city, but Istanbul’s art market is still more affordable, and much younger, than New York or London, it is said. It’s more chaotic, harder to predict, says one dealer at the show; prices for the same artist, in a different gallery, can swing up or down. ‘It’s all new,’ says another. ‘The collectors are so young. Everything is so young.’

The galleries fill three floors of the Istanbul Convention and Exhibition Centre, as well as a video art and new media section in the Istanbul Congress Centre. Five minutes in each gallery, and that’s an eight-hour visit. A minute for every artist, would make it a 12-hour day. For the big spenders, top offers included Joan Miro's ‘Deux femmes dans la nuit’ from 1970 at 390,000 euros, and David Mach's ‘Tiger, 2012’ at 250,000 euros. Istanbul's Krampf Gallery's stand featured Marc Quinn's ‘Kontur Tagh Highlands 2011’ (above).

I’m a compulsive window-shopper at art shows large and small, and an absolute newcomer to Turkish art.  But the challenge at Contemporary Istanbul is the same as it might be at Frieze in London. How do you navigate 20, or 40,  200 or 2,000 works of contemporary art, and keep a head clear enough to separate the wheat from the chaff, single out what’s original or accomplished?

That, surely, is the fun of the fair: snap judgements, guessing what’s hot, what’s not, what’ll last, what will pass;  what’s value for money, what you can live with and what might – the biggest guess of all – make your grandchildren rich. After two absorbing afternoons, browsing just a few of the stands, here are the works at Contemporary Istanbul that would join my fantasy collection. I’ve left out Joan Miro and Francis Bacon, though both were on offer; Contemporary Istanbul prides itself on a rising number of international galleries but it is Turkish, or Turkish-inspired art, that singles it out.

Alyâa Kamel’s ‘In The Move’ was almost the last work in the last gallery I saw, and a moment of appealing simplicity after all the noise. The piece was hanging in the Beyoglu gallery Gama’s stand, priced at just 500 euros. Kamel is an Egyptian artist, though raised in Switzerland, who was invited to Istanbul this spring. The work shows lightly painted dancing red birds, karga (crows), whimsically topped by Dervish hats. Gama’s directors show a sharp sense of humour: from ‘One Money’, a refashioned dollar bill (washable, so it’s legal) by Jean Luc Cornec, to a plasticated reproduction of Ingres’ famous 1862 Orientalist painting ‘The Turkish Bath‘ by another French artist, Cyril le Van. But Gama was also showing Caroline de Bossieu’s work ‘Sakineh’, powerfully addressing the fate of the woman famously sentenced to death for adultery in Iran; it shows Sakineh with her face scarred or ripped half away, like a smeared and torn poster.

At Gallery Ilyada, Aysel Alver’s sculpture ‘Dikkat’, won my prize for best value in show. This lifelike, vulnerable, metal and papier sculpture of a boy and girl, dressed partly in newsprint, had a feeling of helplessness; at TL20,000 for a considerable sculpture, it had been snapped up by the first afternoon; you’d wouldn’t get those prices at Frieze.

The most eye-catching image of Istanbul was surely ‘Vedute Yalı’  by the French artist Jean Francis-Rauzier, at Villa del Arte Galleries (vedute meaning a detailed, factual image of a city or town). It was a ‘hyperphoto’ collage of high-gloss finish on aluminium, showing row upon row of yalıs reaching back into the far distance, an arresting sight at 20,000 euros, however, it was a slower sale.

Equally arresting were several works at the Çağla Cabaoğlu Gallery, in pole position just near the entrance. Mehmet Sinan Kuran’s ‘Present Perfect Continuous’ (25,000 euros) was a sheet-sized ink-on-paper work hanging on a clothesline, with strange, surreal figures and shapes with staring eyes; a cross between Where the Wild Things Are and the cross-dressing British artist Grayson Perry.

Nor could you miss, in the same gallery, Mehmet Turgut’s ‘single ladies’ series. He has reframed classic works with Turkish models; his diasec photograph of the Mona Lisa (5,000 euros) has a sly sense of humour much saucier than La Gioconda’s smile.

At the Galeri Selvin, one of my favourite stand-out paintings was ‘Izimsiz (Untitled)’ by the Turkish artist Nejdet Vergili, a semi-abstract portrait of a doleful guitarist, priced at TL12,000.

A strong contender for best title was ‘Başka Şeyler de Yaptım’ (‘I’ve done other things too’) by Doğu Çankaya at Galeri/Miz. The work (TL10,000) is a playful lattice of heavily painted wood over red chicken wire, with objets from toy soldiers to a credit embedded in it; the artist, when not being an artist, is a doctor in Bodrum.

About a year ago, the Narart gallery opened in Beylerbeyi, on the Asian shore, just upstream from the First Bosphorus Bridge; it was a brave decision, but the directors are now eyeing a move into the city because passing trade is rare. They featured the thoroughly pleasing works of Altan Çelem, a professor at Yeditepe University, impressionistic landscapes and city scenes including of the Golden Horn ($10,000 or TL20,000).

As a newcomer to Istanbul this year, I can’t help but look for the political context. How does a contemporary art scene strenghthening its ties to Berlin or New York respond creatively to talk of investigating mixed-sex housing at universities?  Where’s the anger over the quiescence of the mainstream media? Red Art was the only Kadiköy gallery represented; owner Yiğit Aydın says he’s doing very well out of that location, and other galleries have talked to him about a move. Red Art’s stand has a brash, breezy and thoroughly provocative in flavour, including sexy semi-nudes cavorting with a giant goldfish.

For just TL5,000, there’s protest art on offer: the ‘Toxic Girl’ series by 23-year-old Arya Karin Sofuoğlu, which features  young women in gas masks next to Miyazaki characters – the flavour of Banksy on canvas.

With Contemporary Istanbul and its parallel week of special events, Art Istanbul, behind us, it seems the dust has somewhat settled on the city's contemporary art scene. Or has it? With the weather growing cooler, the city’s galleries are gearing up for their winter exhibitions. And there’s some scintillating stuff in store. We continue our gallery walk series in Beyoğlu, focusing on Istiklal Caddesi (above). Undoubtedly the most pulsating street in the city, Istiklal is a heady mix of late-Ottoman-era buildings, countless shops, restaurants, embassies and some very worthy cultural institutions.

In the aftermath of the biennial, the consistently good ARTER, at No 211, has three new exhibitions starting on November 15. First there’s the solo show of the Turkish artist Aslı Çavuşoğlu, whose previous exhibition at Gallery Non in March was a video of a performance she staged at Frieze in 2012. In her current exhibition, The Stones Talk, Çavuşoğlu reconstructs 71 archaeological artefacts to explore the potential of objects to tell stories.

Yet Another Story about the Fall is curated by Başak Doğa Temür (who most recently curated Mat Collishaw’s outstanding exhibition). The first show in Turkey from the London-based artist Fatma Bucak explores gender discrimination, and revisits creation myths that regard man as superior to woman. Presenting a two-channel video and an installation entitled Omne Vivum Ex Ovo (above), it promises to be a very powerful show, something that seems to be Temür’s speciality.

Finally the Armenian Turkish-born conceptual artist Sarkis (whose last show Rainbows shone brilliantly at Galeri Mana) presents a unique exhibition: a melange of colour and sound. Inventively curated by Melih Fereli, Interpretation of Cage/Ryoanji presents three works inspired by the famous Ryoanji Zen garden in Japan – a place that also resonated with the great American composer John Cage.

Gülsün Karamustafa, ‘My Roses My Reveries’ (1998, 2013)

Just a couple of minutes' walk away from ARTER towards Taksim Square, at No 136, SALT Beyoğlu's street-facing space no longer displays the über-detailed biennial installation that attracted its fair share of onlookers, but there is still plenty of time to see the veteran artist Gülsün Karamustafa’s A Promised Exhibition.

At No 163 Istiklal Caddesi, Mısır Apartments, a building famous for being full of galleries, has a few things of interest. Yesim Turanli, the founder of Pi Artworks, one of the building’s galleries, says she likes the ‘wonderful synergy’ of the building, while Ibrahim Cansızoğlu, manager of Galeri Nev, one of the other galleries, underlines the significance of this ‘historical building transformed into an important contemporary Istanbul art spot’. Moiz Zilberman, the director of CDA Projects and Galerie Zilberman, two other galleries in the building, says that the ‘homogeneous mixture of locals and tourists’ on Istiklal Caddesi means the galleries are explosed to both a ‘national and international audience’.

Janet Bellotto, ‘Infusions and Impossible Things’, Lightbox, 120 x 90 cm

Let’s start on the second floor, where CDA Projects is hosting the Canadian artist Janet Bellotto’s solo show, Residuals of Gravity. Described as ‘emotionally rich’ by the gallery's artistic director Burçak Bingöl, the lighbox series showing domestic interiors getting engulfed by fire and water are particularly striking.

Annika von Hausswolff, ‘The 21st Century Transitional Object’, C-Print, 150 x 120 cm

CDA Project’s sister gallery, Galeri Zilberman, one floor up, is hosting a group show curated by Vassilios Doupas, which is, as described by Zilberman, ‘inspired by those little moments of disruption that shake the foundations of a closed system’. Entitled Entropy, it features a seminal work by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan that was included in his New York Guggenheim retrospective; a work by the Swiss artist Christoph Büchel, which is part of his ‘Made in Afghanistan’ series that aims to question American hegemony; two painstakingly detailed drawings of protests by American artist Frank Selby; as well as text pieces by American artist Kay Rosen and three films by LA-based filmmaker William E. Jones, which all aim to ‘undermine the language of authority’.

The aforementioned Pi Artworks (which incidentally has just opened a second branch in London) on the fourth floor is hosting a solo show from the Bangladeshi artist Tayeba Begum Lipi, Never Been Intimate. Presenting works that resemble disco balls, be they bathtubs or prams (the silver panels used are actually razor blades), the show exemplifies Lipi’s (literally) cutting-edge artistic practice. Turanli says of her: ‘As a pioneering artist in her native Bangladesh, each one of Lipi’s pieces is deeply personal and I think it is this oh-so-human element embedded within each seemingly cold, metallic piece that we are all attracted to.’

Aras Seddigh, ‘The Traveller’, 2013, Acrylic on canvas, 197 x 174 cm.

Meanwhile Galeri Nev, across the hall, is hosting the Iranian artist Aras Seddigh’s first solo exhibition Crossbreeds. Cansızoğlu says of her: ‘Aras is clear and consistent about her artistic method, and I think she will be transforming and developing her practice over the coming years through her disciplined approach to painting.’

For lunch, there’s almost too much choice. Turanli likes Fıccın on Kallavi Sokak for a casual stop, Şahin on Orhan Adlı Apaydın Sokak, in nearby Asmalı Mescit, for authentic Turkish cuisine, and Yeni Lokanta on Kumbaracı Yokuşu for something more creative. Bingöl also likes Fıccın and Gölge Café on Olivya Geçidi (also in Asmalı Mescit). For coffee, she says you can't beat Kronotrop on Yeni Çarşı Caddesi. Cansızoğlu, meanwhile, also reccomends Gölge Café, as well as House Café, one of the many eateries on Istiklal itself. 

One of Istanbul’s more established contemporary art galleries, Pi Artworks, opened a branch in London last month – the first gallery from Turkey to do so. The generous, brightly lit space in trendy Fitzrovia, Central London – a neighbourhood set to challenge East London for contemporary art-presence supremacy – will host regular exhibitions and help to encourage dialogue about Turkish art and artists. For Turkey’s burgeoning contemporary art scene this is an important development.

Pi Artwork’s founder, Yesim Turanli, opened the gallery’s Istanbul branch in 1998 – when Turkey's contemporary art scene was virtually non-existent – and over the past 15 years has witnessed its ‘increased international recognition’.

Turanli, who admits she is ‘curious’ about what’s in store for Turkey’s international art presence, chose London for her second branch over Beirut, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and New York for her second branch, drawn by the city’s ‘cosmopolitan nature’ and the fact that her artists already have somewhat of a base there. ‘The synergy between London and Istanbul works well. I hope to provide access to Turkish and international artists to existing collectors in London, as well as introduce British audiences to the rich, original and dynamic art that is coming out of Turkey,’ she says.

The inaugural exhibition, Pi: Housewarming (on until December 7), provides a sneak peek into the gallery’s upcoming programme. The works of seven artists are displayed, all but one of them Turkish. The internationally renowned German-Egyptian artist Susan Hefuna presents a series of drawings (above), as well as silver bronze sculptures.

My favourite piece is definitely the woven metal work by Gülay Semercioğlu. Made from hundreds of kilometres of thin metal wire, the London branch holds an elegant gunmetal-coloured version (above) while the more playful green version was seen at Contemporary Istanbul.

The multi-faceted Volkan Aslan (who presented a work at the 13th Istanbul Biennial) metamorphosed and re-appropriated the porcelain figures (above) which he originally showcased at his exhibition at ARTER, Don’t Forget to Remember, in the summer.

Mehmet Ali Uysal continues to play with space and form, and presents drooping, empty frames reminiscent of meat hanging from a butcher’s hook (above) – my second favourite work.

Meanwhile, Nejat Satı creates ethereal colour palettes in acrylic, producing floating, serene works that contrast well with Horasan’s intricately detailed oils on canvas (above).

Finally, the performance artist Nezaket Ekici – whose education under Marina Abramovic is startlingly obvious – presents a series of stills from her rather disturbing performance, Flesh (No Pig But Pork) (above). Ekici will be the first artist to have an exhibition at Pi Artworks London immediately after the ‘housewarming’. (After) Love at Last Sight will be a retrospective of Ekici’s works, including a selection of videos of some of her most iconic performances alongside photographs and stills. The exhibition will run from December 12 to January 25, and will also feature a three-day live performance.

The Young Turkish Photographers Awards exhibition opened at the Elipsis Gallery on November 12. The works of 18 participants are displayed this year, with the winner and both runners-up focusing on signifiers of urban change in Turkey – an issue close to the hearts of many after Gezi and the plethora of urban transformation projects cropping up all over the country. This was also a subject tackled, often passionately, at the 13th Istanbul Biennial, and it’s nice to see a thread emerging among today’s young artists.

The awards work like this: photography students from the country’s universities are nominated by their faculties and the winners selected by the curators of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Anne Havinga and Karen Haas. A number of this year’s submissions examine the photographer’s connection to a particular place, whether an entire region, a neighbourhood or a street. Several artists, including the three prizewinners, document the lives of children. The jurors were surprised by the substantial number of black-and-white photographs, which is noteworthy in that their American counterparts prefer to work in colour. Commenting on this year’s submissions overall, the jurors said: ‘Although the work is as thematically wide-ranging as ever, one of the threads that runs through a lot of the work is an underlying feeling of melancholy and loss in the face of the rapid modernisation and change taking place in Turkey today.’

The winner is Osman Demir, from Istanbul’s Mimar Sinan University, and his series documenting the Roma community (both images above) is certainly affective. Demir photographed the gypsy population of Cephanelik Mevkii in Kocaeli (a province not far from Istanbul) over a two-month period from February to April 2012. He wanted to represent this community as heroes in a society that consistently subjects them to gentrification policies while providing insufficient access to education and other support. The jurors were particularly impressed with his use of natural light to ‘illuminate his subjects’ bright clothing, and their open and intelligent expressions, leaving the viewer with a feeling of hope that there lies a better future ahead for these young people’. Talking a bit about his process, Demir admits that when he commenced the project he did not know how he was going to go about it, or even how he was going to break through to the community members. He started by taking photographs of the children and slowly the relationships between himself and the adult members strengthened. By the end Demir was permitted to photograph the entire 70-person community.

Runner-up Çağın Coşkunırmak of Akdeniz University in Antalya focused on children living in the low-income neighbourhood of Balbey, Antalya. His aim was to ‘raise public awareness of the problems faced by the children in this neighbourhood, and to document this historic and decaying area’. Photographing children was a strategic decision. ‘Little shoulders take on a great weight of responsibility. Growing up amidst these troubles affects them. You can observe these effects by looking at the games they play, their conversations with each other and their behaviour,’ says Coşkunırmak. His dramatic black-and-white photographs (one of which can be seen above) resonated with the jurors. Depicting them ‘playing together in rubble-filled streets, smoking cigarettes or as shadowy figures silhouetted against the crumbling Ottoman architecture’ drives home the severity of their situation and the ways in which it is affecting them.  

The second runner-up, Melih Cevdet Teksen of Kocaeli University, addressed the impact of urban migration on rural societies by photographing village schools in the district of Kastamonu on Turkey’s Black Sea coast. ‘With the increase of the migration to cities from the villages, rural schools are forced to close. Due to the mobile education system, the schools without any students are like bittersweet monuments,’ says Teksen. One such school is the Kastamonu Azdavay Primary School (above). Teksen’s starkly beautiful images of desolate interiors, say the jurors, ‘are vivid reminders of these once-thriving spaces and the children who filled them.’ 

Some participants presented more tongue-in-cheek works, such as Emin Yüksel’s ‘Blank Portrait’ (above).

I also like Ezgi Toral Tutsaklık’s work (above) taken from her Captivity exhibition, which she presented at Yeditepe University, where she is a student. The exhibition focuses on the psychological effects on students of preparing for their university entrance exam.

Other entrants focused on Turkish traditions, for example Okan Ulusoy’s ‘Wrestle’ (above top) which shows oil wrestling from a new perspective – the close-up of the two wrestlers’ embrace is rather moving. Meanwhile, Ertaç Er’s humorous take on a wedding photograph ‘Postponed Wedding’ (above bottom) calls to mind the sort of shotgun marriage one would not expect to see in Turkey. 

The exhibition runs until November 30.

When I visited Albania, in 1996, the imam at the Tirana Mosque very kindly invited me to accompany him up the minaret. I shuffled my feet nervously onto the balcony while he issued the call to prayer, gazing down over the roofs of the city, and away to the encircling mountains. Far off, high on the mountain flank, I could just see Krujë, from where Scanderbeg defied the Ottoman forces for almost thirty years.

This time, my arrival to promote the Albanian edition of The Janissary Tree prompted a debate over the wisdom of Scanderbeg’s defiance. I couldn’t really comment: what I did point out, though, was that the Albanians seemed to have engineered a reverse take-over of the empire. Transferred to a world stage, Albanian devşirme boys went on to dominate the Janissary Corps. The Köprülü provided a dynasty of grand viziers. Mehmed Ali ultimately seized control of Egypt. So when I spotted Atatürk’s double in the street outside my hotel, everyone shrugged: Mustafa Kemal was Albanian, they assured me.

Now a site has been cleared for a new mosque nearby, but the delightful roccoco building erected in 1703 is in immaculate condition, decorated inside and out with floral panels and delightful glimpses of an Ottoman paradise.

A special bundle of four Jason Goodwin titles (above), starring the fictional detective Yashim, is available at a discounted rate from the Cornucopia store – just in time for Christmas.

One city, two art fairs, less than two months apart. They’ve clashed in court and they’ve vied for attention. They’ve both set out their stalls for 2014. How will Contemporary Istanbul and ArtInternational learn to live together? ‘Everyone is wondering,’ says one Istanbul gallerist, ‘how both fairs will continue.’

Contemporary Istanbul attracted a large number of punters 

Contemporary Istanbul (95 galleries, about 50 Turkish) closed the doors on its bustling eight edition last weekend, claiming 72,000 visitors. Newcomer ArtInternational (62 galleries, ten Turkish) had far fewer punters, but by most accounts an impressively international first outing in mid-September, with a claimed 20 million euros in sales.

ArtInternational (Photo: Daisy Honeybunn / Honeybunn Photography)

Contemporary Istanbul staged a legal challenge against ArtInternational’s use of ‘Istanbul’ in its name. Both say emphatically they are coming back next year, with no compromise on dates, despite calls to stage them further apart. How do city galleries regard that prospect, and how did they rate the experience this year?

Justizpalast 4: VALIE EXPORT, ‘Justizpalast (4), Körperkonfiguration / Body Configuration series,1982, B&W photograph, 124.5 x 184.5cm (unframed) (displayed at ArtInternational)

Here’s Moiz Zilberman, owner and director of CDA Projects gallery, one of the few Turkish galleries represented at both. ‘Both fairs have been very successful for us; in ArtInternational we sold well to numerous international collectors, mainly from the Middle East, and we secured a solo museum exhibition for one of our artists.’

Azade Köker, ‘Cihangir’, 2010, mixed media on canvas, 300 x 200 cm (displayed at Contemporary Istanbul)

‘In Contemporary Istanbul we had a great volume of sales to Turkish collectors, many of whom were new clients for the gallery. We also had a lot of new visitors to the gallery as a result of the fair. I think there is a niche for both fairs and I would like to see them capitalise on their differences and unique offerings,’ Zilberman continues.

One way to do that, said at least two gallerists, would be to separate the fairs by six months, rather than weeks: stage one of them in the spring. Covering the formidable costs of both – 400 euros a square metre at ArtInternational in 2014 for established galleries – is also a bind.

‘If there is room for two fairs there should at least be time apart,’ says Selin Söl, who went to Contemporary Istanbul with Düşüs (A Fall) (above) by Sibel Horada, now showing in her Tophane gallery, Daire. ‘Maybe they should arrange this other fair in April and I might think of attending it. The galleries, even the artists, don’t have the energy to get prepared for two contemporary fairs.’

New art fairs have flopped in Istanbul before so Söl was initially wary of ArtInternational. But with the organisers of the Art HK (Hong Kong’s international art fair) and other art fairs behind it, with some strong international galleries and with a practised press operation, it impressed this year. Audiences are a different matter: out at Haliç, and without the biennial to beckon to international visitors next year, that may continue to be a challenge. Next year, though, it will be held over a weekend, not mid-week. You can find ArtInternational’s closing statements on their press page here while Contemporary Istanbul’s is here.

The numbers point to the different identities of the two fairs. Contemporary Istanbul claimed 72,000 visitors, and it was teaming with Turkish punters – and collectors as well, galleries say. ArtInternational claimed only a tiny fraction of that figure, citing 4–5,000 for its opening, but it lists the powerhouse collectors in attendance both from Turkey and internationally, such as HH Prince Fahd bin Bandar al Saud and Sheikha Hoor al-Qasimi. 

Photo: Daisy Honeybunn / Honeybunn Photography

On the sales front, ArtInternational confirmed that Francesco Vezzoli’s Portrait of Sophia Loren as the Muse of Antiquity (After De Chirico), 2013 (above), displayed by Paris' Yvon Lambert gallery, went for 250,000 euros and Anish Kapoor’s Untitled, 2011, alabaster for 850,000 sterling pounds. There were ‘an estimated 21 million euros of known sales’, it says.

For Contemporary Istanbul, there were press reports that Picasso’s Nu allonge et tete d’homme de profil sold for 1.9 million euros and Andy Warhol’s Flowers for 900,000 euros. Not so, says the event’s London-based press agency: these works were on show, with the top-flagged official sales led off by two Marc Quinns. 

Contemporary Istanbul claimed ‘a total value of exhibited works amounted 92 million dollars of which 67 percent, the equivalent of over 3,000 works on display, were sold.’ No figure here for total sales, however, in other words which works actually sold. 

ArtInternational’s international galleries, and its talks line up, were rated more attractive, operating in the world of Basel or Frieze. On the other hand Contemporary Istanbul is casting itself as a regional show, something different; this year’s guest country was Russia, next year it’s China. It’s undoubtedly more affordable.

The Krampf Gallery in Tophane opened its own exhibition this week of designer Thierry Dreyfuss, whose works it featured prominently at Contemporary Istanbul. There were trays of multi-coloured juice on offer in four brightly-lit storeys, across the road from the Kılıç Ali Pasha Mosque. ‘Happy camper,’ says Regis Krampf. ‘I was 75 percent sold.’  Contemporary Istanbul was one major reason Krampf moved his gallery to Istanbul, from New York, in the first place. Krampf found customers for two Mark Quinn pieces, headline sales at the fair: priced at up to 260,000 US dollars, they went for closer to 200,000 US dollars. Istanbul’s a place where shoppers like to bargain, though it’s not exactly unheard of in the art world, either. 

Krampf says there’s a quick trick to measuring an art fair’s success. Forget opening night: it’s all bubbles and buzz, with galleries pumped up for the collectors after months of work. Go on the last day, when they are counting the numbers on the stands, the costs against sales; he drops a heavy hint that there were glum faces at ArtInternational.

Thierry is unashamedly more lighting designer than artist, but his photographs, with spots of light so bright you can hardly look at them, are compelling, including one of the Haydarpaşa station, where a doorway becomes a tunnel into the unknown. The big piece is Hommage (above top), a table in two parts, the crevasse between them of plaster covered with gold leaf. Then there are wall pieces titled Virgül (Comma) (above bottom) comma-shaped and carved from marble and onyx with embedded lighting to cast fetching curves of shadow.

Contemporary Istanbul, says one visitor at Krampf, ‘was totally busy’, but more ‘just a fair’. There were ‘communication problems’, someone observes; Turkish customers going to a Dutch gallery might find only someone who speaks English.

It has work to do, according to Sinem Yörük of Elipsis Gallery. She, too, was wary of ArtInternational, ‘because I didn’t know what to expect and secondly I don’t believe that the market is necessarily ready for two art fairs one and a half months apart. It’s a bit tricky.’

But if she has to choose, next year, she will look at shifting from Contemporary Istanbul to ArtInternational. Contemporary Istanbul, she said, emphatically, was ‘a bit all over the place’. She was unimpressed by the range of international galleries and the works they brought in, which she called ‘very stereotypical as to what they thought the Turkish collectors would buy.’

‘To be doing two art fairs its quite expensive, considering we don’t have that much of a market. I’m not sure which one I’m going to go for and I don’t see why galleries should both if they are so close to one another. In ArtInternational they had ten Turkish galleries. If they have A-class galleries coming to the fair, everyone is going to be more interested in doing that fair rather than a fair where, it seems like B- or C-class galleries are coming internationally. They are not necessarily bringing their own clients,’ Yörük continues.   

‘If its an international art fair it’s very important it should be international, the clients that are coming should be international, the press that is coming should be international, there should be a lot of coverage. With Contemporary Istanbul, that’s not happening. They are making a lot of effort every year but there’s something wrong with the profile.’

RAMPA Istanbul also opted for both, and came away happy. Says spokesman Üstüngel Inanç: ‘There were some big names, some big galleries at both of the fairs and with pictures going up to 250,000 euros which were sold in Istanbul: this is something that would bring you back to a fair. Just one picture at that price secures transportation, rent for the fair.’

‘Why choose? It was worth the expense, definitely. This is a promising thing for international galleries to come back to Istanbul for one of these fairs. If the economy is on track, and people continue to invest in art, I think both fairs will do better in the future.’ Hopeful last words from Inanç.

A plethora of exciting autumn shows have opened at the galleries in Karaköy/ Tophane, whetting our appetite for all things contemporary art. The neighbourhood is considered to be the city’s cultural hub, and many gallerists cite the opening of Istanbul Modern in 2004 as what initiated this. This is concurred by the museum’s chief curator, Levent Çalıkoğlu, who enjoys the area’s cosmopolitan nature. ‘It is really interesting to have simit bakeries, tradesmen’s restaurants and art galleries interspersed within a single neighbourhood fabric,’ he says. The diversity of the area also resonates with other gallery owners in the area. Mixer’s director, Bengü Gün, likes the contrast between the old community, the wave of the city’s new creatives and the children playing in the streets who occasionally pop into the space to check out the latest exhibition. ‘Mixer may not be a huge part of these children’s lives, but they have access to contemporary art and this makes me wonder about what they think of it, and whether or not it will eventually have any impact on their lives,’ she says. Meanwhile, Derya Demir, the founder of one of the smaller galleries, NON, says that this diversity ‘undoubtedly makes the neighbourhood attractive and a joy to explore’. ‘It is significant that the programmes of the galleries in the neighbourhood compose a certain character together,’ she adds. Similarly, Asena Günel, director of DEPO, thinks the gallery presence is growing in Karaköy/Tophane, and recommends the Kılıç Ali Paşa Hamam, the Mana building (a converted 19th-century wheat mill) and Tophane-i Amire as some other interesting places to visit.

Barbara and Zafer Baran, ‘Moon Drawing 9764 (Blue Moon)’, 2010, photograph

Let’s start at Istanbul Modern on Meclis-i Mebusan Caddesi (visible from the Tophane tramstop), which is hosting a permanent exhibition, Past and Future, as well as some new temporary exhibitions: Artists’ Film International began on November 21 and showcases videos, films and animations from across the globe, while the interplanetary photographic exhibition Observatory (from November 28) presents a retrospective of the collaborative work of Barbara and Zafer Baran. It is also the last chance to catch the calligraphy-inspired Erol Akyavaş retrospective, ending on December 1.

Past the park and in the backstreets behind the aforementioned Kılıç Ali Paşa complex – where Tophane becomes Karaköy – Galeri Mana will be hosting the solo exhibition of Turkish artist Deniz Gül from November 28 entitled B.I.M.A.B.K.R. ‘Gül’s work touches on collective history, memory and culture, thus I feel many people will immediately relate. It will be an exciting experience for viewers to come to the gallery to find a different exhibition each time,’ says the gallery’s director, Arzu Basak, of the constantly changing installation.

Winner Osman Demir, Young Photographers Awards 2013

Less than a two-minute walk straight down the street Galerie Mana is on – past the coffee favourite Karabatak and the Virgin Mary Orthodox Church – the space dedicated entirely to photography, Elipsis Gallery, will come into view. The gallery is hosting a special exhibition showcasing the works of this year’s participants of the Young Photographers Awards, where the winner and both runners-up have all focused on signifiers of urban change in Turkey (read more here) either in colour or dramatic black and white.

Thierry Dreyfus, ‘Phil 2’

Back on parallel Kemeraltı Caddesi, Krampf Gallery at No 141, is displaying the works of French designer-cum-installation artist Thierry Dreyfus. The gallery’s owner, Regis Krampf, still riding the high of his success at Contemporary Istanbul and ArtInternational, recently moved his gallery from New York to Istanbul.

Head back towards the Tophane tramstop, inland at the bottom of Kumbaracı Yokuşu, the steep straight lane leading up to Istiklal, you will find the former tobacco warehouse, now housing DEPO, where the current exhibition is not contemporary art per se: Never Again! Apology and Coming to Terms with the Past is an audio-visual exhibition exploring how nations come to terms with the past, and the act of apologising in an effort to constitute a common culture of democracy.

The making of the wing in Sibel Horada's ‘A Fall’

Backtrack across the park to the next street leading up to Istiklal – directly opposite the Kılıç Ali Paşa complex – Boğazkesen Caddesi. Daire, at No 65D, is hosting Sibel Horada’s solo show A Fall, fresh from its moment at Contemporary Istanbul. Director Selin Söl says: ‘Sibel Horada’s works are extraordinary in the sense that they are a result of the artist’s reflection on her research. Her exhibition features a three-and-half metre long wing statue, which is presented almost as an installation with each accompanying photo, canvas or audio filling in the gaps of the story.’

Özge Enginöz, Untitled, 2011, Acrylic and ink, 145 x 70 cm

Mixer at No 45 (in the basement) is hosting Turkish artist Özge Enginöz’s multi-disciplinary show, Not Quite As Thought. Questioning existential problems of our postmodern age, Enginöz work resonates with the gallery’s director, Bengü Gün. ‘There is a simple innocence about Özge’s work, although admittedly, some may see her work as being filled with depressive undertones. Although, the dark, muted colours may evoke such feelings in others, I find it enlightening and empowering,’ she says.

Lawrence Abu Hamdan’s ‘The Whole Truth’, 2012, video, 32"

Technically, we are in Beyoğlu territory now, but Galeri NON (on a side street called Nur-i Ziya Sokak) is offering a group exhibition worth visiting. Entitled Things Behind the Sun, the works of three artists and one artist group endeavour to tackle the relationship between our bodies and technological devices. ‘In Concert’ is a two-channel video installation by Swiss artist Uriel Orlow, which shows a performance by a cellist and a pianist playing the first movement of Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No 1 without their instruments. ‘In the absence of these sound-producing devices, the accompanying music operates as a kind of ghostly mnemonic prompting their physically-remembered gestures,’ says the gallery’s founder, Derya Demir. Meanwhile, Lawrence Abu Hamdan’s ‘The Whole Truth’, which has also been presented at the Tate, is a 32-minute audio documentary presented in an interactive installation incorporating a pair of headphones, a lie detector, a bench and a mirror. The rest is for you to discover.

For lunch, the area’s restaurant presence is as dynamic as its gallery presence. ‘My favourite restaurant in the area is definitely Maya. It truly hits the spot in terms of taste, setting and ambiance,’ says Çalıkoğlu. Basak agrees on Maya (on Kemankeş Caddesi) – citing is a close second to her favourite, Karaköy Lokantası (next door to Maya). Söl recommends Cuma in nearby Çukurcuma (on Çukurcuma Caddesi No. 51). ‘It has a very pleasing atmosphere, not to mention delicious, light food,’ she says. Günel likes the thin-crust pizzas at newly-opened spot Komodor on Kılıç Ali Paşa Mescidi Sokak. Demir enjoys Münferit (Yeni Çarşı Caddesi No 19, the street Boğazkesen Caddesi becomes), Cezayir (Hayriye Caddesi) and Limonlu Bahçe (Yeni Çarşı Caddesi No 98) when she has time for a longer lunch, but also credits the ‘wonderful luncheon opposite of the taxi stop on Boğazkesen Caddesi’. For coffee, Karabatak (on Kara Ali Kaptan Sokak between Galerie Mana and Elipsis) is a hot favourite – both Çalıkoğlu and Günel frequent it often.

The attendant at the entrance to the Curve at the Barbican Centre asks if I have seven minutes to spare. That is how long it will apparently take to go through Ayşe Erkmen’s new exhibition, Intervals. The reason for this is that each of the 11 pieces on show is presented as a massive moving canvas, slowly lowered and raised (thanks to a custom-built automated fly system) on a winding path through the semi-circular venue. When the canvases are completely lowered, your path is blocked. Thus the time warning. 

In reality, it takes a good 10–12 minutes, or even slightly longer, to contemplate each work, and maybe take a picture or two. However long it takes you, however, it will be worth it to see something unique, grand and ambitiously presented.

Istanbul-born Erkmen is a sculptor by trade, though she also works in other mediums and is known for her site-specific installations. She has presented at numerous international biennales, including Venice, where she represented Turkey with her work Plan B, a system of pipes designed to question Venice's ineluctable and complex relationship with water.

In Intervals – as with her other works – Erkmen aims to explore the ‘hidden story of a site’. This time she tackles theatre. Each of the 11 backdrops refers to a different style or tradition in theatre design, and was created by professional scenic painters. All the world might be a stage, but here Erkmen is engaged with the story of the backstage. The crux of Erkmen's exhibition is the theatrical device of the interval – she wants the viewer to contemplate this pause between acts and the line it draws between the worlds of performance and reality.

The gaudiest backdrop – but also the most pertinent to the theme – is the one above, based on a traditional theatre drape designed and painted by Julie Perren. You would expect this to be the opening backdrop, but Erkmen places it seventh in the series.

My favourites were the more understated pieces, such as this backdrop of swirly leaves based on an original design by William Morris for JM Barrie’s 1917 play Dear Brutus, staged at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London in 2011. It was designed by Susannah Henry, and painted by three students from Guildhall (with assistance from Lionel Stanhope).

The plaster wall backdrop above was painted by Nancy Nicholson, based on a set design by William Dudley for the Jacobean tragedy The Challenging, staged at London's National Theatre in 1988. It looks authentic; the cloth it is painted on adds a surprising dimension of texture and depth. 

More scenic, natural backdrops follow with the above (front), based on a still from Lotte Reiniger’s 1926 animated film, The Adventures of Prince Achmed, painted by John Campbell. Reiniger used a silhouette animation technique similar to shadow play in his film – the oldest surviving work of animation – and the backdrop captures this essence. Campbell also painted the next backdrop (above back), which was based on GF Handel’s Ariodante, staged by English National Opera in 1996. The muted clouds work well for an opera in which each act contains opportunities for dance and movement.

The most touted of the backdrops is the above, based on a design by Hawes Craven for Gilbert and Sullivan’s critically acclaimed The Mikado, staged at the Savoy Theatre in 1885 (and many times after that). Julie Perren’s interpretation stays true to the pastel colours and soft contours that characterised the original backdrop.

I also liked the above, based on a map of Turkey and the Mediterranean, which was designed and painted by James Rowse for the exhibition. It’s a nice touch from the artist, paying tribute to her roots, and reminded me of a chalkboard found in a geography class.

There are more backdrops to discover, so if you find yourself in London, do stop by the Barbican to see this unparalleled exhibition. 

The exhibition runs until January 5, 2014.

On Tuesday November 26 the Council Room at King’s College in London was filled with diehard history lovers gathered to hear Dr Günder Varınlıoğlu discuss a fascinating subject: an island settlement in Late Antiquity. Dr Varınlıoğlu is an architect and archaeologist who specialises in rural settlements and landscapes of Anatolia during Late Antiquity. Since 2010 she has directed the Boğsak Archaeological Survey in southern Turkey, focusing on, as its name suggests, the island of Boğsak (above). This specifically was the topic of Tuesday evening’s lecture. 

Boğsak Island and surrounding settlements

Located in the ancient province of Isauria on the Mediterranean coast – and today deserted, occasionally attracting few divers and fishermen – Boğsak Island stands out from surrounding coastlands and islands due to its well-preserved settlement dating from Late Antiquity. ‘Off limits until the 4th century due its rough, arid terrain,’ Dr Varınlıoğlu begins, ‘a sizeable Christian settlement with complex infrastructure and architecture was created on the small island between the 4th and 7th centuries’. Located 300 metres off shore from the closest mainland, the island has a total landmass of just seven hectares. In contrast, nearby Dana Island (ancient ‘Pityussa’), located 8km southwest of Boğsak, has a landmass of 280 hectares. Despite this, Dana did not seem to have accommodated such a large settlement. This is of interest.

Aerial view of Boğsak Island, looking from north to south

‘Written sources do not reveal much about the settlements on Boğsak Island,’ Dr Varınlıoğlu continues. However, the only inscription from the island (now housed at the Silifke Museum), dating from the 5th to 6th centuries, records the settlement as ‘Aστερήα’ (Asteria), which was furbished with buildings worthy of a city. ‘Thus, it can be presumed that this was a wealthy village which did not get the status of a city,’ Dr Varınlıoğlu says. ‘The wide bay at Boğsak, well-protected from the north winds, must have offered anchorage, provisions and other amenities to ships and boats along this maritime route. The settlement on the island might have served as a post to control this channel, as well as to notify the mainland about maritime traffic. The island, without arable surfaces, water, wood or any other natural resources, was dependent on coastal settlements for provisioning. Thus, its existence and functions were tightly connected to the settlement at Boğsak Bay and the maritime trade,’ Dr Varınlıoğlu hypothesises.

The remains on the island have so far not been systematically studied. Scholars who have visited the island either left general comments on the remains or focused on single structures. The Boğsak Archaeological Survey was initiated to study the structure of the settlement, and its economic, social and religious fabric; the uses of surviving buildings and inhabited spaces; and the position of the island in the settlement network of Isaurian coastlands and islands. It is this bigger picture that Dr Varınlıoğlu is most interested in.

Stairs leading into the sea on the west shore of Boğsak Island

So what has the survey found so far? Firstly, Dr Varınlıoğlu tells us, that due to the rough terrain and thick vegetation, only certain parts of the island have been accessed as yet. The coasts of the island, including the south and southeast precipices sharply descending into the sea, have been continuously built up. Access to the island is limited and it does not have any natural bays for anchoring, however, its northeastern and western shores had been reworked into quays, breakwaters, piers, stairs and associated structures, providing anchorage and connecting the maritime traffic to the island. There are only a few surviving remains of stairs connecting the sea with the coast. ‘These presumably played a role in controlling access to the bay, however, further fieldwork is needed to determine their functions,’ Dr Varınlıoğlu says. 

Houses on the northeast slope

The settlement covered the entire surface of the island, with the densest section being the northeast slope, which was occupied by both independent and row houses. These two-storey, pitch-roofed buildings had rectangular and occasionally arched windows overlooking the Ağa Limanı and the harbour at Holmoi. All the structures were built from rubble masonry bound with mortar. Roof tile fragments embedded in the masonry were also occasionally used. Decorative elements on the structures were typical of rural Isauria in that period.

On the upper parts of the north, northeast, west and south slopes, descending from the summit, extended a large necropolis from Roman and Early Byzantine periods (above image). The mountainous region was ripe for olive oil production, and research has indicated that the olive tress and their products in the hinterland of Boğsak Bay were an integral part of the region’s economy. However, it has not yet been possible to paint the entire picture of the agricultural capacity of the island.

Domed cruciform structure (the chapel) on Boğsak Island

Dr Varınlıoğlu’s team has identified seven churches on the island, all built between the late 5th and late 6th centuries. One is significantly larger than the others, five are of relatively similar size and one is smaller, more of a chapel than a church. All the columns and capitals of the churches were made from local limestone. 

Sumptuous marble elements, including pieces of opus sectile on the pavement of some of the churches (above), as well as mosaics, have been discovered. The expensive marble found on Boğsak sets it apart from other settlements in the vicinity.

North and northwestern parts of Boğsak Island

Immediately northwest of one of the basilica churches – the one located at the peak of the peninsula – are traces of an ancient road along the northern shoreline. Like other Isaurian settlements, the 5th and 6th centuries were marked by intense Christianity. An inscription found in one of the churches translates to say ‘Long Live Isauria’. This suggests that the island was a fixture on the religious network/route for pilgrims. Six out of the seven churches are positioned on the eastern coast, easily visible for incoming ships, further strengthening this hypothesis. Dr Varınlıoğlu doesn’t rule out that Boğsak was a ‘pre-conceived place built-up with churches to present itself as a monumental Christian landscape’.

A substantial amount of pottery, glass and metal remains have been found. Even though the pottery is still being studied, the initial results indicate that they are from the 4th to 7th centuries. Ten bronze coins have also been found, all in pretty good condition. No pottery or coins have been found dating beyond the 7th century, but this doesn’t mean that there was no settlement on the island after this time. Did funds run out for the original function of the island? Dr Varınlıoğlu’s team is eager to conduct further investigation to bring us more on this engrossing topic.

Dr Varınlıoğlu is post doctorate fellow at Koç University in Anatolian Civilizations and Cultural Heritage Management. She has recently curated and wrote the catalogue for the ‘Artamonoff: Picturing Byzantine’ exhibition (click here to read more).

All images, except the main image, courtesy of Dr Varınlıoğlu. Main image courtesy of WikiMedia Commons. 

We’re back in fashionable Nişantaşı this week for tantalising exhibitions to warm up your winter. Two parallel streets, Mim Kemal Öke Caddesi and Abdi Ipekçi Caddesi (above), are of most interest, holding the bulk of the neighbourhood’s galleries, restaurants, hotels and boutiques. These are also the streets which resonate most with the neighbourhood’s gallerists. Elizabet Şalabi of the Chalabi Art Gallery and auction house Alif Art says Nişantaşı is a prime spot for cultural institutions and believes a number of the galleries in the area are among the best in the city. These two streets are the first places Merkur Gallery’s director, Sabiha Kurtulmuş, would visit in the neighbourhood. And x-ist’s director, Yasemin Elçi, says the area’s drawcard is its central location, adding that ‘The proximity of the galleries makes for a nice art tour.’ 

We will take the same route as last time, starting at the north tip of Maçka Park. Down Mim Kemal Öke Caddesi, opposite Melanzana restaurant, Merkur Gallery, at No 12, is exhibiting the beautiful hyperrealist paintings of Sinan Demirtaş. Entitled The Journey, the exhibition features the artist’s latest series in which he plays with the concept of space (above image). ‘Space is a limiting element for the body in the artist’s works. Figures leaning in different directions cause them to effuse on the canvas and look for new spaces,’ explains Kurtulmuş. When selecting artists Kurtulmuş considers ‘the notions, concepts, use of materials and the aesthetic perceptions of the artist’s portfolio’, and Demirtaş is a perfect fit.

Across the road at No 17, the Chalabi Art Gallery is showcasing lots for Alif Art’s upcoming Ottoman and European Works of Art auction, to be held on December 8 at the Esma Sultan Palace. There are sumptuous calligraphic panels on offer, including one by Hafız Yusuf Efendi, and a selection of fine paintings from Ottoman-period Turkish painters and 20th-century contemporaries. Place your bets on Ibrahim Çallı’s sensual ‘Nude’ (above), whose asking price is a cool quarter of a million pounds. From December 11 the gallery will host Foreclosed, a joint exhibition of work from the Syrian artist Mouhammed Imad and the Turkish glass artist Felekşan Emel Onar.

Paul Morrison, ‘Post’, 2013, acrylic on linen, 224 x 183 cm, courtesy Alison Jacques Gallery, London

Parallel on Abdi Ipekçi Caddesi, Dirimart at No 7 is hosting Paul Morrison’s show, Black Light. Well-known in his native England for his large monochrome botanical prints, Istanbul audiences can now get a taste for his unique style. The gallery’s director, Doğa Oktem, says: ‘We have appreciated Paul Morrison’s work for many years, so it was beyond due time to host his first solo show in Turkey.’ Dirimart was established in Nişantaşı in 2002 and, due to its success there, has started setting up projects in other temporary spaces.

Further down the street, opposite Vakko and Bang & Olufsen, Kare Gallery at No 22 (on the second floor), will be hosting a solo show of Taylan Akdağ, Daily Life (above image), from December 3. Says the gallery’s director, Fatma Saka: ‘I have been following the works of Akdağ for two to three years. I like his designs and his characteristic linear style which he uses to represent patterns of urban life. Recently, Kare Gallery’s portfolio of artists has been changing to almost only represent young and emerging artists. As a young artist, Akdağ’s art fits into our portfolio very well.’

Pınar Du Pre, ‘All of Me’, 2013, 180 x 120 cm

Next door, on the first floor of the Gülen Apartment, Galeri Linart will be hosting the Austrian-Turkish artist Pınar Du Pre’s colourful ‘Jugendstil’ pop-art works. The show, Snapshots, on from December 5, will feature extreme close-ups of female characters, employed to explore the darker side of human nature – the aggressive drive for consumer satisfaction.  

DECOLIFE, ‘Saint Jorge’, 2013, spray paint and acrylic on wood, 46 x 33 cm

Further down the street, x-ist, in the basement of Kaşıkçıoğlu Apartment at No 42, is offering something a bit different. This well-established gallery always pushes boundaries and the current exhibition is no exception, with art from the Brazilian street artist Andre’ Ruiz de Freitas, aka DECOLIFE. Yasemin Elçi is excited about this exhibition: ‘DECOLIFE is our first international artist. This is ground-breaking both for the gallery and the art scene in Turkey because street artists are a closed group in the country since they want to remain anonymous. There are amazing street artists in Turkey but they need to be promoted.’ DECOLIFE left home when he was 18 and has been travelling the world painting graffiti. Now, he’s using x-ist’s gallery space as a ‘street’ and painting freely all over the walls to present his show, Mind the Gap. ‘We wanted to create some awareness about street art in Turkey, since it’s not displayed in galleries here, like it is in Europe or the USA,’ Elçi says.

Then down Atiye Sokak, a narrow street full of restaurants, and onto Teşvikiye Caddesi. You will be facing the neo-classical Teşvikiye Police Station and the neo-Baroque Teşvikiye Mosque, both hangovers from Abdülmecid I’s rule. Slightly to the right of the nearby monument to Hüsrev Gerede, down Maçka Caddesi, at No 35 (in the same building as Iş Bank), is the not-for-profit art space Milli Reasürans Gallery, hosting the atmospheric black-and-white photographs of Aykut Köksal. Silence and Light pays tribute to the works of the master architect, Sinan and, true to the exhibition’s name, the use of light in the photographs is beautifully executed (above image).

For lunch, Kurtulmuş frequents Delicatessen and Hünkar, both on Mim Kemal Öke Caddesi (the former at No 19/1 and the latter at No 21). Elçi also enjoys Hünkar and the home cooking at Doğaya Dönüş on Fırın Sokak, just off Hüsrev Gerede Caddesi. Oktem enjoys the casual feel at Bread & Butter at No 1C Mim Kemal Öke Caddesi and the Italian fare at Mama (on Abdi Ipekçi Caddesi, nextdoor to Dirimart). Saka recommends Brasserie for a spot of French gâterie at No 23/1 Abdi Ipekçi Caddesi, and House Café (opposite Atiye Sokak, situated in a building on one side of the Teşvikiye Mosque), the place to be seen in Nişantaşı.

Key: Blue – Merkur Gallery; Red – Chalabi Art Gallery; Green – Dirimart; Light Blue – Kare Gallery; Yellow – Galeri Linart; Purple – x-ist; Magenta – Milli Reasürans Gallery

Click here for the interactive map.

We at Cornucopia were delighted to receive an email from Beyhan Uzunçarşılı last week giving news that Gümüşdere is no longer under threat from ISKI, the city’s water supply and sanitation administrator, building a water-treatment plant that would destroy hectares and hectares of land, and put the area’s agricultural livelihood at risk.

Back in August I attended a Ramazan iftar (evening break fast meal) in the village situated on the Black Sea coast (beyond Sarıyer, on the European side of the Bosphorus, at the northernmost point of Istanbul). It was one of many solidarity events to raise awareness of what was under threat of being destroyed and the long-term consequences. Over 1,200 signatures were collected against the construction of the plant and numerous manufacturers filed a lawsuit against the Ministry of Food, Livestock and Agriculture’s decision to allow it. A team from the Istanbul Agricultural Engineers Association came to do a soil observation of the farms in Gümüşdere. The 16-page report they submitted was instrumental in overturning the Ministry’s decision. Not only is the construction of the water plant ruled unqualified, but the area now comes under special protection challenging any future construction agendas.

There was an evening celebration on Sunday December 1 with many happy farmers in the audience. ‘It is good to be able to stand on fertile, protected soil,’ Beyhan wrote in her email. We will be eating Gümüşdere’s delicious fruit and vegetables for time to come yet. Now onto the Yedikule bostans…

Images courtesy of Beyhan Uzunçarşılı.

I’m always happy to hear about things of cultural interest happening in my hometown, so the news that the Islamic Arts Festival was taking place at the always fascinating Immigration Museum in Melbourne was most welcome.

The festival took place on Sunday November 24 and was established to bring to the public ‘the richness and beauty of Islamic arts, as practised in Victoria by a diversity of cultures and communities’.

There were live music performances (above) featuring traditional instruments, such as the daf, a large Persian frame-drum popular in Turkey, Kurdistan, Iran, Armenia, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Azerbaijan.

A girl’s dance troupe performed a dance in splendid, colourful costumes (above).

Community groups ran stalls, such as the above calligraphy display (top) and workshop (bottom).

There was also a special workshop run by My Dress, My Image, My Choice, which aimed to explore how fashion and style influence identity. My Dress, My Image, My Choice was created by Saara Sabbagh of Benevolence Australia in 2001 as a way to encourage cross-cultural understanding between Muslim and non-Muslim women. There was a fashion show featuring creations by local Middle Eastern designers (above), followed by a forum where participants could raise questions pertaining to this fascinating and little-explored subject.

No Islamic Arts Festival would be complete without beautiful craft objects for sale, such as mosaics (above top), as well as textiles and Alhambrian tiles (main image).

Readers in Melbourne can pick up a copy of Cornucopia at The Paperback Bookshop and Hill of Content, both on Bourke Street.

All photographs copyright Museum Victoria 2013. Photographs taken by Jennifer McNair.

With the Naval Museum finally opening its doors in October (read our feature by Gencer Emiroğlu in Cornucopia 50), here’s hoping that Beşiktaş will attract a few more art punters. The neighbourhood really does have many hidden gems in its entrails and offers a slice of authentic urban life in Istanbul. The statue of the 16th-century Ottoman admiral Barbarossa stands in the main square, which overlooks a bustling çarşı (centre) bursting with shops, unpretentious eateries and quality markets. And, if you fancy to sojourn in the area, there are a number of opulent Bosphorus-facing hotels. It is these new hotels, thinks C.A.M. Galeri’s director, Melek Gençer, that will bring new tourists and thus expose the galleries in the area to an international audience. One of the founders of Kuad Gallery, Beral Medra, concurs: ‘Beşiktaş is one of the traditional districts of Istanbul and is developing a cultural aura. I like all the neighbouring galleries and hope that many others will join us here.’ Rampa’s Üstüngel Inanç also has high hopes for the future: ‘When Rampa opened in May 2010, it was the only gallery in Akaretler and three years later, the area has grown into an art and design hub. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that it is a new, upcoming and expanding destination for art lovers.’ Galeri Ilayda’s founder Ilayda Babacan has a similar point of view: ‘What I like about the area is that its residents are very intellectual. This is a very convenient location art lovers and collectors.’

Let’s start our walk in Akaretler (above), a two-pronged street of pretty townhouses built at the end of the 19th century to accommodate palace servants. Today, the W Hotel stands on the corner and the townhouses have been renovated into trendy cafés and exclusive boutiques. Up the hill on Süleyman Seba Caddesi, past the brasseries and Café Nero, and facing the Park of Poets, Kuad Gallery is offering a new group exhibition. Cleverly entitled Online, the exhibition focuses on line art and its evolution due to technology. Says Medra: ‘We are witnessing artists’ continuous commitment to the techniques of line. However, we refrain to name this technique ‘drawing’, which is the traditional-classical and Modernist-poetic term. I like the visual communication of the works from the exhibiting artists even if they vary in themes, forms and aesthetics. The whole exhibition reflects today’s individual and social life in Istanbul.’

Vahap Avşar, ‘Night Shift 2’, 1988, C-print, 143 x 113 cm (framed)

On Şair Nedim Caddesi, the lower of the two Akaretler streets, Rampa at No 21, is hosting Vahap Avşar’s solo exhibition, Black Album. Says Inanç: ‘Vahap Avşar is one of the 15 Turkish artists that Rampa represents and this is his second exhibition at the gallery. Black Album presents a turn in Avşar’s artistic practice towards a darker and more formal place where power relationships are at the centre. The exhibition juxtaposes new works together with older works that have never been shown in Istanbul.’

Yusuf Aygeç's ‘B.C Pop Art’ exhibition

Two doors down, C.A.M. Galeri is hosting the first solo show of newcomer Yusuf Aygeç. Entitled B.C Pop Art, Aygeç presents works where he turns art history icons into pop art. Says the gallery director, Melek Gençer: ‘As a mainstream gallery, one of our main goals is to discover young and talented artists. There are many artists in the Turkish art market today who have started at our gallery and Yusuf is one of them. In his first exhibition, the artist forms a bond between the ‘classic/cult figure’ and the ‘present time’ without detaching the figures from their own eras. The stories of the works spawned from the question ‘how would the characters of the past desire to live in present time’. They aim to establish a link between the past and the present, whilst challenging the imaginations of the viewers.’

Işıl Ulaş, ‘Where Am I’, 2013, acrylic and oil on canvas, 180 x 130 cm

Galeri Ilayda located on the outskirts of Beşiktaş – more precisely Teşvikiye, the neighbourhood leading to Nişantaşı (follow Şair Nedim Caddesi for a few hundred yards and turn left up the steep Hüsrev Gerede Caddesi, a one-way street coming down the hill) – is hosting the ‘creepy pretty pictures’ of Işıl Ulaş. Entitled Creepy Pretty Things, the exhibition showcases Ulaş’ new series, which aims to provoke a sense of unease. ‘Ulaş’s works confront the dichotomies of beauty and ugliness, birth and death, good and evil, and her pieces are often set in specific locations, including deserted forests and hospital rooms,’ says the gallery’s founder Ilayda Babacan.

One of Merve Turan's paintings

Next door, at No 39 on Hüsrev Gerede Caddesi, newbie RenArt Gallery is hosting the first solo show of Marmara University of Fine Arts graduate, Merve Turan. Entitled Free Steps, the artist invites you into her dream world with her colourful, ethereal paintings. Says the gallery’s director, Şeyma Öner: ‘Merve Turan is one of the young representatives of contemporary art and in her first solo show, she creates completely new attitudes.’

For lunch, the choice is ripe. Medra frequents the fish restaurants around the newly renovated Beşiktaş fish market (located in Sinanpaşa Mahallesi on Mumcu Bakkal Sokak). Inanç gets her coffee at Kahve Dünyası in Akaretler or has a glass of Turkish wine at Corvus (Şair Nedim Caddesi No 5). ‘Sıdıka (Şair Nedim Caddesi No 38) is cosy meyhane with good mezes and our top choice for dinner with friends, or you can head to Kalamata, which serves Greek food (Süleyman Seba Caddesi No 45), for a more joyous night with live music on some nights. The Beşiktaş çarşı is also very close and you will be able find anything there from fresh fish to delicious cookies at 7/8 Hasanpaşa bakery (Şehit Asim Caddesi No 12),’ she adds. Gençer recommends Winston Brasserie (Şair Nedim Caddesi No 3) for lunch or an afternoon drink. She also likes the breakfast district in Beşiktaş çarşı (on Şair Veysi Sokak). ‘I always try a new one and never leave disappointed,’ she says. Babacan likes House Café in nearby Teşvikiye (Teşvikiye Caddesi No 146) and Balkan Lokantası (Akmaz Çeşme Sokak No 8 and Şair Leyla Sokak No 5) in Beşiktaş, which serves ‘amazing Turkish food’.

Key: Blue – Kuad Gallery; Red – Rampa; Green – C.A.M. Galeri; Yellow – Galeri Ilayda; Purple – RenArt Gallery

Click here for the interactive map.

Some great news out of Strasbourg last week, as the Council of Europe awarded the Museum Prize for 2014 to the Baksı Museum in Bayburt, in northeastern Turkey. The prestigious prize has been awarded annually since 1977 to a museum judged to have made a significant contribution to the understanding of European cultural heritage.

Cornucopia profiled the Baksı Museum in Issue 49, declaring that by any standard it deserves a place among the world’s top ten most remote museums. Needless to say we are delighted for Husamettin and Oya Koçan that their years of hard work have won even higher accolades.

Museum Prize rapporteur Vesna Marjanovic said of Baksı: ‘This museum, its governance and the activities associated with it, provide a very inspiring model of how the principles of the Council of Europe Faro Convention on the value of cultural heritage for society can be adopted to fit locally.’

The Baksı Museum beat two other finalists to claim the prize, the Bildmuseet in Umeå, Sweden and the Žaņa Lipkes Memoriāls in Riga, Latvia.

As the winner of the award in 2014, the museum will keep a statue by Joan Miro, ‘La femme aux beaux seins’, an exhibition of whose work, incidentally, is currently at the Tophane-i Amire, in Beyoğlu, Istanbul.

Osman Streater, who died on November 22, might have seemed to be the ultimate London gentleman, a Chairman of a London Club, a leading figure in City PR, an amusing but always well-informed conversationalist, and unfailingly polite and courteous, with his ironic sense of humour kept just a little below the surface. 

But he was also man with a hinterland of sharp cultural and historical paradoxes. The Streaters were a British family which had settled in Turkey since the early 19th century and whose name crops up many times in late Ottoman history. His father, Jasper Streater, was a banker who met his mother, the literary critic and historian Nermin Menemencioglu, during World War II. They had married in Cairo at a time when such marriages were still considered rather daring. Religions was not a factor for Osman's maternal grandmother was Katerina, an Istanbul Greek who remained Christian until her death in the 1980s, her new family being firmly convinced that contrary to Turkish custom she should not change her religion.

Nermin's uncle was Numan Menemencioğlu, foreign minister of Turkey and a good friend of Monsignor Angelo Roncalli, the future Pope John XXIII, with whom the family remained in contact over many years. Her brother, Turgut Menemencioğlu, was Turkish ambassador to London in the 1970s. Nermin herself, despite her patrician background, had been one of the first generation of Republic leftists, a friend of Nazim Hikmet, Behice Boran, Niyazi Berkez, Muzaffer Serif and Azra Erhat -- a generation swept into near oblivion in the second half of the 1940s. Osman, inheriting the conservative instincts of his father's side of the family, sidestepped this part of his mother's heritage,.

The Turkish family's pedigree went back even further: on one side Osman was descended from Namik Kemal, the first Turkish patriot and national poet of Turkey in the 1870s, the pre-eminent figure among the Young Ottomans. Further back Osman was also the hereditary tribal chief of the Menemencioğlu Clan of Western Turkey, and possessed their hereditary insignia.

Yet there was a further contradiction. Despite his Turkish name and background, Osman was, as he would often explain, about three quarters Istanbul Greek by heredity, for he had ethnic Greek blood on both sides of his family. And this led him to a passionate comitment to certain cultural causes, the chief of which was the right of the Istanbul Greek Orthodox Patriarchate to re-establish its seminary on Heybeliada. But he was equally passionate about ensuring that Turkey was given a fair hearing in the UK and received the understanding which was its due.

But to those who knew him he was absolutely an Englishman of the very finest sort, a chairman of London's Savile Club and an Anglican by religion. He could remember being educated in Ankara in his early years at the Ayşe Abla İlk Okulu, but he was also a graduate of Magdalen College Oxford, perhaps the most refined of Oxford colleges, and the ethos of Magdalen somehow never deserted him. The combination of shrewdness, courtesy, and gentle humour that he inherited from his father made him a very singular person. Yet he was not someone who stood aside from events. Over the years he wrote a stream of letters, pithy, short, and witty, to newspaper editors, as well as reviews and articles for the Daily Mail. Writing letters to newspapers is an unequal challenge: the ratio of those published is always low. But the wit, brevity, and good sense of Osman's letters meant that he enjoyed a high 'hit rate'. As a result his name was almost always in the public eye as far as newspaper readers were concerned.

He leaves behind Kaby, his wife, Olivia, his daughter, and his grandchildren. But he will be sorely missed too in a very wide circle in London and Turkey.

News last week from the Oriental Rug and Textile Society (ORTS) that their annual Cup Award, now in its third year, is open for submissions.

The Award was initiated to promote knowledge of the traditional and new centres of Asian weaving and textiles, as well as to advance the understanding of the processes involved in the creation of rugs and textiles in the region. Applicants are invited to present any original material, field or other research, that, as according to the Society’s Clive Rogers, ‘reflects and develops the Society’s interest in the people, cultures and their textile weaving techniques’.

Subjects may vary, the only condition being that they must be about Asian rug and textile practices. Examples include a critique of Naga headgear to a new direction identified in southwest Persian rugs. Last year’s winner, for instance, Iona Ramsay of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge University, presented her research on the traditions, revivals and developments of Kantha (a type of embroidery popular in West Bengal) in East London. Second prize went to Florence Peacock for her paper, The Journey of the Mahmal.

The winner could score a flight from the UK to Istanbul and a one-week’s stay in an antique wooden house in Sultanahmet (near the Blue Mosque), plus three years free membership to ORTS. Second prize is two years free membership to ORTS. Both the winner and the runner-up will get Silver Cups for their efforts.  

The nitty gritty: Entrants must be 25 years of age or under on 1 January 2013. The competition is open to all whether they are formally studying or not. Entries must be 2000 words and contain no more than four hyperlinks and a maximum of four images each no more than 250kb. Manual entries are also accepted. Submissions close on 15 May 2014 and the winners will be announced at the Society’s AGM meeting in mid-June 2014.

Click here to download the entry form.

Tonight (December 12) Simon Sebag Montefiore presents the second of his excellent three hour-long TV programmes on the history of Istanbul (BBC4, 9pm). Last week Byzantium: A Tale of Three Cities rattled along at a necessarily swift pace from the founding of Constantinople and the Christian era. Tonight takes the story from the fall of Byzantium and the rise of Ottoman Istanbul. This is the third recent TV series from Dr Montefiore, who likes to hurl himself into big themes. The first, based on his acclaimed book, was a history of Jerusalem, the second was on Rome. His next project is a book on the Romanovs, followed by The World: A Biography. But Byzantium: A Tale of Three Cities is a good appetizer for the city, and it follows a number of recent programmses on both BBC radio and television this year that have helped to bring Turkey into better perspective. The first part of Byzantium: A Tale of Three Cities can still be seen on iPlayer and the third part will be broadcast next Thursday December 19.

The latest Cornucopia 50 features a 32-page special by Professor Robert Ousterhout unravelling Istanbul's Byzantium past. 

Architecture makes its mark in fashion. Turkish fashion designer duo, Dice Kayek, whose cutting-edge couture was previewed in Cornucopia 44, have won Victoria and Albert Museum’s coveted Jameel Prize for their architecturally pleasing designs. They were presented with a cool £25,000 for their Ottoman and Byzantine inspired creations on Tuesday. 

Dice Kayek was began by sisters Ece and Ayşe Ege (main image) in 1992, and they now have studios in Istanbul and Paris. The sisters submitted three structured dresses (above), made from sumptuous lamé brocade and cotton, which are part of their Istanbul Contrast collection. The collection was inspired by the robes of Ottoman rulers, Byzantine mosaics, and the domes of Istanbul’s mosques and palaces, such as the Blue Mosque, the Dolmabahçe Palace and Haghia Sophia.

The above image shows the most stunning creation that was based on the Haghia Sophia.

Founded in 2009, the Jameel Prize honours contemporary art inspired by Islamic tradition and was established in the aftermath of the opening of V&A's Jameel Gallery of Islamic Art. It is awarded every two years and this year the judging panel consisted of Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid; Thomas Heatherwick, the designer of the new Routemaster bus and the London Olympic cauldron; and Martin Roth, the director of the V&A.

An exhibition of the ten shortlisted artists can be seen at the V&A until April 21. They include a reimagined oriental carpet from Azeri designer Faig Ahmed; a patterned floor made out of spices which represents the fragility of Palestinian lives by French designer Laurent Mareschal; and French jewellery designer Florie Salnot's delicate pieces made from bottles, which began as a project for refugees from Western Sahara.

All images courtesy of Dice Kayek (click here for their Facebook page and here for their website). 

Although there are not many galleries in buzzing Taksim and more mellow Cihangir (above), the ones that are there are blisteringly good. And, their offerings for the colder months are well worth the outing.

SENA, ‘Vulva’, 2013, felt, mixed media, 156 x 136 cm

Down Sıraselviler Caddesi, the street which extends from Taksim Square to Cihangir, The Empire Project, at No 10, is hosting a group exhibition entitled Bashibazouk Vol. 2. The gallery is owned by Kerimcan Güleryüz, a veteran in the city’s contemporary art scene (he is the man responsible for originally establishing x-ist and is the son of renowned painter Mehmet Güleryüz). Giving a rundown of the exhibiting artists, Güleryüz says that Filippos Tsitsopoulos works stems from his performance art – his paintings are a sort of a combination of Arcimboldo’s works and experimental theatre. Can Pekdemir works in a digital environment, which really pushes the limits of three dimensionality. Banu Birecikligil, usually known for her paintings, presents miniature sculptures. Lastly, the felt sculpture from SENA (above), who again is more know for her paintings and drawings, is a wonderful hybrid piece, part sculpture, part installation. ‘This is the second phase in a series of shows that pull together different artists. The first instalment focused on young emerging artists, whereas this exhibition focuses on three dimensionality. The exhibiting artists are exploring an area beyond two dimensions with fresh new works,’ Güleryüz says.

Ron Nagle, ‘The Elder Statement’, 2012, mixed media, 11.4 x 17.1 x 8.2 cm

Further down at No 49, Rodeo Gallery is also offering a group exhibition, interestingly titled Burn These Eyes Captain and Throw Them to the Sea. Says the gallery’s founder, Sylvia Kouvali: ‘The idea behind the exhibition is the subject of materiality. The works in the exhibition explore the use of materials that respond to the space and a sense of craftsmanship.’ She is particularly pleased to have three works by Ron Nagle, a 74-year old ceramist from San Francisco whose work became widely known after the participation of his piece ‘The Encyclopaedic Palace’ at the Venice Biennial. The ‘feminine’ works by the late Czech artist Běla Kolářová are another highlight.

Ali Miharbi, ‘Machine that tickles the wall’, 2013, plume, mechanical arm, electronic circuits

The last stop on Sıraselviler Caddesi is Pilot Gallery at No 83 (opposite the famous Cihangir tea garden). Housed in a converted 1970s nightclub, the space is hosting the first comprehensive solo show of Ali Miharbi. Entitled On the Mechanical Operation of the Spirit, the exhibition investigates mechanisms that underlie or are constituted by the flows of daily life. The highlight? A machine that tickles the wall (above).

A room in the Museum of Innocence

If you have longer to spend in the neighbourhood, Güleryüz recommends you head to The Museum of Innocence (in nearby Çukurcuma), based on Orhan Pamuk’s famous novel of the same name. ‘But, read the book first,’ Güleryüz warns. Kouvali has a different kind of place in mind: Gezi Park – the symbol of resistance and solidarity in the city in the aftermath of the summer protests.

Both Güleryüz and Kouvali don't often eat lunch but if they do, Güleryüz’s favourite eateries are Changa (Sıraselviler Caddesi No 47) and Leb-i Derya (there’s two locations, one in nearby Tünel on Kumbaracı Yokuşu No 57/6 and one inside the Richmond Hotel on Istiklal Caddesi). Meanwhile, Kouvali prefers LADES (Istiklal Caddesi No 14) or Udonya, the Japanese restaurant inside the Point Hotel.