Istanbul in the winter
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.
View ArticleAhmet Ertegün’s lasting legacy
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...
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Gallery walkabout: Nişantaşı
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...
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The Filmekimi comes to town
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...
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London’s Islamic Sales Week, October 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...
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Gallery walkabout: Beşiktaş
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...
View ArticleAncient & Modern Research Prize 2014–15
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...
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Dreaming of Mardin
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...
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Gallery walkabout: Karaköy/Tophane
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...
View ArticleNews for art professionals
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...
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The city through the lens
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...
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Turks at Frieze
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...
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Gallery walkabout: Beyoğlu
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...
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Autumn jazz
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...
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Gallery walkabout: Nişantaşı
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...
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Polish life
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...
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Gallery walkabout: Beşiktaş
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...
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Time for another art fair…
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...
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Gallery walkabout: Taksim to Cihangir
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...
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Take a peek into the future of design
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,...
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