The Museum of Innocence, eponymously named for Turkish Nobel Laureate Orhan Pamuk’s recent book, is an art space and art installation rolled into one, according to its director, Esra Aysun. Aysun has been directing the museum since July 2012, when the installations and architecture were finished. With her coming, however, many things changed. “We took […]

Turkey’s Gezi protests provided fertile ground for the use of “disproportionate intellect” as demonstrators deployed humor and art to present their case against the government. While the graffiti around Taksim showed remarkable ingenuity, the use of art was not just limited to the non-kinetic variety; performance art also put its stamp on the protests, particularly […]

Demonstrating once more her forte at tackling pressing social issues, social change and societal transformations, Turkish artist Işıl Eğrikavuk has returned with a new exhibition at Egeran Gallery titled “Reverse Corner” that was created in response to the Gezi protests. In her latest work, Eğrikavuk explores the swift and uncontrollable urban transformation of Istanbul, as […]

This year the 13th Istanbul Biennial focuses on the notion of the public domain as a political forum. The works in the biennial will serve as a matrix to generate ideas and develop practices and concepts of civilization in the city and how the public space has been conceived and formed in cities around the […]

Viron Erol Vert, a contemporary artist who lives and works in Istanbul and Berlin, is returning to Istanbul with an installation to complement the 13th Istanbul Biennial. For his latest work, Vert is focusing on the economy, urban transformation, Ottoman culture and the ways in which the city alters people’s lives. Vert is displaying a […]

As an artist Burak Delier likes to examine the relationship between capitalism and contemporary art. In his latest solo exhibition, which is at Pilot Gallery, he focuses this examination in a way that it intervenes into the system through his use of guerilla strategies and tactics derived from everyday life. Delier tries to open up […]

Increasingly popular Turkish artist Taner Ceylan is working on a new series, ‘The Golden Age,’ while also celebrating a new agreement with New York’s Paula Kasmin Gallery. At the same time, the artist is still working on his ‘Lost Painting Series’ The mystery of life and death haunt Turkish contemporary artist Taner Ceylan’s new series, […]

Hatice Utkan Bugüne kadar müzelerin dört duvar arasından çıkıp yeni bir platform da izleyiciye ulaşması gerektiğine dair bir çok söz söylendi. Akademisyenler, müzeciler, izleyiciler müzelerin güncel yaşamımızın bir parçası olması gerektiğini ve bu kurumların izleyiciyi dahil ederek geliştirmek zorunda olduğunu yazdılar. Dijital kanalların ve internetin gündelik yaşamın bir parçası olmasıyla ve gelişen ekonomik krizler sonucunda […]

Işıl Eğrikavuk’un 29 Eylül’de Salt Beyoğlu’nda gerçekleştirdiği “Dönüşüm Muhteşem Olacak,” adlı performansı, kurgu ve gerçeklik arasında şehirleşme ve sosyal değişimlere odaklanan absürd bir tiyatro oyununu andırıyor Hatice Utkan Taksim, sosyal değişim, kentsel dönüşüm, turizm, mimari, İstanbul, medya, kültürel politikalar… Bu kelimeler ya da sözcük öbekleri Işıl Eğrikavuk’un 29 Eylül tarihinde Salt’ta gerçekleşen “Dönüşüm Muhteşem Olacak” […]

Malaysian-Chinese artist Leon Leong’s portraits reflect the outer worlds of the models, while his Istanbul scenes show a new way of approaching Istanbul’s inner world and its society. “For me Istanbul means a controversy, but on the other hand, this controversy gathers in one place so well that it almost creates a new approach,” he […]