However, it is common knowledge that mosques are the primary symbol of the city.
No doubt, Istanbul has the most beautiful mosques in the world, such as Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque, but the conventional thought and perception, which focuses on drawing mosques in every contemporary art design festival of the city, is getting old fashioned.
It is boring to see mosques or minarets of the mosques all the time in the designs or illustrations of Istanbul.
Depicting Istanbul with its mosques has become a conventional art design for artists. However, the city and locals and even tourists need something else. A new idea or new perception of the city.
Even though Galata Tower or the enormous palaces of Istanbul are used in the designs or illustrations, it is not enough.
The city needs a very brave soul, who will come up to the audience and try to explain or Istanbul without the drawings of the mosques’ minarets. It is possible to find more inspiring buildings while drawing Istanbul.
Hamra Abbas, an artist from Kuwait, imagined Istanbul without minarets of the mosques and she erased the minarets of Istanbul in her photos.
We cannot say that there is nothing left without minarets, as the beautiful Bosphorus still continues to flow beneath the mosques.
This shows there is always another way to imagine Istanbul.
Minarets or mosques may also come as a sign of a religion, which is another way of seeing the city.
However, in terms of art and design, Istanbul does not need a depiction of religious beliefs. The city has always been seen as the combination of beliefs and cultures. In this sense, this contradicts with the general perception of the city.
It is not fair to undermine this combination of perception by drawing minarets in each work.
The city’s cultural and historical tissue allows many other imaginary depictions of Istanbul and it is time to rediscover how to explain the city with such drawings and illustrations.