Istanbul’s cultural activities, both traditional and contemporary, is
rich and varied, although not well publicized. Matching the city’s
exploding youth population, there is a growing number of festivals,
galleries, new music venues and film centers and, within the last
decade, Turkish artists have begun to make an international impact.
There are now a number of independent record companies in the city,
releasing experimental works that combine Turkish traditional artists
with contemporary groups and new venues where this new music is
showcased. In particular, however, the Istanbul Foundation for Culture
and Art, the Istanbul Kültür ve Sanat Merkezi or IKSV (tel:
(0212) 334 0700; website:
http://www.iksv.org/english/), puts on an impressive series of international
festivals. The French Culture Centre, Istiklal Caddesi (tel:
(0212) 334 8740) often has French film screenings, and dance
performances.
Tickets can be hard to come by for the popular film and jazz
festivals, so visitors should book well in advance for any events at
existing concert venues, such as the Open Air Theatre, Acik Hava
Tiyatrosu, Taskisla Caddesi, Congress Valley, in Harbiye (tel:
(0212) 296 6006), and the Ataturk Cultural Centre or Ataturk Kultur
Merkezi, Taksim Square, Taksim (tel: (0212) 251 5600). The annual
Contemporary Artist Istanbul Exhibition celebrates the work of young
local artists, many of whom progress to being internationally
renowned. Akbank Culture and Arts Centre, 14-19 Istiklal
Caddesi (tel: (0212) 252 3500/01; website:
www.akbanksanat.com).
The private sector has helped take the load off Istanbul’s
government-supported venues, by opening specialized arts events and
private galleries, many of which can be seen on Istiklal Caddesi and
the Taksim area. Among the most adventurous is the Borusan Center
for Culture and Art, 421 Istiklal Caddesi (tel: (0212) 292 0655;
website:
www.borusansanat.com), which alternates ‘conceptual’ Turkish and
international exhibitions, plus an enormous music library and concert
space. The Aksanat Cultural Centre, Istiklal Caddesi, near
Taksim Square (tel: (0212) 252 3500), offers recorded jazz and
classical music on a large laser-disc screen, as well as painting and
sculpture exhibitions and drama.
Tickets for most cultural events are available at Biletix
outlets (website:
www.biletix.com), located at Ada bookshop on Istiklal Caddesi,
Vakkorama, MMMigros supermarkets and Raksotek record
stores.
TheGuide Istanbul (website:
www.theguideturkey.com) provides up-to-date information on
cultural events and performance in the city. An excellent source of
information is also available at
www.istanbulcityguide.com/arts/index.htm. Time Out Istanbul
and Turkish Daily News also have listings.
Music: The most reliable guide to music events in the city is
fly posters and banners along Istiklal Caddesi. The 900-seat
Ataturk Cultural Centre or AKM (see above), is shared by
the State Opera and Ballet, the State Theatre and the
State Symphony Orchestra, as well as the Istanbul Festivals. The
most stunning venue in the city is the Byzantine church of Hagia
Eirene, in the grounds of the Topkapi Palace complex – now a museum
and used by the IKSV (see above) during the Classical Music
Festival in June. The most popular summer venue is the Open Air
Theatre, AçikHava Tiyatrosu (see above), which hosts Jazz
Festival events and other contemporary concerts. The indoor Cemal
Resit Rey Concert Hall, Darülbedayi Caddesi, Conference Valley,
Harbiye (tel: (0212) 240 5012 or 231 5497/8 or 248 0863; website:
www.crrks.org),
is another popular venue for concerts and exhibitions. The
International Istanbul Music Festival, International Bosphorus
Festival, International Istanbul Jazz Festival and Rumeli Hisari
Concerts are spread out throughout the summer.
Theatre: Plays by international and Turkish playwrights are
frequently staged in Istanbul, many in smaller venues off Istiklal
Caddesi, while the more commercial extravaganzas (such as during the
Istanbul International Theatre Festival usually held in May) are at
the Atatürk Kültür Merkezi (see above), sometimes with digital
subtitling in English.
Dance: The Turkish State Opera and Ballet performs at
the Atatürk Kültür Merkezi (see above) and there are also dance
performances at the indoor Cemal Resit Rey Concert Hall,
Darülbedayi Caddesi, Conference Valley, Harbiye (tel: (0212) 240 5012
or 231 5497/8 or 248 0863; website: www.crrks.org). There are also
performances in galleries and smaller venues; check the press for
details. There are dance performances during the International
Istanbul Theatre Festival.
Film: Foreign films, mostly from Hollywood, outnumber Turkish
domestic output and generally show in their original language with
Turkish subtitles. Most of the city’s cinemas are in Istiklal Caddesi,
in Beyoglu. Visitors should check the Turkish Daily News for
listings or simply comb the streets. The Alkazar Cinema Center,
Istiklal Caddesi 179 (tel: (0212) 293 2466/67 or 249 7297), Fitas,
Istiklal Caddesi 24/26 (tel: (0212) 249 9361), Emek, Istiklal
Caddesi Yesilcam Sokak 5 (tel: (0212) 293 8439), and Beyoglu,
Istiklal Caddesi Halep Pasaji 140 (tel: (0212) 251 3240), are good
bets, showing European, Turkish, and Hollywood films. Mega cinema
complexes are only found at huge shopping malls in the outer suburbs.
Beyoglu cinemas also participate in the International Film Festival,
usually taking place in April, and sometimes screen lesser-known
international films.
Turkish films have made a recent impact on world cinema, especially
Uzak (2002) and Hamam (1997), both filmed in Istanbul and
winning several international awards. Uzak details the
ponderous tale of two cousins, photographer Mahmut, who has his style
severely cramped with the arrival of his luckless, uncouth younger
cousin Yusuf from his village, seeking work. Hamam is about a
couple, Francesco and Marta, who run a small design company in Rome.
When Francesco's long forgotten Aunt Anita dies in Istanbul, he
travels there to look after the sale of the hamam he inherited from
her. There he meets the family running the hamam, gets attracted to
one of its members (as well as falling for the whole Turkish
atmosphere) and he decides not to sell the hamam after all.
Literary Notes: Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, the wife of the
British Ambassador to Turkey in 1716-18, was a well-known socialite at
Pera and openly admired the sensuality of Ottoman daily life. She was
an avid correspondent, describing life in the city to her friends in
England, including Alexander Pope. Her Letters from Constantinople
were published posthumously in 1763 and give a fascinating insight
into upper-class 18th-century Istanbul.
Many writers have described the filth, the narrowness of the streets,
the lack of women in evidence and the quantity of stray dogs. Those
things have certainly changed but the Turks’ love of bargaining and
shopping has not, nor has the difficulty of finding grave space,
seeing as cremation is forbidden by Islam. ‘It is as if the Turks are
entirely absorbed in buying goods, selling goods and dying,’ noted
French writer Francois Rene de Chateaubrian in 1806. American satirist
Mark Twain (1835-1910) found even Hagia Sophia dark and dirty and the
dance of the Mevlevi dervishes ‘the most barbaric manifestation I have
seen to this day’. During the same period, naval officer and romantic
writer Pierre Loti was among many Orientalist Europeans disgusted by
the fashion for Art Nouveau in Istanbul at the turn of the century,
while Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express (1934) was
written when she stayed at the Pera Palas Hotel. The work of exiled
Communist poet Nazim Hikmet (d 1963) is still widely read and admired,
as are the novels of Yasar Kemal (b 1922).
Istanbul’s most famous contemporary writer is Orhan Pamuk
(left),
2006 Nobel Prize winner in literature, whose
books, White Castle (1985), Black Book (1990), The
New Life (1994), My Name is Red (2001), and Snow
(2003) have been translated worldwide. Pamuk is being followed by
younger writers, such as Latife Tekin, known for her magic realism in
novels such as Tales from the Garbage Hills (1984), Swords
of Ice (1989) and Signs of Love (1995).
USEFUL LINKS:
Istanbul Music
Festival The International Istanbul Music Festival was accredited
as a member of the European Festivals Association in 1977 Istanbul Film Festival
The Istanbul International Film Festival, organized by the Istanbul
Foundation for Culture and Arts, was first organized in the summer of
1982 Istanbul
BiennialThe
Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts has been organizing the
International Istanbul Biennial since 1987. The Biennial aims to
create a meeting point in Istanbul in the field of visual arts between
artists from diverse cultures and the audience.
Les Arts Turcs - The art
and culture center for Turkey, calligraphy, carpets, paintings, and
artists. The center invites arts students, artists, photographers,
writers, translators and web designers for a "working vacation" to
experience Turkish culture and help the team.
Antik A.S. - An
auction company located in Turkey that organizes approximately one
auction per month for mainly Ottoman period antiques. Site includes
information and pictures of the antiques auctioned.
Turkish Music and Voice
Library - Multi functioning music site. Real Audio and MP3 music
in almost any style. Hot news, chat rooms and a large link list to
online radios and TV stations.
Istanbul Bookstores Book Store guide of Istanbul by travel planner
Istanbul Modern Istanbul Museum of Modern Art Sabanci
Museum The historical Horse Mansion and the new gallery annex
equipped with the latest technology are now a museum of international
standards with an area of 3500 m2 appropriate for holding exhibitions
of every kind.
ISTANBUL
ART GALLERIES:
Aksanat Resim
GalerisiIstiklal Cad. Zambak
Sok. 16/1 Beyoglu
(0212) 252 35 00
Art
GaleriSakayik Araligi Sok.8/A Tesvikiye
(0212) 230 20 07
Atse Taki Sanat GalerisiSakayik Sok. 62/5 Nisantasi
(0212) 241 76 33
Bm Cagdas Sanat
MerkeziAkkavak Sok. 1/1 Nisantasi
(0212) 231 10 23
Borusan Kultur Merkeziİstiklal Cad. 421 Beyoglu
(0212) 292 06 55
Bilim Sanat
GalerisiMuhurdar Cad. Akmar Pasaji 70/1 Kadikoy
1st Turkish Contemporary Literature Meetings 1 -31 January / ISTANBUL
Kirim Music and Dance Days 1 -28 February / ISTANBUL 2nd Turkish Theater Festival 1 -31 March / ISTANBUL
20th International Istanbul Film Festival 14-29 April / ISTANBUL
17th Child's Feast 17-23 April / ISTANBUL
4th International Crr Child's Festival 20-24 April / ISTANBUL
Fetih Celebrations 1 -31 May / ISTANBUL
Tataristan Culture Days 1 -31 May / ISTANBUL
1st Turkish Puppet Theaters Festival 1 -31 May / ISTANBUL
6th International Crr Youths Festival 12-20 May / ISTANBUL 13th International Istanbul Theater Festival 18 May-1 June / ISTANBUL
29th International Istanbul Music Festival 8 June-3 July / ISTANBUL
4th International Bogazici Festival 15-30 June / ISTANBUL
Şile Bezi Culture and Art Feast 1 -31 July / ISTANBUL
Kartal International Culture and Art Festival 25-27 August / ISTANBUL
7th International Istanbul Bienali 21 September-17 November / ISTANBUL International Crr Mystical Music Festival 1 -30 November / ISTANBUL
Turkish Cinema Days 1 -30 November / ISTANBUL International Crr Piano Festival 1 -31 December / ISTANBUL
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