What's on: Snow day diversions and early algorithmic art
A biweekly roundup of art exhibitions, cultural events, and arts and culture news in Istanbul and elsewhere in Turkey.
Snow days in Istanbul
The promised snowpocalypse hasn’t (yet) fully materialized in Istanbul, but many events in the city have been cancelled or postponed in anticipation of a weekend whiteout and some venues are closing or limiting their opening hours over the next few days. The New and Newest Music Festival at ARTER, a Michael Snow film series at Istanbul Modern, and concerts at the Pera Museum are just a few of the events that are not happening this weekend. Before heading out for any arts and culture, check the venue or artist’s social media and/or call ahead to ensure that things are proceeding as planned.
If you’d rather not venture into the cold at all, here are a few suggestions for getting your cultural fix at home:
🖼 ART: Journey into Istanbul’s past with themed online exhibitions from the Istanbul Research Institute; peruse gorgeous Ottoman embroideries from the Sadberk Hanım Museum or early Turkish paintings from the Sakıp Sabancı Museum; take a virtual tour of selected Istanbul Modern exhibitions; or delve deep into SALT Research’s extensive digital archives on art, architecture and design, and the city, society, and economy.
🎸 MUSIC: From the Anatolian rock of the ‘60s and ‘70s to annual best-of lists of new music from Turkey, Kenan Sharpe’s Spotify playlists will give you plenty to groove to at home.
🎧 PODCASTS: For thoughtful conversations with journalists, academics, and writers on Turkey and its region, Turkey Book Talk is a must-listen. The newer Heritage Türkiye podcast from the British Institute at Ankara explores archaeological excavations and other ongoing research.
LAST CHANCE: Calculations and Coincidences and In Search of Vera Molnár at the Pera Museum
Long before most people had heard of generative AI or even laid eyes on a computer, the Hungarian media artist Vera Molnár was pioneering the use of computers in art, first drawing and painting by hand based on simple algorithms and later collaborating more closely with machines. Two exhibitions closing this weekend at the Pera Museum (which says it will keep to its regular opening hours) highlight her innovative artistic practice; one, Calculations and Coincidences, brings Molnár’s works together with those of two pioneering peers, Dóra Maurer and Gizella Rákóczy. The other, In Search of Vera Molnár, features works by contemporary artists who bring her algorithmic-based working methods into dialogue with new mediums. Few, though, have the soul of her originals, which used machines as tools for human expression, not the other way around.
Exhibitions run until 23 February
Meşrutiyet Caddesi No.65, Beyoğlu
Open Fri 10am-10pm, Sat 10am-7pm, Sun noon-6pm
A Look Ahead
From movies to music, here’s a small peek at what’s coming up on the cultural calendar:
FILM: Somewhere Else and It’s Not Over Yet – International Women’s Day is the inspiration for two upcoming screening series; Pera Museum features the work of pioneering female filmmakers from 5 to 28 March and Istanbul Modern spotlights individual and collective struggles from 13 to 27 March.
MUSIC: Istanbul Music Festival (11 to 26 June) – Tickets went on sale today for the 53rd edition of this classical music festival, which opens with the Tekfen Philharmonic Orchestra & Plovdiv State Opera Choir and includes performances incorporating breakdance, hip-hop, painting, and theater.
MUSIC: Gezgin Salon Festival (28 to 29 June) – French dream-pop duo Air and English rock band Slowdive headline this two-day outdoor music festival at Parkorman. Single-day tickets start at 2000 TL.
Short Takes: Art exhibitions in brief
With some echoes of Nan Goldin and Daido Moriyama, the photographs of Silva Bingaz have an off-kilter intimacy that’s enhanced by a presentation of her Opus 3c series that brings different images into dialogue with each other as the viewer moves around the gallery (to 22 March at Öktem Aykut; Meşrutiyet Cad. No:99, Beyoğlu; open Tue-Sat noon-7pm). Artist Özlem Yenigül’s large-scale woven wall installations and works on paper and textile play with concepts of place and identity in her solo show The Desire to Feel at Home Everywhere while the group exhibition Pressure Point features an impressive array of printmaking styles (both to 2 March at Anna Laudel; Kazancı Ykş. No:45-49a, Beyoğlu; open Tue-Sat noon-7pm, Sun noon-6pm). The new gallery Offgrid Art Project proposes Impactful Encounters between technology and nature with a juxtaposition of the digital art of Cam Memişoğulları and the bee-inspired work of Aslıhan Mumcu and Beyza Durhan (to 28 March; İmam Adnan Sok. No:6, Beyoğlu; open Tue-Sat noon-7pm).
Recommended reads etc. 📚
Forgotten Muslim builders gave medieval Europe its iconic architecture – Historian Diana Darke argues that Europe’s monuments owe a vast debt to Muslim craftsmen and designers. by David Conrads for The Christian Science Monitor.
Turkey’s translators are training the AI tools that will replace them – Human fallout may include being replaced by LLMs, diminished skills, and fewer career options for all but the elite scholars. by Kaya Genç for Rest of World.
Syria’s New Comedy Scene – The Styria collective in Damascus is testing the boundaries of free speech. by Aubin Eymard for New Lines.
Aubin Eymard
“In Istanbul, the seamless cycle of night and day unfolds almost unnoticed” – Musician Ozan Tekin talks to Thomas Venker of Kaput about his audiovisual performance series Mornings for Sale (full video embedded in article), in which he and other musicians improvise to video footage of Istanbul in the liminal hours.