By Sevinç Akyazılı
Even the founders of “istanbul modern” did not expect that success. Their museum hosted nearly 4 million visitors since its opening in 2004. Over 700 artists displayed their works there. ‘istanbul modern’ is not only characterized as the home of modern art but also as the embodiment of Istanbul’s and Turkey’s modern face. Currently the museum is hosting the joint exhibition of 75 female artists under the title ‘dream and realıty’.
The museum itself originated from a dream. The name of the dream was the search for a place to make contemporary art meet the public. But where and under which identity? According to Oya Eczacıbaşı, the initiator of the project, they pursued their dream for 17 years, maturing their ideas, making plans and concretizing them progressively.
Finally they inaugurated the museum of their dreams on 11 December 2004 in an old warehouse under the name of ‘İstanbul Modern’. This was a bold undertaking in a country where neither museum visits nor contemporary art draw widespread attention. Who was going to be interested and what kind of turnout was to be expected? Head Curator Levent Çalıkoğlu says, “At the outset, we were prepared to declare ourselves satisfied with 150 thousand visitors.” And, concerning the ensuing events , he adds:
“In order to make a living space of the museum, it was necessary to have a certain flow of visitors, to be able to turn modern museum visits into a usual practice of the people. In this perspective, we established an educational department and organized seminars with a view to creating a link between the audience and the work of art. We ap-proached school administrations and invited pupil groups to visit our museum in company of their teachers. We contacted the local authori-ties and organized mother-and-child programmes for low-income families. We engaged in promotion efforts to advertise our exhibitions in Turkey and abroad. Today, İstanbul Modern is a museum hosting yearly 800 thousand guests, a place that each tourist visiting İstanbul wants definitely to see.”
Two thousand visitors daily An old port facility, an 8 thousand m2 large warehouse combined with the best view of the Bosporus from Kabataş shore is nowadays con-verted into a ‘temple of modern art’, in the words of its admirers. This temple welcomes daily 2 thousand visitors. Levent Çalıkoğlu tells us about the public’s journey inside the museum:
“The audience is not met here with history or ancestors’ legacy but rather with the present time. While strolling through the halls, they enjoy the opportunity of meeting personally the authors of the works of art on display. They experience a museum which breathes and focuses its visual attention and philosophy on the present. They witness reflections of the new spirit representing İstanbul’s evolution since the 2000’s. İstanbul Modern is a reference point where you feel the pulse of contemporary art. Exhibitions of contemporary Turkish artists taking place in our museum draw the attention of international art circles. In turn, Turkish art lovers enjoy the opportunity of coming across the latest productions of world contemporary art, thanks to exhibitions of international artists at İstanbul Modern.”
Contemporary art is provocative Another important task of the museum is to convey the meaning and scope of art in the 21st century… To overcome all kinds of stereotypes…
To face up to the provocative productions nurturing the art of our time… That is, to provoke! Head Curator Çalıkoğlu refers to Kutluğ Ataman, a Turkish artist representing his country at international art fora, as the most striking example: “Kutluğ Ataman’s video-art production called Never to My Soul tackling the themes of identity-politics-power, enjoyed a very positive reaction. This work constituted the crossing of a threshold in terms of modern art in Turkey, although it was not meant to be. The work was extremely striking and, in our capacity as the voice of modern art in Turkey, we had to display it. We had no negative reactions, on the contrary, we were even encouraged by positive reactions. The Turkish public is interested in contemporary art and, when informed adequately, appreciates and applauds it.”
Every aspect of art The museum was created by Oya Eczacıbaşı, a member of the Eczacıbaşı family who are known worldwide for their valuable contributions in every field of art and culture. İstanbul Modern is yet another of their success stories. Fashion designer Hüseyin Çağlayan, appointed Knight by the Queen of England in 2006, presented his creations at the museum. Following the exhibi-tion at İstanbul Modern, the Paris Museum of Decorative Arts offered him a 1.500 m2 exhibition space to be used at his convenience for an event and exhibition. An example showing the functioning of channels and trends in this field. İstanbul Modern is using on every occasion the dream factor, one of its basic components. It is now hosting, as a reflection of the country’s modern face, an exhibition called “Dream and Reality”, inspired from a novel co-authored by first Turkish female novelist Fatma Aliye and writer Ahmet Mithat, consisting of the works, from 1891 onwards, of 75 female artists from Turkey.
PIONEERS OF YOUNG ART
Museum’s permanent collections are divided in two categories. Works from the Nejat Eczacıbaşı Foundation, founder of İstanbul Modern as well as of the İstanbul Culture and Art Foundation (İKSV) and works belonging to the museum itself. Both collections consist of works created from 1980 onwards by artists living in Turkey. The museum possesses the largest collections in Turkey, of the works of Sarkis, Kutluğ Ataman, Ayşe Erkmen, Gülsün Kara-mustafa, Halit Enger and İnci Eviner. İstanbul Modern keeps alive its dynamic posture through permanent and pop-up exhibitions. In 2008, it co-organized with the London Design Museum an exhibi-tion on “Design Cities”. In 2010, it presented the creations of Hüseyin Çağlayan, known as Michelle Obama’s and Lady Gaga’s fashion designer. The “Armenian Architects” project on the important role played by Armenian architects in late Ottoman civil architecture; the photographic exhibition of Steve McCurry, known worldwide for the picture of a young Afghan girl he shot 20 years ago, and who recently met and photographed her again are among the museum’s recent accomplishments.
This article has originally appeared in “Müze” Magazine, published quarterly with the contributions of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. We would like to thank TÜRSAB Museum Enterprises for sharing this piece with Istanbul Digital Platform followers.
