The Paper Architects who played with concrete: Soviet architecture in the post-Stalinist era
‘Trespassing Modernities’ at SALT Galata
By Victoria Khroundina | May 24, 2013
Trespassing Modernities, the summer exhibition at SALT Galata, which opened on May 8 and continues until August 11, immediately piqued my interest, for the show traces the legacy of post-Stalinist architecture in the former Soviet Union – a place both familiar and mysterious to me, having been born in Russia...
Architecture, Exhibitions, History, Highlights
Cannes 2013: Focus (or lack of) on Turkey
By Victoria Khroundina | May 18, 2013
The time has rolled around again for the Cannes Film Festival, undoubtedly the most glamorous event in the film industry's year, which officially begins tomorrow (May 19). It is my favourite film festival (admittedly I have never attended), and its list of competing films is my touchstone for what to...
‘Gates of Hell’ found in Pamukkale
By Roger Williams | May 16, 2013
Italian archaeologists have discovered what they believe to be the ‘Gates of Hell’ in Pamukkale. The find, announced by Professor Francesco d’Andria at a recent conference on Italian archaeology in Istanbul, included an inscription dedicated to Pluto and Kore, god and goddess of the Underworld. The Greek geographer Strabo wrote...
Bursa: a protected treasure
By Victoria Khroundina | May 15, 2013
A Silk Road city a hundred miles south of Istanbul, Bursa has salvaged enough of its fabled beauty to make it well worth exploring. The birthplace of the Ottoman Empire, it is the best place to get an Iskender kebap, even the inspiration for Turkish puppetry (the shadow play characters...
History, Travel
Puppet Power: look who’s pulling the strings
By Victoria Khroundina | May 12, 2013
There is a common misconception that puppetry is merely a form of entertainment intended for children – a fun and educational way to explain complex concepts or stories. Puppetry was important throughout the Ottoman Empire in the form of ‘shadow play’, which involved flat, cut-out figures held between a light...
Putting America on the map: Cartographic masterpieces at the Topkapı Palace
By Griselda Warr | May 11, 2013
Before and After Pîrî Reis: Maps at the Topkapı Palace It’s a simple title but it doesn't prepare you for the treat in the Topkapı stables. The earliest maps on display in this exhibition (until May 20) are based on Ptolemy’s Geography but we quickly move on to maps that show...
Chekhov’s summer of love
By Victoria Khroundina | May 7, 2013
Yalta, the most prosperous of Crimea’s south-coast cities and a glittering holiday destination of the past and the present, was not only where the Russian playwright and author Anton Chekhov built his famous belaya dacha (white cottage), surrounded by the cherry orchard that is synonymous with his name – it...
Lost in Yevpatoria: Anna Akhmatova’s teenage days of helplessness
By Victoria Khroundina | May 3, 2013
It was Cornucopia s Travels in Tartary issue – and partly my own Russian heritage – that piqued my interest in delving deeper into the literary figures who laid claim to various parts of Crimea as their home at some point in their lives. My research brought me to some fascinating discoveries...
All the fun of the art fair: the Izmir Biennial
By Zoltán Somhegyi | May 1, 2013
Hangar-sized exhibition halls, a seemingly random selection of artists, a cascade of artworks and almost 450 exhibitors from 55 countries… The second BienalIzmir arts festival actually seems less like a classical biennale, more like an art-expo. Whether this is because it is set in the fairground-like surroundings of downtown Izmir,...
Contemporary Art
The last of the tulips
By Victoria Khroundina | April 30, 2013
*A parade of tulips in Gülhane Park, May 2013 (photo: Victoria Khroundina)* The Istanbul Tulip Festival ends for another year today. The festival started eight years ago to revive the city's interest in flowers and to remind those who might have forgotten that many flowers in gardens all over Europe...
Current Events
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Exhibition
Sadberk Hanım Museum, Upper Bosphorus (Europe), Istanbul
December 7, 2012 – June 30, 2013
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Exhibition
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston
February 20, 2013 – July 14, 2013
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Research Centre for Anatolian Civilisations (RCAC), Galatasaray, Istanbul
March 8, 2013 – June 10, 2013
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The Queen’s Gallery, Edinburgh
March 8, 2013 – July 21, 2013
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Armaggan Nuruosmaniye Art and Design Gallery, Kapalıçarşı/The Covered Bazaar, Istanbul
March 20, 2013 – May 29, 2013
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