The arts diary

Past events

• 

  Online, Talks and tours

  The Role of Halkevi Libraries in the Early Turkish Republic

  Hybrid Presentation

  July 13, 2026 6.00pm (UK time)

  Royal Anthropological Institute (RAI), London

• 

  EXHIBITION

  Floating Islands

  June 30, 2026 – July 12, 2026

  Istanbul Modern,

• 

  Performance

  Atatürk Cultural Centre Highlights

  June 30, 2026 – July 3, 2026
• 

  Performance

  The Bosphorus Trio at Notre Dame de Sion

  June 24, 2026
• 

  Concert of Turkish Music

  Finchley Turkish Music Club Summer Concert

  St. Mary’s Church, Islington

  June 20, 2026 7:00 (UK time)

  London

• 

  ANGLO-TURKISH SOCIETY TALK (online)

  Protestant Missionaries to the Jewish Communities of Istanbul, Salonika and Izmir, 1820-1914

  June 15, 2026 6.00pm (UK time)

  ISTANBUL

• 

  Classical Music

  2026 Istanbul Music Festival

  June 11, 2026 – June 25, 2026

  ISTANBUL

• 

  Performance

  Hungarian Folk Dancing Course

  June 11, 2026 18.00-20.00

  ISTANBUL

• 

  ANAMED symposium

  7th International Sevgi Gönül Byzantine Studies Symposium

  June 10, 2026 – June 12, 2026

  ANAMED Research Center for Anatolian Civilizations, ISTANBUL

• 

  ANAMED online talk

  Forgotten Experts: Astrologers, Science and Authority in the Ottoman Empire, 1450-1600

  June 9, 2026 18.00-20.00

  ANAMED Research Center for Anatolian Civilizations, ISTANBUL

• 

  Group Exhibition

  Colour is the Place

  June 4, 2026 – July 18, 2026

  Dirimart London, London

• 

  Classical Music

  Süreyya Opera House highlights

  Opera and Classical Music

  June 1, 2026 – June 30, 2026

  Süreyya Opera House, Moda, Istanbul

• 

  Classical Music and Opera

  Atatürk Cultural Centre Highlights

  Classical Music and Opera

  June 1, 2026 – June 30, 2026

  , Beyoğlu, Istanbul

• 

  Classical recitals

  Minoa Pera Highlights

  Chamber music

  June 1, 2026 – June 30, 2026 18.00

  Minoa Pera Bookshop & Café, Beyoğlu, Istanbul

• 

  JOHN DYSON’S JAZZ PICKS

  Zorlu Center Highlights

  Jazz

  June 1, 2026 – June 30, 2026 21.00 (doors open 19.30)

  Levent, Istanbul

• 

  JOHN DYSON’S JAZZ PICKS

  Nardis Jazz Club Highlights

  Jazz

  June 1, 2026 – June 30, 2026

  Nardis Jazz Club, Beyoğlu, Istanbul

• 

  JOHN DYSON’S JAZZ PICKS

  Bova Jazz Club Highlights

  Jazz

  June 1, 2026 – June 30, 2026 21.30 (doors open 21.00)

  Bova Jazz Club, Beyoğlu, Istanbul

• 

  Bova Jazz Club Highlights

  Jazz

  June 1, 2026 – June 30, 2026 21.30 (doors open 21.00)

  Bova Jazz Club, Beyoğlu, Istanbul

• 

  Anglo-Turkish Society Talk (hybrid)

  Princess Nazlı Fazıl (1856-1913)

  Trans-Imperial Networks and the Press

  June 1, 2026 6.00pm (UK time)

  Royal Anthropological Institute (RAI), London

• 

  Online

  From Steppe Warriors to Women Ghazis

  Talk by historian & scholar Hüsamettin Şimşir

  May 28, 2026

  Yunus Emre Institute in London, London

• 

  Anglo-Turkish Society Talk (hybrid)

  A Delight to Behold

  The Ottoman Turkish Manuscript Collection at the British Library: Talk by Dr. Michael Erdman

  May 26, 2026 6.00pm (UK time)

  Royal Anthropological Institute (RAI), London

• 

  Talks and tours

  Özlem Warren: Talk & Book Signing

  Özlem Warren introduces her latest book, ‘Istanbul: Delicious Recipes from the Heart of the City’

  May 22, 2026

  Yunus Emre Institute in London, London

• 

  Anglo-Turkish Society Talk (online)

  Empire of Officials

  Christians and Jews in the Ottoman Bureaucracy

  May 21, 2026 4.00pm (UK time)
• 

  Art

  Esther Voswinckel Filiz: İPUÇLARI – Textile Forms of Knowledge

  Orient Institut Istanbul

  May 20, 2026 – May 24, 2026
• 

  ANGLO-TURKISH SOCIETY TALK (IN PERSON AND ONLINE)

  Beyond the myth of Independent Journalism

  Agah Efendi, Tercüman-ı Ahvâl, and British Influence: talk by Muratcan Zorcu

  May 19, 2026 6.00pm (UK time)

  Royal Anthropological Institute (RAI), London

• 

  Concert tour

  Fazıl Say on tour

  May 19, 2026 – May 31, 2026

  Europe

• 

  Film

  Film Screening: Remembering Traugott Fuchs

  British Institute at Ankara

  May 14, 2026 17:30

  British Institute at Ankara, Ankara

• 

  TALK (IN PERSON AND ONLINE)

  Theodore Mould: In Search of Phillipo

  An Armenian Merchant Between Two Empires

  May 12, 2026

  Royal Asiatic Society, London

• 

  ONLINE TALK

  The Ottoman World of Sports

  Shared Activities and Exclusive Bonds in Late Imperial Istanbul: Talk by Prof. Murat C. Yıldız

  May 11, 2026 6.00pm (UK time)

  Anglo-Turkish Society, London

• 

  Jazz

  Ramazan Sesler

  From Father to Son: A Clarinet Legend

  May 10, 2026 20.00-22.00 (doors open 18:30)

  Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club, London

• 

  Solo exhibition

  Olivia Sterling: Jelly

  May 7, 2026 – June 14, 2026

  Dirimart Pera, Beyoğlu, Istanbul

• 

  Performance, Talks and tours

  Restoring the Balance: a documentary by Amanda Burrell

  Screening and talk and Q&A

  May 7, 2026 18.30–21.00 (UK time)

  Yunus Emre Institute in London, London

• 

  Online, Talks and tours

  RRR Smith:The House of Kybele and the last pagans of Aphrodisias

  Recent excavation, discoveries and research

  May 5, 2026 17.30 Turkish time

  British Institute at Ankara, Ankara

• 

  Contemporary art

  Invisible Dreams

  Oktem Aykut Gallery

  May 2, 2026 – May 23, 2026

  Öktem & Aykut

• 

  Performance

  Bova Jazz Club highlights

  Jazz

  May 1, 2026 – May 29, 2026 21.30 (doors open 21.00)

  Bova Jazz Club, Beyoğlu, Istanbul

• 

  Jazz

  Yeldeğirmeni highlights

  May 1, 2026 – May 31, 2026

  Yeldeğirmeni Sanat Merkezi, Kadıköy, Istanbul

• 

  Classical Music

  Süreyya Opera House highlights

  May 1, 2026 – May 31, 2026

  Süreyya Opera House, Moda, Istanbul

• 

  Opera and Classical music

  AKM highlights

  May 1, 2026 – May 31, 2026

  , Beyoğlu, Istanbul

• 

  JOHN DYSON’S JAZZ PICKS

  Zorlu Center highlights

  Jazz

  May 1, 2026 – May 31, 2026 21:00 (doors open 19:30)

  Zorlu Performing Arts Centre (PSM), Levent, Istanbul

• 

  JOHN DYSON’S JAZZ PICKS

  Nardis Jazz Club highlights

  Jazz

  May 1, 2026 – May 31, 2026 21.30–23.50

  Nardis Jazz Club, Beyoğlu, Istanbul

• 

  Classical Recitals

  Minoa Pera highlights

  Chamber Music

  May 1, 2026 – June 6, 2026

  Minoa Pera Bookshop & Café, Beyoğlu, Istanbul

  
   

• 

  Art

  Bayram Gümüş: Fifth Season (Beşinci Mevsim)

  April 30, 2026 – May 14, 2026

  Kethuda Hamam, Ortaköy, Istanbul

• 

  Solo exhibition

  Alev Ebüzziya Siesbye

  April 30, 2026 – June 1, 2026

  Galeri Nev Ankara, Ankara

• 

  Solo exhibition

  Lara Ögel: Locus Affectus

  April 27, 2026 – June 13, 2026

  Galerist, Beyoğlu, Istanbul

• 

  Exhibition

  Fahrelnissa Zeid: Immersion

  April 21, 2026 – May 30, 2026

  Dirimart London, London

• 

  Gallery exhibition

  Beyond the Threshold: Revisiting Orientalism II

  April 20, 2026 – May 29, 2026

  Colnaghi, London

• 

  Group Exhibition

  My Body Breathes as the World Fades

  April 17, 2026 – June 16, 2026

  Galeri Nev Istanbul, Beyoğlu, Istanbul

• 

  Talks and tours

  Travellers in Ottoman Lands

  Call for papers

  April 14, 2026
• 

  chamber music

  Opus Amadeus Chamber Music Festival

  April 12, 2026 – May 17, 2026

  ISTANBUL

• 

  Solo exhibition

  Ghada Amer: Aurora,

  April 9, 2026 – May 24, 2026

  Dirimart Dolapdere, London

• 

  Online, Talks and tours

  Echoes of 1776 in Ankara: The American Declaration of Independence and the Birth of Modern Türkiye

  A hybrid lecture by Dr. Işıl Acehan, Nevşehir Hacı Bektaş Veli University

  April 9, 2026 19.00 (Turkish time)

  American Research Institute in Turkey (ARIT) USA, Ankara

• 

  Online lecture

  The Unharvested Sea: Ten Years of Underwater Archaeological Research in the Phournoi Archipelago

  An online seminar with Dr. George Koutsouflakis, University of Thessaly.

  April 2, 2026 19.00 (Turkish time)
• 

  John Dyson's Jazz picks

  Asai Khai Jazz Club highlights

  April 1, 2026 – April 30, 2026

  Asa-Khai Jazz Club, Karaköy, Istanbul

• 

  dance workshop

  Hepcats Istanbul

  Solo Jazz Workshop

  March 13, 2026 18:30

  Istanbul Modern

• 

  Film festival

  İstanbul Modern Short Film Festival

  Future is Short

  March 12, 2026 – March 15, 2026
• 

  exhibition

  I Don’t Know Where it Will Fall

  Defne Tesal at Galerist

  March 11, 2026 – April 18, 2026 11am - 7pm

  Galerist

• 

  Online, Talks and tours

  Long-term Urban Change at Aphrodisias

  New Results from the Place of Palms and Governor’s House

  March 9, 2026 17.10 (UK time

  Edinburgh

• 

  Art

  Ani Çelik Arevyan: The Sound of Light

  March 7, 2026 – April 26, 2026

  Ankara CerModern Arts Center, Ankara

• 

  Performance

  ‘Duende’ – music for guitar & kamancheh

  February 28, 2026
• 

  Performance

  Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra, Alessandro Cedrone / Anne Sophie Bertrand

  February 27, 2026
• 

  Art

  Rooted: The Garden Within

  Four Artists, One Garden

  February 26, 2026 – March 19, 2026

  Şule Gazioğlu Art and Design Gallery, The Bosphorus, Istanbul

• 

  Performance

  TRT Istanbul Radio Light Music & Jazz

  February 25, 2026 20.00

  , Beyoğlu, Istanbul

• 

  Jazz

  Çağrı Sertel

  February 21, 2026 11.00

  , Beyoğlu, Istanbul

• 

  Performance

  Istanbul Symphony Orchestra / Antonio Pirolli

  February 20, 2026 20.00

  , Beyoğlu, Istanbul

• 

  Cello & piano recital

  Wednesday Classics: Between the Continents

  February 11, 2026 20.00

  Yeldeğirmeni Sanat Merkezi, Kadıköy, Istanbul

• 

  Piano Recital

  5th Euplayy Young Pianists’ Competition

  February 7, 2026 19.00

  Yeldeğirmeni Sanat Merkezi, Kadıköy, Istanbul

• 

  Chamber Music

  Elif Tarakçı Akyar, Verda Gül and Iris Şentürker

  February 7, 2026 18.00

  Minoa Pera Bookshop & Café, Beyoğlu, Istanbul

• 

  Exhibition

  İbrahim Çallı: Memory of Colour, Spirit of the Brush

  A Passionate Life lived in Colour

  February 4, 2026 – April 5, 2026

  İstanbul Sanat Merkezi, Beyoğlu, Istanbul

• 

  Art

  With Love, Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu

  January 28, 2026 – March 28, 2026

  Casa Botter, Beyoğlu, Istanbul

• 

  Zoom talk

  Chris Aslan: How to get down from a yak

  Adventures in Central Asian Nomadic Texiles

  January 10, 2026 18.00 (UK), 21.00 (Turkey)
• 

  Talks and tours

  Zeynep Çizmeli Öğün: How to lnteract wilh Coinage f om Antiquity

  A Numismatics Workshop for a Contemporary Audience

  January 10, 2026 14-17

  ARIT Ankara Library, Ankara

• 

  Art

  Timurtaş Onan: A Wanderer’s Street Tale

  January 6, 2026 – January 24, 2026

  Galeri Işık, Nişantaşı, Istanbul

• 

  Solo exhibition

  İpek Duben ‘70

  Curated by Farah Aksoy and Amira Arzık

  December 17, 2025 – January 3, 2026

  Galerist, Beyoğlu, Istanbul

• 

  Art

  IAAF Istanbul Art and Antique Fair 2025

  Deniz Bank VI

  December 3, 2025 – December 7, 2025 11am - 7pm

  Lütfi Kırdar International Convention and Exhibition Centre

• 

  Art

  The Lost Dagger of Henry VIII

  From Tudor Court to the Victorian Stage

  November 1, 2025 – February 15, 2026

  Strawberry Hill

• 

  Art, Auction

  Christie’s Arts of the Islamic and Indian Worlds including Rugs and Carpets

  October 30, 2025

  Christie’s King Street, London

• 

  Art, Auction

  Sotheby’s Arts of the Islamic World & India October 2025

  Islamic Sales Week

  October 29, 2025

  Sotheby’s New Bond Street, London

• 

  IKSV’s 18th Biennial

  The Three-Legged Cat

  September 20, 2025 – November 23, 2025 10 am - 6 pm
• 

  Art

  Yan Yana (Side by Side)

  Melahat and Eşref Üren with Eren and Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu

  September 20, 2025 – July 10, 2026

  İşbank RHM / İşbank Museum of Painting and Sculpture, Beyoğlu, Istanbul

• 

  Timurtaş Onan: Transforming City

  September 18, 2025 – October 26, 2025

  Barın Han, Old City, Istanbul

• 

  Sculpture in the park

  Burçak Bingöl with Galeri Nev

  The Regent's Park, London

  September 17, 2025 – November 2, 2025
• 

  Art

  Official Balance

  Öktem Aykut Gallery

  September 15, 2025 – October 25, 2025 12pm - 9pm

  Öktem & Aykut

• 

  PHOTOGRAPHY

  Robert Capa: ‘Truth is the Best Picture’

  September 12, 2025 – March 22, 2026

  Ara Güler Museum, Şişli

• 

  Contemporary art

  Suzanne Lacy at the Sakıp Sabancı Museum

  Togaether

  September 12, 2025 – December 14, 2025 10am - 6pm

  Sakıp Sabancı Museum

• 

  Performance

  Dimitris Skyllas

  The Big Other

  September 12, 2025 8pm

  Istanbul Modern

• 

  Online, Talks and tours

  Environmental Archaeology Online Program

  September 3, 2025 – October 3, 2025
• 

  Art

  Ali Konyalı: Rengim İstanbul / My Colour’s Istanbul

  August 28, 2025 – August 27, 2025

  Schneider Temple, Karaköy, Istanbul

• 

  Art

  Hale Tenger

  Borders/Borders Survey exhibition at AGWA

  August 16, 2025 – February 8, 2026 10 am - 5 pm

  Australia

• 

  Gülsin Onay in concert

  August 2, 2025 – September 9, 2025

  Italy

• 

  Online, Talks and tours

  Lives Between the Lines: Reflections on Levantine culture and it’s meaning today

  A hybrid presentation by Michael Vatikiotis

  July 29, 2025 6 pm U.K. time
• 

  Film

  “Dark World” a fim on the life of Âşık Veysel

  Salt Galata

  July 23, 2025 – December 14, 2025

  SALT Galata

• 

  Performance

  The International Gümüşlük Music Festival 2025

  July 16, 2025 – September 9, 2025

  The Bodrum Peninsula

• choral music

  Rossini Night with the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra

  Istanbul Music Festival

  June 26, 2025 20.00

  , Beyoğlu, Istanbul

• Traditional Music

  The Island: Music of the Turkish and Greek peoples

  Istanbul Music Festival

  June 25, 2025 20.30

  Kınalıada Christos Greek Orthodox Monastery, Kınalıada, Istanbul

• 

  Performance

  Caravaggio & Monteverdi

  June 24, 2025 20.00

  Cemal Reşit Rey Concert Hall (CRR), Maçka, Istanbul

• Tango

  Cuarteto SolTango & Leonel Capitona: ‘Poesía’

  Istanbul Music Festival

  June 22, 2025 21.00

  , Tarabya, Istanbul

• 

  Chamber music & visual art

  Women stars of tomorrow

  Istanbul Music Festival

  June 21, 2025 20.00

  Süreyya Opera House, Moda, Istanbul

• 

  Performance

  ‘Music Route @ Büyükdere’

  June 21, 2025 12–16.30

  Büyükdere

• 

  Performance

  NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, Rafał Blechacz (piano)

  June 20, 2025
• 

  Exhibition

  Arif Hikmet Koyunoğlu 1893–1982

  The Photography Studio of An Adventurous Architect

  June 19, 2025 – May 17, 2026

  Istanbul Research Institute, Tepebaşı, Istanbul