As the first snow of the year fell from the sky to the streets of Istanbul, it is fair to say that winter is officially here. For most people, leaving the house and going out is exceptionally difficult during these chilly days. However, despite the freezing weather, numerous exhibitions in Istanbul are awaiting their visitors. Here are a few unique exhibitions you can visit throughout the winter season.
Stanley Kubrick Exhibition
The Stanley Kubrick Exhibition, which offers a chronological overview of all the works of director Stanley Kubrick known for directing films such as A Clockwork Orange (1971), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), and The Shining (1980), opened its doors as the first event within the scope of Beyoğlu Culture Road Festival. The exhibition showcases unique pieces, cameras, lenses, scripts, and original costumes from Kubrick’s career which started in the 1940s with his work in the magazine Look, up until his last film Eyes Wide Shut (1999). Especially for film lovers, this exhibition is a great chance to learn more about an iconic director, and it is certainly worth visiting.
Location: Istanbul Cinema Museum, Beyoğlu
Date: October 1, 2022 - April 1, 2023
OyunBu Exhibition
The group exhibition titled OyunBu brings together selected works from the Arter Collection on the concepts of childhood and games. The exhibition aims to explore the liberating nature of games, the rule-breaking way it suspends and reconstructs reality, and the way it goes beyond the everyday and produces an order and meaning entirely of their own. OyunBu opens a playground for both adults and children, tracing concepts such as competition, tension, luck, imitation, ritual, magic, and pleasure. This unique exhibition will certainly enhance your creativity.
Location: Arter
Date: February 17, 2023 - April 9, 2023
Turkish Painting: In the Pursuit of Modernism
Turkish Painting: In the Pursuit of Modernism traces the process from the production of paintings reflecting the history of Westernization in the Ottoman Empire to the works of the artists of the Republic who aimed to form an intellectual foundation for their art. The paintings from the Sakıp Sabancı Museum Painting Collection are presented in chronological order. Visitors can visually follow the interaction and transformation between different generations. This exhibit is a must-see for people interested in art.
Location: Sakıp Sabancı Museum
Date: September 16, 2022 - May 1, 2023
Osman Hamdi Bey: His life and art with works from the Suna and İnan Kıraç Foundation Collection
Osman Hamdi Bey is an Ottoman intellectual raised during the Tanzimat Period and a pioneer who has contributed to different fields of culture and art such as painting, archeology, museology, and art education. This special exhibit reserved for Osman Hamdi Bey in the Sevgi and Erdoğan Gönül Gallery of the Pera Museum presents examples of his works in the Suna and İnan Kıraç Foundation Orientalist Painting Collection, displaying different aspects of his relationship with the art of painting.
Location: Pera Museum
(This is a permanent exhibition.)
Istanbul has been a center of art, history, and culture for centuries. It would be a shame not to deepen our understanding of these. Thankfully, it is possible to learn more about them and appreciate their beauty with the help of museums and exhibitions. Hopefully, visiting these four exhibitions will help you make the most out of these cold days, and enhance your knowledge!
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