News
Turkish Activist and Arts Philanthropist Osman Kavala Nears 1,000 Days in Prison
Kavala has been detained since 2017. Human rights activists have called for his release due to a lack of “facts, information, or evidence.”
Turkey
News
After 85 Years as a Museum, the Hagia Sophia Will Become a Mosque
Art historians and conservationists worry Turkish authorities might remove the centuries-old Byzantine mosaics that adorn it.
Art
Revisiting Photography’s First Road Trip
Ten Turkish artists follow daguerreotypist Frédéric Auguste Antoine Goupil-Fesquet’s 180-year-old journey through the Eastern Mediterranean.
News
Turkish Arts Philanthropist Acquitted, Then Detained Again
Imprisoned since 2017, Osman Kavala was found not guilty of attempting to overthrow the government, but re-detained on new charges before he could even taste freedom.
Art
The Artist Walking Between Two Seas in Istanbul
For years, artist Serkan Taycan has documented a nearly 40-mile route through the outskirts of Istanbul, which traverses rarely seen landscapes. He facilitates walks through the area, now at risk due to a proposed shipping canal.
Art
At the Istanbul Biennial, Pondering Just How Scared We All Are — or Should Be
In The Seventh Continent, installations don’t so much play off one another as lead to a feeling of fatigue, as one ponders a stream of disparate weighty topics in rapid succession.
News
Cultural Boycott of Turkey Led by Major Scholars and Artists
A group of 280 leading scholars, writers, and artists — including Angela Davis, Noam Chomsky, and Brian Eno — signed the petition in response to Turkey's invasion of Kurdish regions in northeastern Syria.
Art
Controversy in Istanbul Underscores Rising Political Pressures on Turkish Art Scene
A nationalist message from the head of the country’s biggest contemporary art fair stands in stark contrast to limits of expression on other segments of the Turkish art world.
Art
Collaging an Alternate Reality for Gay Life in Turkey
By literally projecting himself into spaces typically reserved for heterosexual Turkish men, Sinan Tuncay has created a reality in which he takes part in rites of passage that he never experienced.
Art
A New Art Museum in Turkey Looks Beyond Istanbul
Odunpazari Modern Museum, Turkey's first purpose-built modern art museum, has opened in a college town hours from Istanbul, but can it shift the center of gravity in a country seeing a wave of new art museums?
News
Turkish Filmmaker Chains Himself to Culture Ministry to Protest Confiscation of His Archive
Oktay Ince, a longtime video activist fighting to retrieve an archive worth 20 years of his work, was held in police custody and accused of terrorist propaganda after he chained himself to a pole outside the culture ministry in Ankara.
Art
Weaving a New Future for a Traditional Turkish Craft
A small group of fine artists are bringing renewed attention to the practice of weaving by incorporating it into their artworks.