The Museum of Innocence and Istanbul Modern

Thursday June 6 was a museum day.  After buying some fish for dinner and a big five litre jug of water (one cannot drink the tap water in Istanbul), we headed out to The Museum of Innocence which Orhan Pamuk, the wonderful Turkish writer, opened in 2012.

Just across from the Museum was a sign for an ancient Turkish bath dating back to 1445.

Sign for ancient Turkish bath (Hamam)

Pamuk conceived of the museum when he was writing the novel with the same name, which he wrote between 2002 - 2008.  During this period, he collected thousands of objects to place in 83 cabinets which corresponded to the 83 chapters of the book.  I am a big fan of Pamuk, and had purchased a copy of the book at a great bookstore on Istiklal Street, called Robinson Crusoe.  By showing the book with a ticket printed in Chapter 83, I was able to get into the museum for free.  My page was stamped at the ticket office prior to getting an entry pass.

The novel deals with an obsessive love between Kemal, a wealthy businessman living in Istanbul, and Fusun, a shop girl, 12 years his younger. They meet in 1975 when Kemal is about to become engaged to another woman, and the love story continues until her death in 1984 in a car accident where Kemal was driving.  Kemal has a huge collection of artifacts of his life with Fusan, including 1000s of her cigarette butts.  While I have just started the novel, Pamuk captures the life of the westernized bourgeoisie and the working class in Istanbul during the 1970s and 1980s.  The book also deals with the sexism of the time and Kemal's objecification of Fusun.

Each vitrine in the museum has a number of objects which capture the period-- old photos, hair ornaments, watches, etc.  The effect is nostalgic and melancholic- a lovely vision of Istanbul in the 1970s and 1980s.  The museum is housed in an old three story house which Pamuk bought in the early 2000s.  Bringing the museum to fruition used up Pamuk's 2006 Nobel Prize winnings.  No pictures were allowed in the museum, so I had to find a few on the Internet.

Signage to the museum

Outside of the Museum

Toby with entrance ticket

One of the vitrines (from the Internet)

Another vitrine with a dress (from the Internet)

More nostalgia (from the Internet)

Each cabinet had the title of a chapter.  The Museum also had a room devoted to the drafts of Pamuk's book, all hand written during 2002-2008.  There were also drawings that Pamuk had put together of the objects he wanted in each vitrine.

After this lovely museum, we continued our walk to the Istanbul Modern, which opened in 2004 to showcase modern Turkish art.  We passed a great mural outside a small barber shop and also took a picture of the steep streets in this part of the Beyoglu district.

Outside a barber shop on the way to the waterfront

Looking up one of the streets (Stairmaster for sure)

Istanbul Modern is housed in a former warehouse on the waterfront.  It is a great space for displaying large pieces of contemporary art.

Istanbul Modern (from Internet)

There was a fabulous exhibit from the permanent collection entitled "Past and Future" which dealt with Turkish art from the 1920s to the present.  Ataturk had encouraged Turkish artists to get training in Europe, so many of the early pictures had French cubist and impressionist influences.  There was a later Turkish avant-garde movement in the 1970s and 1980s.  More recent work focussed on themes of globalization, east meets west, and the role of women.  There were some very powerful videos made by women about the role of women in Turkey over the years.  There were no pictures allowed in the museum.  Alain and I were impressed by the quality and number of contemporary artists.  There was a great quote about the exhibit as follows:  "Museums are experienced in the present, yet they are also spaces poised at the intersection between past and future".  [This quote could equally apply to the Museum of Innocence]

Poster for the main exhibit

There was also a photo exhibit of contemporary photographers, a major retrospective of Turkish artist Erol Akyavas (b. 1932) and a small exhibit of Jean Dubuffet's works from the Renault Collection in France.

One of the Dubuffets (taken with my iPhone)

  We had lunch at the museum restaurant which overlooks the Bosphorus.

View of the Bosphorus and Topkapi Palace from Istanbul Modern restaurant

Picture of Nusretiye Camii (Mosque) from Museum grounds

Right beside the museum are a series of buildings that house the University where many of the artists in the exhibit had attended for at least part of their education.  There were two art students in the parking lot, one with a "Duchamp is Innocent" bag. 

Art students in parking lot between University and Istanbul Modern

We walked up a big hill back to Istiklal Street and then went for a Turkish coffee at Pati Cafe in a small alley.  The coffee was made over shot coals.  The place was packed with locals sitting on low stools having their coffee or turkish tea.  All very relaxing.

Coffee being made across from where we were sitting

Alain with his Turkish coffee

                                                          View of interesting building from alley with coffee shop

We returned to the apartment for a fish dinner.  We also checked the news and saw that PM Erdogan was back in Turkey and adding fuel to the fire, saying the development in Gezi Park would proceed and blaming foreign elements for the demonstrations.  Needless to say, it looks like their will be a big crowd at Taksim Square tonight.