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City Guide - Istanbul - Culture | ||
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Culture Istanbul's cultural life, both traditional and contemporary, is easily equal to that of London and New York, if not as well publicised. There are a growing number of festivals, galleries, new music venues and film centres in keeping with the city's exploding youth population, and within the last decade Turkish artists have begun to make an international impact. There are now a number of independent record companies in the city releasing experimental works that combine Turkish traditional artists with contemporary groups, and new venues where this new music plays live. In particular, however, the Istanbul Kültür ve Sanat Merkezi (IKSV, or Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Art) puts on a series of international festivals equal to that of any European city, except that prices are usually lower (see the Cultural events section below). At present, however, delays in government funding of a huge and desperately needed new Cultural Centre at Ayaza?a in Maslak have meant that existing concert venues, such as the Aç?k Hava Tiyatrosu (Open Air Theatre) in Harbiye, and the Atatürk Kultur Merkezi (Ataturk Cultural Centre) in Taksim, can get dangerously overcrowded and tickets are hard to come by. Istanbul also has a number of excellent art galleries and corporate cultural centres, mostly on Istiklal Caddesi and in Maçka/Ni?anta??. Among the most adventurous is the Borusan Culture and Art Centre, 421 Istiklal Caddesi (tel: (212) 292 0655; fax: (212) 252 4591; web site: www.borusansanat.com), which is open all year round and alternates Turkish and international exhibitions of a conceptual nature. Music: The most reliable guide to music events in the city are fly posters and banners along Istiklal Caddesi. The only purpose-built opera house in the city is the 900-seat Atatürk Cultural Centre (AKM), which is shared by the State Opera and Ballet, the State Theatre and the State Symphony Orchestra (tel: (212) 251 5600 or 1023), as well as the Istanbul Festivals. The most stunning venue in the city, however, is the Byzantine church of Haghia Eirene on the grounds of the Topkap? Palace complex, available only to the IKSV during the Classical Music Festival in June. The most popular summer venue is the Aç?k Hava Tiyatrosu (Open-Air Theatre), near the Hilton hotel in Harbiye, which hosts Jazz Festival events and other contemporary concerts. Theatre: Plays by international and Turkish playwrights are frequently staged in Istanbul, many in smaller venues off Istiklal Caddesi, while the more commercial extravaganzas (such as during the Istanbul International Theatre in May) are at the Atatürk Kültür Merkezi in Taksim, sometimes with digital subtitling in English. In 2000, Mozart's famous opera Abduction from the Seraglio, which had for years been staged (with difficulty) at Y?ld?z Palace and Topkap?, was finally filmed in the actual Topkap? Harem in a joint venture with the BBC and Antelope Productions. Dance: The Turkish State Opera and Ballet performs at the AKM and there are also dance performances at the Cemal Re?it Rey Concert Hall (tel: (212) 231 5103). Performances by Istanbul's prime modern dance choreographer, Ayd?n Teker, however, usually take place in galleries or smaller venues and are worth checking the press for. Film: Foreign films (mostly Hollywood) outnumber the domestic product all over Turkey and generally show in their original language with Turkish subtitles. Most of the city's cinemas are in Istiklal Caddesi and it is best to check the Turkish Daily News for listings or simply comb the streets. The Alkazar, Fita?, Emek and Beyo?lu are good bets, with European, Turkish, and Hollywood films. Mega cinema complexes are only found at huge shopping malls in the outer suburbs. As to films set in Istanbul, Ferhan Özpetek's Hamam (a gay romp with some nostalgic scenes of old Istanbul) won several awards at worldwide film festivals in 1998. The hottest debate at the moment, however, is Antonio Banderas' politically motivated refusal to take the lead in a blockbuster film about the rather racy life of modern Turkey's founder, Kemal Atatürk. The making of the film is still under debate. Cultural events: Istanbul Kültür ve Sanat Merkezi (IKSV, or Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Art; web site: www.istfest.org.tr or www.istanbulbiennial.org.tr) puts on a series of annual festivals. This includes an international film festival attended by renowned directors; an equally illustrious theatre festival in May; a classical music and ballet festival in June (with some concerts in the Byzantine church of Haghia Eirene); a jazz/contemporary music festival in July; and a highly acclaimed international art biennial (2001 and 2003) in September/October, often making use of Byzantine and Ottoman buildings. Literary Notes: Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, the wife of the British Ambassador to Turkey in 1716-18, was a well-known socialite at Pera and openly admired the sensuality of Ottoman daily life. She was an avid correspondent, describing it all to her friends, including Alexander Pope, back home. Her Letters from Constantinople were published posthumously in 1763 and give a fascinating insight into upper-class eighteenth-century Istanbul. Many writers have described the filth, the narrowness of the streets, the lack of women in evidence and the quantity of stray dogs. Those things have certainly changed, but the Turks' love of bargaining and shopping has not, nor has the difficulty of finding grave space, as cremation is forbidden by Islam. 'It is as if the Turks are entirely absorbed in buying goods, selling goods and dying,' noted French writer A de Chateaubrian in 1806. American satirist Mark Twain (1835-1910) found even Haghia Sophia dark and dirty, and the dance of the Mevlevi dervishes 'the most barbaric manifestation I have seen to this day'. During the same period, naval officer and romantic writer Pierre Loti was among many Orientalist Europeans disgusted by the fashion for Art Nouveau in Istanbul at the turn of the century, while Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express was written when she stayed at the Pera Palas Hotel. The work of exiled Communist poet Nazim Hikmet (d 1963) is still widely read and admired, as are the novels of Ya?ar Kemal (b 1922). Istanbul's most famous contemporary writer is Orhan Pamuk, whose Black Book (1995) has been translated worldwide. |