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10/12/2004

Istanbul Modern

Istanbul Modern, Istanbul

The inauguration of the Istanbul Modern, the first museum of modern and contemporary art in Turkey, will take place under the auspices of Prime Minister of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Situated at the shores of the Bosphorus and located in one of the entrepots on the port, Istanbul Modern faces the historical peninsula with Topkapi Palace and Hagia Sophia across the Golden Horn and leans back to Pera.

As the founder of Istanbul Modern, which has been established under the aegis of the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts, the Eczacibasi Group has provided the first investment and project management finance as well as the core collection.

Recalling that art is an indispensable component of personal and social development, Oya Eczacibasi, Chair of the Board, says: 'Istanbul Modern is opening its doors to exhibit our country's art heritage, and to create a platform for our creativity, dynamism, cultural identity and universal values. Our museum will always be open to innovation and change.'

A Living Museum

In line with its aim of being a living museum, Istanbul Modern will seek to create a vibrant, year-long program of diverse events that will set an art agenda for Turkey and will contribute to mark Istanbul as a capital on the world's cultural map.

Rosa Martinez, curator of the 1997 International Istanbul Biennial and currently director of the Venice Biennial 2005 has been appointed as the chief curator of Istanbul Modern. Martinez marks the importance of museums as centers of artistic production and as critical cultural platforms.

Preserving its original structure and architectural character, the renovation project has re-organized the spacious interior of 8.000 square-meters two-stories warehouse into galleries of different sizes.

The upper floor will host the permanent collection of Modern Turkish Art and will exhibit the principal trends and works since the early 20th Century. The inaugural show of the permanent collection "Observation / Interpretation / Multiplicity" has been curated by Ali Akay, Levent Calkoglu and Hasim Nur Gurel.

The temporary exhibitions gallery situated on the ground floor is curated by Fulya Erdemci and will present 3 to 4 shows a year. 'The Making of Istanbul Modern' which is a visual story documenting both Istanbul's privileged status as a seaport and the stages of founding the museum will be first exhibition of this gallery.

Istanbul Modern has a special gallery for photography curated by Engin Ozendes and a new media area where visitors will be able to view examples of video and digital art in a wireless network environment. The sculpture garden at the entrance of the museum will present different surveys of contemporary sculpture.

In addition to exhibitions, Istanbul Modern is developing diverse activities and designed educational programs for a wide range of age groups. Students will be able to attend workshops and lectures. The museum's Art Library will be open to the public. The movie theatre will present a program of independent productions and innovative films from all over the world.

Istanbul Modern will be open every day except Monday between 10:00 and 18:00 hours. On Thursdays it will remain open until 20:00.

For further information please contact:
Handan Senkoken, Press Office.

Istanbul Modern
Meclis-i Mebusan Cad. Liman Sahasi
Antrepo No:4 Karakoy - Istanbul

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