Contemporary artworks meet art lovers again

ISTANBUL

With the transition to the normalization process, the world of arts and culture is gradually forming its agenda. Istanbul Modern, Pera Museum, Sabancı University Sakıp Sabancı Museum (SSM) and Arter are among museums that opened their doors June 16 after taking the necessary measures against the virus.

The venues, which had been closed for about three months, presented their current exhibitions to art lovers with their social distancing and hygiene rules. Screening fever at the entrances, using hand disinfectants and wearing masks are among the first rules of all these venues. While measures are also applied for areas such as stores, cafes, restaurants and libraries in museums, different methods can be applied in services such as cloakroom, parking lot and ticketing.

Turkey’s first modern and contemporary art museum, which was temporarily closed to visitors on March 17, Istanbul Modern is regularly sanitized by professional teams to provide visitors a great museum experience.

Those who want to visit the museum can make reservations from the website and buy tickets only with a credit card. In the museum, where the number of people is limited to 70 on each floor in accordance with the social distancing rule, all the trainings and activities, including guided group tours and movie screenings at the Istanbul Modern Cinema, continue online.

With the opening of the museum, the collection exhibition, “Guests: Artists and Craftspeople” and “Lütfi Özkök: Portraits” photo exhibition meets the audience.

Istanbul Modern director Levent Çalıkoğlu said that the three months of closure were very busy for them and they presented their visitors with up-to-date content on digital platforms.

Speaking of the activities during this process, Çalıkoğlu said, “We are changing our collection as of next week. Visitors can watch our new collection exhibition on the second and third floors of the museum. This exhibition has three very basic expansions that also shape the museum’s collection. We have a floor showing how abstract and figurative tendencies improved in Turkey between 1950 and 1980 in modern painting. On the other floor, we bring together contemporary works of art and artists featuring the present time and show how the whole nature is improving without us under the current conditions.”

Çalıkoğlu said that all art institutions in the world will continue to host visitors in both physical and online environments.

SSM to welcome 200 people at a time

The fever of all visitors will be measured with thermal cameras at the main entrance of the SSM, which will remain open between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.

In the museum, “The Arts of the Book and Calligraphy Collection,” “Painting Collection,” “Collection of Furniture and Decorative Artifacts” and “Osman Hamdi Bey Beyond Vision” exhibitions can be visited. But the “Long Wednesday” application cannot be carried out in the museum, the gallery section of which is closed until a later date.

The number of visitors that can come together at a time within the boundaries of the museum is planned as 200 people. Also, entering the museum by private vehicles will not be allowed in order to ensure pedestrian safety and to observe the social distance rules.

The training programs and workshops continue online in the museum, where audio guide devices and tablets will not be distributed and contact screens will not be operated.
The personnel training for the new term has been completed and the ventilation systems have been renewed in the museum, where a hygienic environment is provided in common areas.

At the entrance of Pera Museum, one of the cultural institutions of Suna and İnan Kıraç Foundation, thermal cameras take body temperature and automatically alert visitors who do not wear masks.

The film, speech and learning activities continue online at the museum, which offered digital exhibitions and publications during the closure.

The museum now presents “Orientalist Painting,” “Kütahya Tiles and Ceramics” and “Anatolian Weights and Measures” collection exhibitions to art lovers.

The museum, which currently opens two floors only, is planned to increase the number of visitors from 45 to 90 when all floors are opened. Until the end of June, the museum can be visited free of charge from Tuesday to Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and on Sundays from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Shuttle from Tepebaşı

Arter, which was opened on the İstiklal Avenue and moved to its new building in Dolapdere neighborhood last year, welcomes up to 200 visitors at the same time by applying the necessary hygiene measures during the controlled normalization process.

Arter can be visited from Tuesday to Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. for now. The Sevgi Gönül Auditorium, library and workshop will remain closed for a while.

While the concerts and performances in the “Event Program” and the physical activities in the “Learning Program” currently have a break, guided exhibition tours can be organized with a limited number of participants.

The museum can be reached by shuttles operated free of charge from Taksim and Tepebaşı.