Holidays facilities reflect at exhibition

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

The exhibit aims to document, stir debate and form a platform for contemporary architecture.

Istanbul Modern is hosting the second exhibition of the VitrA Contemporary Architecture Series organized by VitrA and the Turkish Association of Architects in Private Practice. The exhibition, which continues until April 7, is curated by Ertuğ Uçar and includes artists Burak Arıkan, Kerem Ozan Bayraktar, Nermin Er, Meriç Kara, Metehan Özcan.

The project aims to document, stir debate and form a platform for further work in the field of contemporary architecture in Turkey, centering on the diverse types of buildings produced after 2000. The first project of the series focused on commercial buildings.

The new theme of the project is “tourism buildings” and the corresponding exhibition, titled VitrA Contemporary Architecture Series Presents: Please Do Not Disturb, makes reference to holiday facilities while establishing a link to tourism buildings via an abstract platform. Istanbul Modern’s pop-up space has been divided into rooms for the exhibition and a sequence of isolated atmospheres forms the design of the presentation.

In the scope of the series, a book will also be published focusing on typologies on post-2000 architectural approaches in Turkey. The book, titled “Tourism and Recreation Buildings” was prepared within the framework of the new theme and features projects devoted to tourism, such as hotels, holiday villages, motels, restaurants, cafes, bars, guesthouses, entertainment complexes, social facilities, holiday camps and roadside facilities.

Each artist’s work is found in separate “rooms,” which were made especially for the exhibition. The rooms signify a “gallery” in a gallery space. Five artists have created exclusive designs for the exhibition. Özcan’s photography works, Bayraktar’s animations, Er’s moveable model, Arıkan’s maps and videos and Kara’s objects reveal the reality of the space in the museum by giving reference to various perceptions of holiday.

Films for the exhibition

Within the framework of the exhibition, Istanbul Modern Cinema will present a film selection entitled “Background Cities” in conjunction with the exhibition. Focusing on the concept of the holiday, the show addresses the theme of “space in film” through this selection. In the films selected from Turkish cinema, cities play the leading roles, the drama is constructed around that space, and the characters exist only within those spaces. City films range from Izmir to Istanbul and Kars to Ankara.
The movies that are shown in Istanbul Modern include “Our Grand Despair” (Bizim Büyük Çaresizliğimiz), by director Seyfi Teoman. The film is a bittersweet comedy that portrays a long-time friendship between Ender and his pal Çetin.

Reha Erdem’s “Kosmos,” which tells the story of Kosmos, a traveler who takes refuge in the town of Kars, will also be shown as part of the event. 

“Inside” (Yeraltı) from director Zeki Demirkubuz is inspired by Dostoevsky’s classic novel “Notes from the Underground.” The film’s starring city is Ankara. 

“Cholera Street” (Ağır Roman) by Mustafa Altıoklar, is about life on Cholera Street. Often making references to the lifestyle of gypsies with its sets and costumes, the film is about a group of people who try to survive as best they can on the margins of life. “Vavien” and “Three Monkeys” (Üç Maymun) are among other movies that will be screened.