The new museum building of Istanbul Modern is hosting five new exhibitions. 

You can visit Istanbul Modern every day except Mondays, from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm, and on Fridays from 10:00 am to 8:00 pm. 

Current Exhibitions 

Floating Islands 

Istanbul Modern’s 9th collection exhibition, brings together more than 280 works by 110 artists and 2 artist duos. Besides the permanent and temporary exhibition galleries, the exhibition encompasses other spaces throughout the building. 

The permanent exhibition gallery presents a chronological selection from the museum collection that traces the development and transformation of art scene in Türkiye after 1945. The temporary exhibition gallery features thematic presentations of works mostly created after the 2000s. “Floating Islands” pays homage to artists’ extraordinary imagination and spheres of influence. It indicates their attachment to a specific place while also emphasizing the impact of their thought and production beyond borders and geographies. 

Artists: Kuzgun Acar, Franz Ackermann, Murat Akagündüz, Erol Akyavaş, Nevin Aladağ, Hüseyin Bahri Alptekin, Halil Altındere, Refik Anadol, Avni Arbaş, Yüksel Arslan, Tomur Atagök, Kutluğ Ataman, Fikret Atay, Georg Baselitz, Bedri Baykam, Aliye Berger, Nurullah Berk, Sabri Berkel, Semiha Berksoy, Albert Bitran, Mohamed Bourouissa, Mark Bradford, Lee Bul, Cihat Burak, Daniel Buren, CANAN, Taner Ceylan, Anthony Cragg, Hüseyin Çağlayan, Adnan Çoker, Richard Deacon, Nejad Melih Devrim, Burhan Doğançay, İpek Duben, Nezaket Ekici, Abidin Elderoğlu, Devrim Erbil, Tayfun Erdoğmuş, Neş'e Erdok, Cevdet Erek, Ayşe Erkmen, Erol Eskici, İnci Eviner, Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu, Murat Germen, Gilbert & George, Tanya Goel, Katharina Grosse, Ara Güler, Mehmet Güleryüz, Neşet Günal, Nedim Günsür, Selma Gürbüz, Altan Gürman, Camille Henrot, Horasan, Balkan Naci İslimyeli, Ferit İşcan, Nuri İyem, Zeki Faik İzer, İhsan Cemal Karaburçak, Gülsün Karamustafa, Şahin Kaygun, Ali Kazma, Anselm Kiefer, Karin Kneffel, Nur Koçak, Komet, Azade Köker, Guillermo Kuitca, Nuri Kuzucan, Alicja Kwade, Bertrand Lavier, Margherita Manzelli, Şükran Moral, Yıldız Moran, Aydan Murtezaoğlu, Mübin Orhon, Kemal Önsoy, İrfan Önürmen, Ferhat Özgür, Serkan Özkaya, Şener Özmen - Erkan Özgen, Orhan Peker, Seçkin Pirim, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Laure Prouvost, Anselm Reyle, Adrián Villar Rojas, Sterling Ruby, Sarkis, Hale Tenger, Canan Tolon, Seyhun Topuz, Selim Turan, F.Tülin, Ömer Uluç, Ebru Uygun, Burhan Uygur, Jorinde Voigt, Nari Ward, Richard Wentworth, Nil Yalter, Haegue Yang, Fahrelnissa Zeid, Jérôme Zonder, :mentalKLINIK 

Nuri Bilge Ceylan: In Another Place 

“In Another Place” presents never-before-seen portraits by Nuri Bilge Ceylan, one of the most authentic filmmakers of today’s cinema. The exhibition brings together works that are unlike what the artist has created thus far: 22 portraits taken by Ceylan in Türkiye and geographies around the world as diverse as India, Georgia, China, Morocco and Russia. 

Revealing the daily struggles, loneliness, boredom and melancholy of people around the world through his subjects, who gaze directly at the photographer and therefore also at us, Ceylan focuses on the common emotions across geographies rather than the differences. The unique formal language in all of Ceylan’s photographs activate our imagination and make us feel connected to people and geographies that we have never been to or experienced. 

Curator: Demet Yıldız Dinçer 

Assistant Curator: Dilara Ulu 

Always Here 

“Always Here” showcases a selection of works from the museum collection acquired by the Women Artists Fund, established by Istanbul Modern in 2016 to support the production of women artists in Turkey, increase public awareness of their work, and strengthen their representation. 

From the outset, Istanbul Modern’s collection has featured women artists from different generations who came to prominence through the diversity of their subjects, techniques and materials and their diligence and courage in creating unique artistic languages. Works acquired for the museum collection with the support of the Women Artists Fund can be viewed both in the “Always Here” selection and the collection exhibition. 

Artists:  Mehtap Baydu, Hera Büyüktaşcıyan, İnci Eviner, Selma Gürbüz, Nilbar Güreş, Sibel Horada, Bengü Karaduman, Zeynep Kayan, Ayça Telgeren, Güneş Terkol, Burcu Yağcıoğlu. 

Curator:  Öykü Özsoy Sağnak 

Assitant Curator:  Melodi Gülbaba 

Renzo Piano: Genius Loci 

“Renzo Piano: Genius Loci” focuses on the architecture of Istanbul Modern’s new museum building and its design and construction process. Designed by Renzo Piano Building Workshop (RPBW), the new building greets art lovers at the same location where Istanbul Modern opened its doors in 2004 as Türkiye's first museum of modern and contemporary art. 

The title of the exhibition refers to the architectural understanding of Renzo Piano, whose vision is to integrate tangible elements and non-physical qualities of the building site. “Renzo Piano: Genius Loci” examines the new museum building, which Piano designed taking inspiration from the light and atmosphere unique to the Bosphorus and Istanbul. 

Curator: Ümit Mesci 

Constructing Architecture 

"Constructing Architecture" focuses on the construction of Istanbul Modern's new museum building designed by Renzo Piano through the lens of Cemal Emden, one of the most important architectural photographers of our time. Emden records the construction process of the building from December 2020 onwards in different lighting and seasons, highlighting the architectural components that Piano emphasized in his design and the transformation of material and human labor into the building. "Constructing Architecture" closely examines concepts such as the built environment, architecture and construction, while inviting the viewer to reflect on the layered dialogue that photography has had with architecture since its invention. 

Architecture, the first part of the four-part exhibition, reveals the fruition of Piano's ideas and is the first official representation of Istanbul Modern's new museum building. The shots in Limitation of Space, part two, enables the viewer to track the stages of construction through Emden’s regular visits to the site at different times. Constructing Architecture, a series of large-scale prints, explores the basic ideas behind the design developed by the Renzo Piano Building Workshop and the building's position in the city. The fourth part of the exhibition, Construction Workers, focuses on the human labor and workers involved in the construction of Istanbul Modern’s new building. 

Source and details:  istanbulmodern.org  

Photos: Cemal Emden