Cornucopia Blog

Trailblazers of the Twentieth Century

A concert of avant-garde music from the Borusan Philharmonic

By John Shakespeare Dyson | March 24, 2021


On Sunday, March 21, a concert by players from the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra, originally recorded in January, was streamed online. Under the baton of Cem’i Can Deliorman, conductor of the Presidential Symphony Orchestra, they played works by Stravinsky, Schoenberg and Ligeti. For those who did not see my advance...
Continue reading »

A taste of spring in Beyoğlu

Cornucopia's gallery walks are back

By Monica Fritz | March 23, 2021


Beyoglu's galleries are open and on a sunny Saturday I filed through the unexpected crowds to see what was up. The whole city seemed to be out.  High above Mumhane Caddesi, a colourful dome of one of Karaköy's three rooftop Russian churches is visible against the crystal clear sky. At street...
Continue reading »

Announcing a streamed concert from Borusan

By John Shakespeare Dyson | March 21, 2021


The Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra is to give a streamed concert on Sunday at 11:30 a.m. The programme is of 20th-century works by Schönberg, Stravinsky and Ligeti, and the guest conductor will be Cem’i Can Deliorman, conductor of the Presidential Symphony Orchestra. I will, God willing, be reviewing the proceedings...
Continue reading »
Posted in Music & Performing Arts, - Classical Music, - Musical Shares

Portrait of two towers from my window

The Barracks of Selim III

By Monica Fritz | March 17, 2021


I recently moved away from the hordes of Moda to the absolute silence of Selimiye. A delightful improvement for my now older self, and the move slightly eased the travel itch. Selimiye, on the Üsküdar side of Haydarpaşa Station, away from bustling Kadıköy, seems to be one of the last...
Continue reading »

The Literature House goes visual 

Ali Kazma's exhibition ‘Europeans’

By Monica Fritz and Tom Roueché (Portrait: Monica Fritz) | March 8, 2021


KIRAATHANE, a historic townhouse near the Tünel end of Beyoğlu, is Istanbul’s first literature house, dedicated to ‘the city's writers and readers of all age’, offering talks, book clubs, workshops, poetry readings and a lovely café which hopefully will open up again soon. It is a place of informal discussion about...
Continue reading »

Give them art

The 360 Love Festival continued

By Monica Fritz | February 28, 2021


It feels like ages since I've strolled down Istiklal Cad., and on a sunny day the only clue of a pandemic were the masks hanging on and off the many faces. My destination was the elegant Mısır Apt. with its handsome staircase and up to the top floor to the famous...
Continue reading »

Hasan Söylemez’s journey

An unusual tale

By Monica Fritz | February 16, 2021


This February the Istanbul Film Festival is offering 12 films, all available online. The one Turkish production among them is by the filmmaker Hasan Söylemez. I would describe this documentary, named Tenere after a region in the Sahara desert, as rough and captivating, with beautiful photography. The characters are so natural...
Continue reading »

Istanbul Film Festival is alive and well online

A talk with the Festival’s director Kerem Ayan

By Monica Fritz | February 11, 2021


For those who haven't noticed, the Istanbul Film Festival has been going on and off online since May 15. Today I had a short chat with the festival’s director, Kerem Ayan, to see what’s planned for now and what we can expect for the upcoming 40th year, to be celebrated, hopefully,...
Continue reading »

The Quintessential Artist’s House

The extraordinary world of Bedri Rahmi Eyuboglu, (1911-1975) painter, poet, ceramist, printer and mosaicist in photographs. 

By Monica Fritz | January 31, 2021


Here, squeezed into the characterless streets of an Istanbul Asian suburb, you would never imagine finding this homage to an artist. The plan was to make a museum but, tangled up in bureaucracy, it is yet to open its doors to the public.  On a rainy winter day I was accompanied...
Continue reading »

Istanbul’s Surreal Spring

Wrinkles of the City

By Monica Fritz | January 20, 2021


2015 was the year the now-famous French artist JR came to put his mark on our city with his project ‘Wrinkles of the City’. At the time it was like a treasure hunt, scanning the backstreets of Balat and Tarlabaşı in search of his oversized black-and white portraits that stood...
Continue reading »

Sainted friends: the panels of the Crimean Church rood screen

Canon Ian Sherwood introduces Mungo McCosh’s saints

By Monica Fritz | January 13, 2021


Step down the aisle of Galata’s lovely mid-19th-century Crimean Memorial Church, a little-known masterpiece by George Street, architect of the Law Courts in London, and look closely at the rood screen dividing the nave from the chancel, the domain of the clergy, and you will come across some beautiful, unusual,...
Continue reading »

David Barchard (1947–2020)

We have lost a friend, a brilliant writer and a man with a passion for Turkey and its people. David Shankland pays tribute

By David Shankland and friends | December 27, 2020


David Barchard's funeral took place on Tuesday, January 12, at St Mary's, Nun Monkton, Yorkshire. Since none of David’s family, nor his friends (other than those living in Nun Monkton), could attend the funeral because of Covid restrictions, this deeply moving service was live streamed. This is the link for...
Continue reading »
Posted in Obituaries

A New Year glow

By Cornucopia | December 23, 2020


In lockdown, New Year never comes too late, and Valentine's Day is on the horizon. Serap Yurdaer, the famous Alaçatı ceramcist, has produced a beautiful limited-edition ceramic plate-bowl-and-spoon set for Cornucopia readers. The set hand-shaped and food-safe, fired in her charming farmhouse studio with a warming deep reddish slip. A...
Continue reading »

A Visit to the Feriköy Cemetery with Paolo Girardelli

Commentary by Paolo Girardelli

By Monica Fritz | December 21, 2020


I start with a quote from Andrew Finkel's 'Private View' column, in Cornucopia's issue No 42, on the parting of a friend: ‘The city I first met, too, has long since disappeared as the population has doubled and doubled and doubled again. But, of course, Istanbul is a city where...
Continue reading »

Reminiscing on an Istanbul winter

By Monica Fritz | December 13, 2020


Everything about this year has been strange, to say the least, including this December weather. In January we usually see a bit of snow in Istanbul, and only three years ago there was a wonderful blizzard, shutting down the city, which in those days was an appreciated oddity. This year...
Continue reading »
Posted in Travel, - Monica at large

Serendipitous Bodrum

By Cornucopia | December 2, 2020


Thanks to Lara Stoby for this link to this mini-portrait on Bodurm, directed by Cenk Baysan with music by Sarper Semiz. Old settlers puts on brave faces against a jangling world of Oriental muzak, gross development, dual-carriage highways and tourist tat. Or is that unfair? But one can understand why...
Continue reading »

A stroll through the pages of The Land of the Anka Bird – the new book from Cornucopia

By Monica Fritz, filmed by Luca Fritz | November 29, 2020


Cornucopia photographer-at-large, Monica Fritz turns the pages of the new book from Cornucopia Books, in which Caroline Eden pays tribute to the pioneering Turkish photographer Ergun Çağatay's hauntingly beautiful images of Central Asia and beyond. Click here to view on youtube.
Continue reading »

The Anka Bird has landed…

By Cornucopia | November 23, 2020


The new Cornucopia book launched this week The Land of the Anka Bird, a heart-warming selection of photographs of Central Asia and beyond by the much lamented Ergun Çağatay was immediately spotted last week by its author, Caroline Eden, in her favrouite Istanbul shop, Envai in Bebek (which also sells...
Continue reading »

Not too late to catch the last spoonful of the Jazz Fest

By John Shakespeare Dyson | October 29, 2020


The online streaming of the İKSV Jazz Festival concerts is due to finish on November 3. You have been warned! The tap is about to run dry, so now is the time to catch up on what you have been missing at online.iksv.org.https://online.iksv.org/caz Selecting a concert at random from the...
Continue reading »
Posted in Music & Performing Arts, - Jazz, - Musical Shares, Shopping

Birds of a feather: a magnificent Ushak ‘bird carpet’, and the first rumblings of deaccession

London Islamic Sales Week 2020

By Cornucopia Connoisseur | October 26, 2020


It's Islamic Sales Week again! And as always there are lovely artefacts waiting to be discovered and snapped up. It is astonishing to see an institution of the LA Mayer Museum for Islamic Art in Jerusalem's standing open its doors, even a chink, to deaccession treasures. Covid no doubt means...
Continue reading »
Posted in Islamic Art
Current Events
See all »
Blog Categories
<i>Marble Systems</i>
*Hotel Villa Mahal, Kalkan*
*Casa Lavanda*
*Sofa Art & Antiques*<br> An antiques emporium worthy of a museum
*Khaftan Art & Antique*<br> A treasure trove of art and antiques
*Soy*<br> Quintessential copper
*Cubis Art Istanbul*
*Peten Tours Travel Agency* <br> Expeditions to stunning destinations in small groups led by experts
*Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi*<br> The finest Turkish coffee
Ziyaret Tepe: Exploring the Anatolian frontier of the Assyrian Empire
*A La Turca*<br> An extraordinary museum of an antique shop
*Gülevi Safranbolu*
*Iznik Çini*<br> Iznik ceramics by master çiniçi, Mehmet Gürsoy
LARTA 2024<br>January 23-28, 2024
Cornucopia Books page
*Haremlique*
*Borusan Contemporary*<br> *Doug Aitken: Naked City*<br>
*Serap Yurdaer* <br> In the charming Aegean town of Alaçatı, Serap Yurdaer fires her own beautiful, modern ceramics
*Mehmet Ali Ağa Mansion – Datça*
*Nakkaş Oriental Rugs & Carpets* <br> Offering a large collection of fine oriental hand-made rugs and kilims
*Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at Sultanahmet*
*Fest Travel* <br> Faruk Pekin's travel agency offers hundreds of itineraries led by academic guides
Collector's Packs and gift ideas
*Patek Philippe*<br> Begin your own tradition
Cornucopia Digital Editions
The original Alaçatı hideaway
*Peter Sommer Travels* <br> Cruise in style upon the azure seas, explore some of the ancient wonders of the world
*Ottoman Silks*
*Ozer*<br> Exquisite antiques and textiles in the Grand Bazaar
Cornucopia Marketplace
*Museum Hotel, Cappadocia*
<i>Vakko Hotel & Residence</i>
*Vezirhan Carpet*
*Jennifer's Hamam*<br> Pestamels, towels, robes, silk products and kese