In the finale to the Istanbul Recitals 2017–18 season, Karim Said spun a mesmerising web of music across time
By John Shakespeare Dyson | June 14, 2018
The piano recital by Karim Said at the Sakıp Sabancı Museum (‘The Seed’) in Emirgan, Istanbul, on Tuesday June 12 was preceded by a talk in which the performer described the rationale behind his choice of the works in what was, to be truthful, an extremely unusual programme. Born into...
How four words on the side of a bus triggered Yeşim Cimcoz’s cure for writer’s block
By Yeşim Cimcoz | June 10, 2018
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‘New York Writes Itself.’ Splattered across a city bus, the words roll past me (writes Yeşim Cimcoz, photographed above by Monica Fritz). Maybe that was what started it all. I grab my mobile phone, write in the web address and before me opens a bright yellow website. People all over...
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Literature
A fond farewell to the Istanbul Music Festival
By John Shakespeare Dyson | June 8, 2018
Your reviewer’s final foray into the 46th İKSV İstanbul Music Festival was a concert on the platform of Sirkeci Railway Station on Wednesday, June 6. Featuring the Turkish singer Meral Azizoğlu and the Hungarian ‘Gypsy Fire’ ensemble, the music was preceded by a talk given by the novelist and short...
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Music & Performing Arts, - Classical Music
Mischa Maisky and the Franz Liszt Chamber Orhcestra at the Aya İrini – the Istanbul Music Festival reviews (part 4)
By John Shakespeare Dyson | June 6, 2018
The fourth event your reviewer attended during the 46th İKSV İstanbul Music Festival was a concert by the Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra and cellist Mischa Maisky at the Aya İrini on Saturday, June 2. This was a feast of ultra-professional string sound – a real string beano, in fact. (Reader...
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Music & Performing Arts, - Classical Music
John Shakespeare Dyson was grolloped by his third Istanbul Festival offering: the Filarmonica della Scala and Daniil Trifonov…
By John Shakespeare Dyson | May 29, 2018
Well, now. Your reviewer is still reeling from the pianist’s performance at the concert on Sunday night (Filarmonica della Scala and Daniil Trifonov at the Lütfi Kırdar Concert Hall, May 27) – the third event he attended during the 46th İKSV İstanbul Music Festival. Will he recover in time to...
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Music & Performing Arts, - Classical Music
A visual exploration of the lesser known
By Suraya Yusof | May 29, 2018
A stone's throw away from the bustle of Istiklal Caddesi, the Pera Museum nestles among the ivory façades of Tepebaşı. With its dual focus on historical and contemporary art, the museum has embarked on a series of international collaborations since its inauguration 13 years ago. Memorable shows included
Andy Warhol:...
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Contemporary Art, Photography
Rachmaninov’s Symphonic Dances and Tchaikovsky’s cruel challenge: Cornucopia’s Istanbul Festival reviews continue at Aya İrini
By John Shakespeare Dyson | May 27, 2018
October 4, 8.30–16.00: Bosphorus tour, with Sedat Bornovalı (₺250) October 10, 8.30–16.00: Shores of the Golden Horn, with Mois Gabay (₺290) October 20 8.30–16.00: Nature and history tour: The Belgrade Forest reservoirs and the Atatürk Arboretum, with Mehmet Esendal October 18, 11.00–16.00, and October 31, 10.30–16.00 Three...
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Music & Performing Arts, - Classical Music
Yekwon Sunwoo and the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra: a heart-warming first night of the Istanbul Festival
By John Shakespeare Dyson | May 24, 2018
The 46th İstanbul Music Festival, organised by the İstanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV), kicked off with a concert at the Lütfi Kırdar Concert Hall last night (Wednesday, May 23). Once again I was prompted to reflect on how far we have come since I first attended a classical...
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Music & Performing Arts, - Classical Music, - Musical Shares
A new book on the extraordinary story of the great Italian architects of late-Ottoman Istanbul
By Monica Fritz | May 13, 2018
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I was first introduced to Turkey on a road trip with Paolo Girardelli back in 1993. Starting from Rome we drove to Istanbul and took the famous
Truva ferry to Trabzon in quest of abandoned Georgian churches. Together with other excited friends we climbed the hills and trekked through tea...
Posted in
Architecture, Books
Didem Pekün's haunting film elegy
By Julie Witford | May 7, 2018
Two art film directors from Turkey were represented at this year’s Alchemy Film and Moving Image Festival in the Scottish Borders: Didem Pekün, with
Araf (UK premiere), and Nazlı Dinçel, with
Shape of a Surface.
Araf follows the diary of a ghostly character, Nayia, who returns to Bosnia for the 22nd...
Posted in
Film
By John Scott | May 6, 2018
It is with tremendous sadness that we share the news with our readers that Brian McKee, the fine art photographer
completely extraordinary who has worked his magic in the pages for Cornucopia, died on April 19, after collapsing outside his apartment in Üsküdar. Our heartfelt sympathy goes to Ai Kijima,...
By Monica Fritz | May 6, 2018
Are kilims artisan throw rugs or woven art? No one is better placed to answer this than Belkis Balpınar. Former director of the Vakiflar Carpet and Kilim Museum in Istanbul, she has continued for decades to champion the Turkish flatweave and to raise it, literally, to another dimension. Belkıs Balpınar's...
Posted in
Contemporary Art, Textiles
Mika Tajima's digital emotional mesmerizes Monica Fritz
By Monica Fritz | April 23, 2018
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Well, who would guess that a visit to the office would be a fun way to spend Children's Day! At weekends, Borusan's offices, housed in the Yusuf Ziya Pasha's Pavillion, morphs into the Bosusan Contemporry Art Gallery, with not a paper clip in sight. The newest exhibitor is the New...
A new exhibition at Orleans House Gallery
By Cornucopia UK | April 19, 2018
This small painting by Frederic Leighton of Sir Richard Burton’s house in Damascus is one of the delights of a new display about the diplomat and traveller at Orleans House Gallery in west London. The aristocratic Palladian villa now holds the Richmond upon Thames Borough Art Collection, and Burton memorabilia...
Javier Perianes brings bravura, moodiness and passion to Chopin, Debussy and de Falla at SMM’s concert hall, the Seed
By John Shakespeare Dyson | April 11, 2018
The Spanish pianist Javier Perianes arrived in Istanbul on Tuesday April 10 hotfoot from a lunchtime recital at the Wigmore Hall in London the previous day and is to be heartily congratulated for demonstrating that the lyricism for which he has been justly praised cannot be compromised by being shaken...
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Music & Performing Arts, - Classical Music
London Book Fair 2018 round-up
By Cornucopia UK | April 11, 2018
This photograph of a ferry carrying visitors to Furness Abbey in Cumbria comes from
British–Ottoman Relations through the Yıldız Palace Photography Collection, launched at Olympia on the first day of the London Book Fair yesterday. The photographs were collected by Sultan Abdulhamid II (1876–1909) and are published by the Sultan...
A Gala Night celebrates the reopening of the famous Middle East Galleries.
By Cornucopia UK | April 11, 2018
The
Penn Museum in Philadelphia has a Gala Night, billed as An Evening on the Fertile Crescent, on Saturday, April 14 to celebrate the opening of its refurbished Middle East Galleries. “For one night only," runs the invitation, “experience the celebrated architecture, gardens, and fountains of the Penn Museum, dressed...
Shipping nightmare for an historic yalı
By John Scott | April 8, 2018
Of all the houses on the Bosphorus that had to be struck by the Vitaspirit, a 74,000-ton, 225 metre cargo ship yesterday afternoon, did it have to be the Hekimbaşı Yalı? And not only that but the most historic part of the house. Every creaking floorboard, every inch of its...
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News
By Monica Fritz | March 30, 2018
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Mike Berg arrived in Istanbul shortly after the 1999 earthquake. However, our conversation started with a passionate description of his ranch and the peacefulness he felt in total silence.
Mike Berg, gouache, 2018 A father of four and newly a grandfather, Berg delights in moving between his three worlds, a...
Posted in
Contemporary Art, Design
Hale Tanger’s ‘Under’ and other highlights on Alserkal Avenue
By Tim Cornwell | March 24, 2018
The first impression of
Under, the Dubai art installation created by the Turkish artist Hale Tenger, and her long-time collaborator musician Serdar Ateşer, is that someone has put a tree in a box. The box in question lies in Alserkal Avenue, a striking but treeless zone of leading Middle Eastern...
Posted in
Contemporary Art, Exhibitions
