Istanbul Modern reopens in new building designed by Renzo Piano

ISTANBUL (AA) - Türkiye’s first museum of modern and contemporary art Istanbul Modern reopened its doors to visitors in a new building designed by internationally acclaimed architect Renzo Piano Building Workshop.

The official opening ceremony, however, will take place at a later date, the museum said in a statement on Thursday.

The new building is located on the museum’s original location on Istanbul’s European side on the historic Karakoy waterfront, where the Bosphorus and Golden Horn meet. In 2018, the museum was temporarily moved to the Union Francaise building in the city’s Beyoglu district.

With the reopening, Istanbul Modern kicked off five new exhibitions, each accompanied by a publication and educational resources.

The first exhibition, Floating Islands, constitutes Istanbul Modern’s most comprehensive collection exhibition to date, showcasing more than 280 works by 110 artists and two artist duos, the statement said, adding that most of the works in the selection will be displayed for the first time.

Highlights from the collection exhibition include works by Türkiye’s foremost exponents of modern and contemporary art such as Fahrelnissa Zeid, Sarkis, Ayse Erkmen, Gulsun Karamustafa, Nil Yalter, and Inci Eviner, as well as by internationally renowned artists including Anselm Kiefer, Daniel Buren, Mark Bradford, Alicja Kwade, Haegue Yang, Laure Prouvost and others.

A newly commissioned installation by internationally acclaimed artist Refik Anadol will also be open for visitors. Titled Infinity Room: Bosphorus, a site-specific installation is informed by real-time environmental data from the Bosphorus, the museum said.

Another exhibition is Always Here and it is in line with the museum's commitment to support and advocate for contemporary women artists from Türkiye. The exhibition gathers 17 works by 11 women artists that have been added to the collection through the support of the Women Artists Fund established in 2016.

As part of In Another Place, the museum’s photography gallery, will present 22 never-before-seen portraits taken by Palme d’Or-winning filmmaker Nuri Bilge Ceylan in countries east of Türkiye.

Constructing Architecture is bringing together new works by architectural photographer Cemal Emden that unravel the museum building's construction phases and reflect on the layered and long-running dialogue between architecture and photography.

"The museum’s outdoor area plays host to major sculptures, including The Most Beautiful of All Mothers (I) by Adrian Villar Rojas, Richard Deacon’s House Version, Tony Cragg’s Runner, Anselm Reyle’s Atop an Underworld and Dust Falling, Yilmaz Zenger’s Ayca, As I See Her, and Selma Gurbuz’s Europeans," the press release said.

- Renzo Piano’s first project in Türkiye, inspired by Bosphorus

According to the museum, the new building is across 10,500 square meters and “provides a purpose-built space for a dynamic range of temporary exhibitions, interdisciplinary educational programs, film screenings, and an extensive, publicly accessible art collection.”

“Spanning the period from 1945 to the present, the collection features works by international artists who reflect Türkiye’s artistic creativity and have played an active role in the global transformation of art,” it added.

The design of the building, Renzo Piano’s first project in Türkiye, was inspired by the "glittering waters of the Bosphorus and its reflections of light,” the statement said. “Echoing the history of a site that has been used as a harbor for millennia, the outline of the building evokes ships of different sizes traveling back and forth between Europe and Asia as well as a creature of the sea that has leapt from the Bosphorus on the shore.”

While the building’s first floor is home to the photography gallery, pop-up gallery, event spaces, education rooms, and staff offices as well as Istanbul Modern’s restaurant, the second floor hosts the museum’s permanent collection gallery.

Boasting a 156-seat auditorium for the museum’s celebrated film programs and interdisciplinary events, the building has also a "one-of-a-kind viewing terrace," providing a 360-degree view of the Bosphorus and the city.