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´Hidden Istanbul´ Exhibition and Book Launch at Schneidertempel
TUNA SAYLAĞ
September 6, 2022
Françoise Caraco
Translation by Janet MITRANI
'Hidden Istanbul' is the project of the artist, photographer, and academician Françoise Caraco, who set out to look for the traces of her great grandfather who had migrated from Istanbul to Switzerland in the 19th century... The artist has visited Istanbul many times to find traces of her forefathers and met people who knew the Caraco (or Karako as written in Turkish) family or people who remembered their names. This gave her a different point of view on the culture of the Sephardic Jews.
Following her research, the book 'Hidden Istanbul' was published in English, by Art Paper Editions.
In Hidden Istanbul, the writer is weaving together photographs of her travels and research, with some narratives and family memories from the Istanbul Jewish Community. The research process and the archival materials she has used in her work to reveal this autobiographical history, with the contribution of her camera, present an artistic approach as well as a personal one. As a result, this project becomes an elegant and nuanced portrait of Istanbul's lost past and extant present, from the rather unknown perspective of some of the city's inhabitants.
The 400-page book Hidden Istanbul forms the basis of the exhibition at the Schneidertempel Arts Center. As photographs, images of archival materials, and statements of the interviewees have been hung on the gallery walls printed on original newsprint paper, they are being displayed side by side like a documentary that traces Istanbul's Jewish life.
The exhibition opening and the book launch will take place at Schneidertempel Arts Gallery on September 6th at 18:00 hrs., with Françoise Caraco, Mirjam Fischer, and Izel Rozental also present. The exhibition will be open until October 2nd.
Below you may also find the link to Mirey Nasi's interview in Şalom conducted in October 2020 with Françoise Caraco about her 'Hidden Istanbul' project:
https://www.salom.com.tr/salomTurkey/haber/112363/following-my-great-grandfathers-footsteps
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