´Anybody There?´: New Exhibition at the Museum of Turkish Jews

Safigül Kurtyiğit is an artist whose one of primary goals is to emphasize the image of the city that is gradually being eradicated or destroyed, to trace the urban memory focusing on the places we live in and to protect the urban memory through the practices implemented. In this exhibition, she is trying to trace urban memory against memory loss by making visible the transformations and changes in the city, in order to remind the image of the city that has been erased from memories while changing rapidly.

Determining Ankara's Ulus district and surroundings as well as the Jewish Quarter as one of her preferred locations for visit, the artist tries to establish contact points with the neighborhood which welcomes her differently at every visit throughout her project duration, thus trying to form a bond and reflect these experiences in her art. In this framework, the exhibition 'Anybody There? (Orada Kimse Yok mu?)' has been prepared in five different layers. The first work was the collages, the second was drawings, the third was the manifest created by placing photos on the canvas, the fourth was the traces taken from the locations with ceramic clay and the last was the video-art work where the locations are recorded.

Due to the delayed intervention in the neighborhood, which had been included in the urban conservation area in 1980, more than fifty locations were either burned down or demolished thus not surviving until today. Most of those that survived were left to rot being left to their fate. To attract attention to this situation, the artist wanted to improve some places with paint.

'Anybody There? (Orada Kimse Yok mu?)' based on the concepts of urban memory and tracing the city, especially for the Jewish Quarter, is also archival in the aspect of its documentary quality. The aim of the study was to intensify the Jewish Quarter's place in the social memory, as it has a special place in the city's identity and contains historical and cultural elements in terms of urban memory.

Related News

14 November

"Humor on the Margins: Cartoons in the Turkish Jewish Newspaper Şalom" by Rakel P. Meşulam

Rakel P. Meşulam signed her first book "Humor on the Margins: Cartoons in the Turkish Jewish Newspaper Şalom (1947-2016)" at Schneidertempel Arts Center.

7 November

The "Ottoman and Turkish Ketubbot" Exhibition

The Quincentennial Foundation Museum of Turkish Jews is opening an exhibition of Ketubbot (Jewish wedding contracts), some from forgotten corners of our homes, some as already discovered works of art, some from the walls of the collectors, some from the Chief Rabbinate Collection, on November 7th, at Schneidertempel Arts Center, after they have been cleaned and maintained.

24 October

Izzet Keribar´s "Journey of Colors" Exhibition at Istanbul Modern

Istanbul Modern, Turkey´s first modern and contemporary art museum, is preparing to host photography artist Izzet Keribar´s solo exhibition "Journey of Colors".

5 September

Virna Gülzari´s ´Dream Rooms´ Exhibition Opened in Ayvalık

8 August

Kasadolu Draws Attention to the Increasing Hostility Towards Turkish Jews

The businessperson Doğan Kasadolu wrote a letter to AKP´s Ankara Member of Parliament Tuğrul Türkeş, drawing attention to the increasing anti-Semitism.

30 May

Annette Bat Mitzvah Club and Yoel Bar Mitzvah Club Year-End Ceremonies

The 2023-2024 "Collective Bat Mitzvah Ceremony" of the Annette Bat Mitzvah Club girls, founded in 2002 within the Chief Rabbinate of Turkey Education Commission (HEGKOM), was celebrated in the Neve Shalom Synagogue on Sunday, May 26th.

13 May

Renan Koen´s Brand-New Projects for Hatay

28 March

Democrat Party (DP) Visited Şalom

18 March

Moris Karmona Declared War On Bullying With His Book "Morhis"

Moris Karmona´s book "Morhis" in which he wrote his life story, has been published.

1 March

82nd Anniversary of the Struma Disaster

The Struma Immigration Ship had sailed from Constanza, Romania to take the Jews desperate to run from the Nazis to today´s Israel, and was sunk by a torpedo from a Russian submarine after anchoring off the coast of Istanbul for weeks.