The enchanting Casa Botter on Istiklal Street has opened its doors to an extraordinary exhibition hosted by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality: ‘Silent Letters Speak: With Love, Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu’. The envelopes, each meticulously crafted like a small canvas, containing letters written by the multifaceted genius of Turkish art, Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu, to his family and friends, can be seen until March 29th. A surprise of the exhibition is seeing the original handwritten manuscript of ‘My Brave Lion,’ written by the artist for Nazım Hikmet.
Casa Botter: Built by Sultan Abdul Hamid II for the official tailor and fashion designer of the palace, the Dutch national Jean Botter, and his family, and designed by the famous Italian architect Raimondo D’Aronco. According to art historian Fırat Şenol, D'Aronco, who came to Istanbul for the Ottoman National Exhibition, also worked to restore many buildings damaged in the great earthquake of 1894. D'Aronco meticulously designed each facade of the Botter building and constructed it using a cast-iron structure. The building is also the second building in the Pera district, after the Pera Palace, to have an elevator. (Fırat Şenol, If Beyoğlu Hadn't Existed) It is the first example in Istanbul of a building designed to be used as both a workplace and a residence, a concept mostly seen in Europe, and holds an important place in the cultural identity of Istanbul and Beyoğlu. The Botter Apartment has even been the subject of novels. (Ayşe Övür, The Botter Apartment) The building, which remained derelict for many years and is also known as Istanbul's first Art Nouveau structure, reopened its doors in 2023 following restoration work carried out by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Heritage Department in 2021. Since then, Casa Botter, which has hosted numerous exhibitions, panels, and cultural events, opened its doors to another special exhibition on the evening of January 27th: ‘Silent Letters Speak: With Love, Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu’.
The opening ceremony was attended by Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Secretary General Volkan Demir, Deputy Secretary General Oktay Özel, Head of the Culture, Arts and Social Affairs Department T. Volkan Aslan, Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu's grandson Rahmi Eyüboğlu, and many artists and art lovers.
The Exhibition of Envelopes Crafted with Art: Although it has little place in today's world, a letter is a way for a person to entrust their inner voice to paper. It is also a way of quietly saying what cannot be said, of overcoming distances with words. Throughout history, letters have carried not only news but also emotions.
They have carried longing, yearning, regret, and hope for mothers, fathers, and lovers. It is the most sincere way of saying, "I am here and I am thinking of you." Some artists treat even the envelopes that protect their letters during their journey as works of art; like Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu. The exhibition "Silent Letters Speak: With Love, Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu," a collaboration between the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Culture and Heritage Directorate and rarely seen in Turkey, highlights the envelopes more than the letters themselves.
This comprehensive exhibition, tracing the life of Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu, a multifaceted figure in Turkish art, consists of envelopes left behind from his correspondence with his family and close friends. Eyüboğlu, a painter, poet, and writer whose influence has lasted for generations, is a master of his craft. Given that the subject is Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu, a figure like Tevfik Fikret, whose "hands were painters and hearts were poets," it's easy to understand that the envelopes in the exhibition are no ordinary envelopes. Eyüboğlu, who skillfully worked with grains of sand and even massive pieces of concrete, continues to live on in many buildings across Istanbul through his artwork. The panels at the Divan Hotel, the Vakko Fashion Center, or on Gazi Street, the Confectioners' Relief, and many other works are examples of this. Now on display, these envelopes, transformed into small canvases by Bedri Rahmi, showcase abstract and near-abstract compositions, recurring forms, self-portrait silhouettes, fish images, and surfaces created with sand and various materials he used during his years in America.
Each of these envelopes, dated between 1957 and 1974 and bearing addresses in various countries including Turkey, the United States, Canada, and France, was meticulously crafted by Bedri Rahmi, revealing his joys, sorrows, and longings. The exhibition includes correspondence between Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu and his wife Eren Eyüboğlu, his brother Sabahattin Eyüboğlu, and his son Mehmet Hamdi Eyüboğlu, as well as envelopes from his letter exchanges with prominent figures such as Fikret Mualla, Mustafa Pilevneli, Turan Erol, Mehmet Ali Cimcoz, Tosun Bayraktaroğlu, and Ertuğrul Özakdemir.
Years ago, when I saw a few of Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu's envelopes, crafted with this art, in the archive of my late professor, Prof. Dr. Hıfzı Topuz, a close friend of Eyüboğlu, I couldn't hide my admiration. Seeing dozens of these envelopes together in this exhibition is a great pleasure. On this occasion, I would also like to bring to your attention a few letter envelopes that are not in the exhibition but were sent by Bedri Rahmi to Hıfzı Topuz some time ago.
The exhibition, ‘Silent Letters Speak: With Love, Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu,’ can be visited free of charge at Casa Botter between January 28 and March 29, 2026, every day except Mondays, from 10:00 AM to 9:00 PM.
kaynak;https://www.karar.com/kultur-sanat-haberleri/casa-botterde-siradisi-bir-bedri-rahmi-eyoglu-sergisi-ici-hasret-2025916