Türkan Şoray and Yalçın Gökçebağ’s Meeting in the Garden of Memories” Exhibition at the Zülfü Livaneli Cultural Center
Türkan Şoray, a living legend of Turkish cinema, and Yalçın Gökçebağ, a distinctive master of contemporary Turkish painting, come together in the same exhibition for the first time.
Curated by art writer İbrahim Karaoğlu and with art coordination by Zeki Hozer, the exhibition titled “Meeting in the Garden of Memories” invites the audience into a poetic universe where art, memory, womanhood, nature, and the human spirit intertwine.
Bringing together two powerful creative personalities from different disciplines around a shared axis of sensibility, the exhibition presents Türkan Şoray’s paintings, specially designed costumes, and installations alongside a selection of Yalçın Gökçebağ’s recent works.
In the painting practice she has pursued for years, Türkan Şoray gives visual form to states of womanhood, inner solitude, fragility, resilience, and emotional layers transformed into memory, employing an expressionistic painterly language. Images distilled from her cinematic memory are transformed in this exhibition not only onto canvas but also into objects, costumes, spatial arrangements, and powerful metaphors.
Yalçın Gökçebağ, meanwhile, reinterprets Anatolian rural life, nature, human warmth, and childhood memories through his unique poetic visual style. His paintings... It embodies an inner landscape where time flows slowly, carrying the memories of the earth, trees, birds, and quiet lives.
“Meeting in the Garden of Memories” is not merely a coming-together of two artists; it offers an encounter where painting and cinema, personal and collective memory, and dream and reality intersect.
Alongside the paintings, special installations—comprising film strips, mirrors, costumes, headdress designs, and conceptual spatial arrangements—invite the viewer not just to stand before the works, but to step directly into them.
It invites visitors on an unforgettable journey through the worlds of two great artists—worlds woven from emotion, imagery, and memory.
Opening on October 1st, the exhibition can be visited free of charge every day until October 15th at the Çankaya Municipality Zülfü Livaneli Cultural Center.
Address: Yıldızevler Mahallesi, Şehit Mustafa Doğan Caddesi, No: 35