The Istanbul Bosphorus Museum and the exhibition "We Dragged the Moonlight Across the Waters" await visitors...
The Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) has introduced the Istanbul Bosphorus Museum—a venue that brings together the city's cultural heritage and contemporary art production—to the people of Istanbul on the second floor of the Kabataş Transfer Center. Realized through the efforts of IMM Culture and IMM Heritage, the museum has opened its doors featuring not only exhibition spaces but also a one-year "live workshop" model designed for fine arts students.
The official opening ceremony, held on September 12, was attended by IMM Deputy Mayor Nuri Aslan, IMM Secretary General Volkan Demir, IMM Deputy Secretary General Mahir Polat, and numerous guests from the worlds of culture, art, and media. Viewing the Bosphorus not merely as a waterway separating two shores but as the epicenter of the social and urban memory shaped along its banks, the museum occupies a total area of 1,575 square meters on the second floor of the Kabataş Transfer Center.
Live workshops for young artists: A production space, not a storage depot
The Istanbul Bosphorus Museum was conceived with a "living museum" concept that transcends traditional exhibition approaches. Artist workshops will be conducted within the museum alongside the exhibition program.
Ten undergraduate and graduate students, selected from fine arts faculties by a specially formed committee, will actively create art in the museum's workshops for a period of one year. Works produced during the program will be presented to the public in a special exhibition at the end of the year. This model aims to transform the venue into a dynamic production space by bringing together historical archive and collection materials with contemporary art creations. "We Dragged the Moonlight Across the Waters: A Bosphorus Story"
Curated by Ali Kayaalp, the museum’s inaugural exhibition—"We Dragged the Moonlight Across the Waters: A Bosphorus Story"—focuses on daily life, architecture, and sociological transformation along the shores of the Bosphorus during the period spanning the 19th century to the first quarter of the Republic.
Rather than a chronological narrative, the exhibition presents a thematic structure organized around the concepts of "looking," "living," "passing through," and "imagining." It showcases original works selected from the Atatürk Library Collection as well as the private collections of Mustafa Taviloğlu, Murat Ketenci, Alpaslan Aktuğ, Köksal Kızılca, Cengiz Akıncı, and Onur Soysalan.
The exhibition features works by significant figures in the history of Turkish and international painting, such as Hoca Ali Rıza, İbrahim Çallı, Mıgırdiç Civanyan, İbrahim Safi, Fausto Zonaro, Hamit Görele, Ara Güler, Şefik Bursalı, Avni Arbaş, Sabri Berkel, and Naile Akıncı. In addition to visual artworks, the display includes historical maps, engravings, and period postcards from the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) inventory, as well as the historic *Boğaziçi Mecmuası* (Bosphorus Journal) published by Şirket-i Hayriye, original photographs, and archival imagery from various magazines.
Bringing together the real Bosphorus view visible through the glass and the historical memory preserved in the display cases within a single frame, the exhibition is open to visitors until April 11, 2027. The museum can be visited free of charge every day except Mondays, between 10:00 and 19:00.
Source: https://www.24saatgazetesi.com/istanbul-bogaz-muzesi-ve-mehtabi-surukledik-sularda-sergisi-ziyaretcilerini-bekliyor