Director: Ayaz Salayev
Cast: Mariya Lipkina, Rasim Balayev, Tolib Khamidov
Azerbaijan; 78’, 1995, color
Azerbaijani with Turkish subtitles
Dedicated to the centenary of cinema, Ayaz Salayev’s striking, offbeat and intriguing film takes a classical triangular love story and fills it with references to the literature, music and cinema of the West. Set in the late 1920s in a dusty city (presumably Baku), an elliptical narrative is used to tell the romantic story of a young actress, her older, erudite husband and her raffish lover. The husband is steeped in the arts, and lectures on ‘The World of Fantasy.’ Much of the action unfolds in and around a cinema where, in the early scenes, silent classics (ie. The Golem and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari) are screened to piano accompaniment while the woman, Turan, and her husband watch in rapt attention. Yarasa is unquestionably an unusual, at times startling film, shot with a rigorous eye to detail. For example, director Salajev uses repeated images of the same streets, at different times of the day and year, but always shot from precisely the same position to aid the narrative progression.
Over the years of 1864 through 1876, Stanisław Chlebowski served Sultan Abdülaziz in Istanbul as his court painter. As it was, Abdülaziz disposed of considerable artistic talents of his own, and he actively involved himself in Chlebowski’s creative process, suggesting ideas for compositions –such as ballistic pieces praising the victories of Turkish arms.
I think it was Frank Zappa – though others claim it was Laurie Anderson – who said in an interview that ‘writing on music is much like dancing on architecture’.
Today we are thrilled to present the first playlist of Amrita Hepi’s Soothsayer Serenades series as part of the Notes for Tomorrow exhibition. The playlist titled Two-handed is presented by Kübra Uzun on Pera Museum’s Spotify account.
Tuesday - Saturday 10:00 - 19:00
Friday 10:00 - 22:00
Sunday 12:00 - 18:00
The museum is closed on Mondays.
On Wednesdays, the students can
visit the museum free of admission.
Full ticket: 300 TL
Discounted: 150 TL
Groups: 200 TL (minimum 10 people)
