Upcoming exhibitions at Pera Museum “Souvenirs of the Future” “On the Spot: Panoramic Gaze on Istanbul, A History”

Pera Museum, founded by the Suna and İnan Kıraç Foundation, welcomes the 2023 Fall season with two new exhibitions. Organized in the memory of Suna Kıraç, who brought together the museum's Kütahya Tiles and Ceramics Collection, Souvenirs of the Future explores the links between memory and future imaginations and On the Spot: Panoramic Gaze on Istanbul, A History aims to explore the history of Istanbul's representation from new perspectives, through a selection of panoramic artworks and objects from daily life, and asses Istanbul’s place within the history of panoramic medium.

Approaching a historical collection with a future-oriented perspective

Souvenirs of the Future springs from the Suna and İnan Kıraç Foundation Kütahya Tiles and Ceramics Collection and focuses on the memories recalled through objects whilst exploring the connections between memory and future imaginings through a contemporary lens. The cultural and symbolic value and significance of objects taken as souvenirs, those that remind us of a certain place and time, or those that are collected, weave together personal journeys and the memory of the region. The exhibition approaches the collection with a future-oriented perspective, aiming to capture it through contemporary works derived from it. Instead of a nostalgic attachment to the past, it proposes contemplating how the future will be remembered and focuses on memory's future-oriented functions.

The exhibition comprises four sections: “Reminiscences of Motifs” brings together works inspired by motifs used in ceramic decorations. In the “Memory of Objects” section, stories are told through ceramic objects, focusing on contemporary reflections of material culture. “Memory of the Region” presents spatial interventions and site-specific installations, while the section titled “Remembering the Future” brings together speculative objects, videos, and photographs to create future memory artefacts.

Curated by Ulya Soley and brought together in memory of Suna Kıraç who brought together the Kütahya Tile and Ceramics Collection exhibited at the Pera Museum, the exhibition also includes a selection of ceramic pieces from the collection that inspired the commissioned works.

Souvenirs of the Future includes works by the artistsAdriana Varejão, Aslı Çavuşoğlu, Bilal Yılmaz, Burçak Bingöl, Candice Lin, Deniz Eroglu, Elif Uras, Francesco Simeti, Jorge Otero-Pailos, Livia Marin, Metehan Törer, Neven Allgeier, Oddviz, Skuja Braden, Taner Ceylan, Volkan Aslan, Yasemin Özcan and Zsófia Keresztes The exhibition is accompanied by a thorough catalogue with texts by Ulya Soley, Glenn Adamson, Maurizia Boscagli and Dinos Kogias. 

Where does Istanbul stand in the history of the panorama?

On the Spot: Panoramic Gaze on Istanbul, A Historyaims to shed new light on the history of Istanbul’s representations through panoramic paintings and photographs. It critically approaches the history of the “panorama” and contextualizes its many iterations. While examining the layered relationships in the production and consumption of panoramic images, the exhibition also explores the circulation of these images among different audiences, their receptions, and the connections between various media that have gained popularity over centuries.

An early 19th-century panorama of Istanbul, previously not published or exhibited, is being unveiled for the first time with the exhibition. As it brings together some of the most remarkable works by artists who captured a panoramic view of Istanbul, such as Barker, Gudenus, Schranz, Melling, Dunn and Robertson, it also reveals how the panoramic perspective has been used to document different phenomena in Istanbul's history, from fire disasters to industrialization. While concentrating on 19th-century panoramas and panoramic images, On the Spot invites the audience to a comprehensive reconsideration of the long history of the panoramic perspective dating back to the early modern period and Istanbul's place within this history.

The exhibition On the Spot: Panoramic Gaze on Istanbul, A History portrays the circulation of this form of representation in the Ottoman world and Europe through a diverse selection of materials, including ephemera and archival documents in addition to paintings, prints, and photographs, while exploring the fluidity within this diversity and the dialogues between different media.

Curated by Çiğdem Kafescioğlu, K. Mehmet Kentel and M. Baha Tanman, the exhibition is accompanied by a comprehensive catalogue with contributing authors Ahmet A. Ersoy, Namık Günay Erkal, Erkki Huhtamo, Tarkan Okçuoğlu and A. Hilal Uğurlu. The exhibition catalogue contains articles that aim to re-read urban history and histories of architecture, art, photography, and modern consumption, through the frame provided by panoramic images.

Pera Museum’s new exhibitions will be on display from October 26, 2023 to February 25, 2024.

Pera Museum is open Tuesday to Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 07:00 p.m. and on Sundays from 12.00 p.m. to 06.00 p.m. Admission is free for all visitors on Fridays from 06:00 p.m. to 10.00 p.m. as part of "Long Friday". Free admission for students on Wednesdays as part of "Young Wednesday".