The Istanbul Schizophrenia

The center has hosted exhibitions, meetings and seminars mostly on Istanbul since its opening. Earlier this week, art lovers in Brussels visited double exhibitions at the same place, one of which was "1950s to 2000: A Selection from the Santralistanbul Collection," and the other was "Istanbul Diptychs Contemporary Visual and Verbal Positions," by curator Beral Madra.

I will harp on the latter rather than the first, which brought together masters of Turkey, for the reason that the second exhibition allows one to make an in-depth social analysis of Istanbul. An exhibition quite open to interpretation and full of messages, it is. And of course Madra is the name shedding a light on analyses.

Turkish society relies on verbal customs, says Madra. However, the "visual" is getting awfully dominant in the globalizing world, so our society is facing a dilemma. We see the dualism through "Istanbul Diptychs."

Byzantine icons and diptychs
I know, "diptych" is not a common word. Madra says it comes from the "dipticon" of the Byzantine period. Back then, Byzantine women who were not allowed to go to churches practised their religion in front of two flat wooden plates attached to a hinge with the figures of Prophet Jesus and Virgin Mary on them. As for "Istanbul Diptychs," they are bringing the works of 12 photographers, who successfully caught numerous scenes from Istanbul and who feel the city, together with verbal material.

The verbal works are either poems or a book excerpt. But the diptych technique is sometimes used in the same photograph. For instance, one of the photos belongs to Sıtkı Kösemen who had an exhibition titled "Istanbul Center Brussels" previously.

I think Kösemen took the photograph of a boat sailing between the sides of the Bosphorous a zillion times a day using a technique called the "fish eye." The background of this photo reflects the silhouettes of two young girls. According to Madra, this boat trip from Asian part of Istanbul to European part is the manifestation of "Istanbul Schizophrenia."

"We are traveling from one culture to the other. We are back and forth between the east and the west. When you turn your back on one you are heading to the other. Then we repeat it for the other." Istanbul is a difficulty city to live in with its schizophrenic "tides," all day long.

The "Istanbul schizophrenia," which is what Madra names it, reminds me of another schizophrenic thing about this city. That is: Nowadays we see a TV commercial about Istanbul being the 2010 European Culture Capital. It ends with the expression "The stage is yours." The film, in my opinion, is another reflection of "Istanbul Schizophrenia."

For we only see a Western Istanbul in the film, with modern young girls and men. There aren't any women wearing headscarves or women in black chador, a subject which currently rules the agenda following a move from the Republican People’s Party, or CHP, leader Deniz Baykal.

As though Istanbul is taken out from where it is belongs and is placed into the middle of Europe. The one we are living in is different from the Istanbul in this TV commercial. And I think we should take Madra’s "Istanbul Schizophrenia" thesis very seriously.