Metro Istanbul, one of the subsidiaries of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM), brought an unusual exhibition space to Istanbul. The Approach Tunnel of the Yenikapı-Hacıosman Metro Line in Taksim opened its doors to Istanbulites with the exhibition “Finding Healing in Istanbul”, which can be visited between June 26 and July 19.
Turkey's largest urban rail system operator, Metro Istanbul, brought an unusual exhibition and event venue to Istanbul. The venue opened its doors with the exhibition “Finding Healing in Istanbul”. The exhibition titled Finding Healing in Istanbul, organized in collaboration with Karşı Sanat, in the Approach Tunnel on the Yenikapı-Hacıosman Metro Line, was held on 26 June. The exhibition can be visited until 19 July. The venue, which started to receive many exhibition requests and applications for use as a film set, even before it was opened, is among the favorite exhibition and event areas of Istanbul with its fantastic architecture, the tranquility it offers as a corridor of Istanbul under the ground, in contrast to its location at the very heart of the city's crowd and chaos. was nominated to enter.
Ozgur Soy, General Manager of Metro Istanbul, reminded that in Istanbul, one of the few metropolises of the world, it is difficult to spare time for cultural and artistic activities in the routine rush and tempo of the day.
“We will bring the people of Istanbul together with art”
Underlining that Istanbulites spend a significant amount of time in the subways every day, General Manager Soy said, “A very important part of Istanbul's resources are allocated to rail system investments, and we are getting closer and closer to our goal of being the backbone of public transportation with our increasing usage rate. Metros are not only transportation channels consisting of trains, but also a part of people's daily life. We have an indoor area of over 1 million square meters. Our goal is to position these areas as crossroads that have caught the pace of metropolitan life and that allow the culture and arts and different experiences to run with the people of Istanbul while running to catch the day, and to make them areas where Istanbulites can spend pleasant and productive time on their way to home, work or their loved ones.
We want Istanbul residents who use our subways to see works in different branches of art in our subway areas and to witness pleasant events. We want our passengers to be embraced by the rising notes of our subway musicians as they move down the stairs towards the platform, the works of art they encounter on our walls and in our underground squares give them energy and happiness, and pleasant exhibitions accompany them in the tunnels they walk. Living in a big metropolis is not just about speed, noise, hustle and bustle. Living in a big city is also the fact that many different experiences such as culture, art and music are actually a part of life, and that you can come up with it at any moment. Building metro areas that give our passengers the gifts of living in this metropolis is one of our business goals.
In addition to our process, which started with our exhibition where we took the first steps of this approach, with the photographs of our female employees, and our wall painting application at our Mecidiyeköy station, we are taking another important step with the Approach Tunnel. We think that this approach will be valuable for artists in Turkey as well, because they too have difficulties in finding spaces to express themselves. Our artists will meet the people of the city without intermediaries, art will find a place for itself not only in museums at exhibitions, but also in life by subway. Istanbul's artists now have a place where they can express themselves, we are ready to listen to all kinds of good suggestions, our metro areas will be colored with our artists, and they will color our lives," he said.
A new event venue for Istanbul
Informing that Istanbul has gained a new exhibition and event venue with the exhibition held at the Taksim Approach Tunnel as well as the stations, Özgür Soy said, “The fact that the tunnel is located in a central area like Taksim is an important advantage in terms of hosting cultural and artistic events. We are extremely happy to have brought this special place, which opens out and inside at the same time, to the depths of the city, to Istanbul through art, as an escape and approach space in the center of Istanbul. By opening this impressive venue to visitors, we dream that the tunnel will host art events, albeit intermittently, in order to approach the heart of the city with art by positioning Istanbul in the cultural and artistic life. Approach Tunnel; With its atmosphere, architectural features and memory, it provides a unique context for the exhibition Finding Healing in Istanbul. On the other hand, with its location and opportunities, it deserves to be included in the map of culture and arts areas in Turkey and even in the world. On the other hand, this tunnel symbolizes life itself in Istanbul; The tunnel has an operational function for our line, and this tunnel is actively used for emergency response maintenance and repair processes. In other words, while wearing overalls and doing maintenance during the day, in the evening you can come together with artists and their unique works. sohbetIt will be hosting,” he said.
To visit in groups of 25 people due to the pandemic
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, after the HES Code control and fever measurement, the exhibition, which can be visited in groups of 25 people, between 12.00 and 19.00, except on Sundays, will be held on Wednesdays between 15.00-19.00, accompanied by a curator. The exhibition will also be open on Sundays from 1 July.
Curated by Melis Bektaş, the exhibition featured Arek Qadrra, Berka Beste Kopuz, Monster, Deniz Çimlikaya, Ece Eldek, Eda Aslan, Eda Emirdağ & İrem Nalça, Emin Köseoğlu, İpek Yücesoy, İsmet Köroğlu, Marina Papazyan, Metehan Özcan, SABO, Seydi Murat There are works by important artists such as Koç, Umut Erbaş and Yekateryna Grygorenko.
Also; Researchers Cemre Gürbüz, Gabriel Doyle and Naomi Cohen, who study the history and relations of Surp Pırgiç, Balıklı Rum, Surp Agop, Balat Or-Ahayim and Bulgar Hospital, which were established in the Ottoman Empire at the height of the 19th century cholera epidemic; exhibits some of their work with stories and an installation that they map to the archive.
Outside the Approach Tunnel, works produced by artist İpek Yücesoy with the sponsorship of Borçelik are on permanent display.
Taksim Approach Tunnel
Approach tunnels are tunnels that are opened for logistics purposes during the construction of metro lines and are connected to the main line or secondary roads. Although some of these tunnels are closed after the construction is completed, some approach tunnels; It is kept open to be used in critical situations for city life, such as passenger evacuation in emergencies, even transportation of firefighters and medical teams, as well as providing transportation of maintenance vehicles or construction machines and material transfers. The Approach Tunnel, which was opened during the construction of the Taksim station, of which the foundation was laid in 2, of the M1992 Yenikapı-Hacıosman Metro Line, as it is today, is one of the tunnels that is still open.
This tunnel, which is 200 meters long, 4 meters wide and 4.5 meters high, has an important feature in that it opens to life on its rails at one end and Taksim Harbiye, one of the most active points of Istanbul, at the other end. The Taksim Approach Tunnel, which believes in the metro line from the heart of the metropolis to its veins, and from Harbiye to the metro line, will give Istanbulites different excitements. Tünel hosted the exhibition organized in collaboration with Karşı Sanat in 2005, but was left alone afterwards. The tunnel, which still bears the traces of the exhibition held in 2005, is preparing to open its heart to artists by hosting a new exhibition in 2021.
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