The Affair Between Film and Audience in Turkey
September 25, 2014 – January 8, 2015
Within the scope of its 10th year, Istanbul Modern presents an exhibition in honor of the 100th anniversary of Turkish film: “One Hundred Years of Love”. A first in Turkey, this research exhibition covers this century-old adventure of film in Turkey starting from 1914, considered to mark the birth of the history of cinema in Turkey. The exhibition features moments of encounter between film and audience and the amazing collective and individual worlds created by this encounter. Compiling visual and written representations of film such as posters, photographs, box office reports, gala invitations, newspaper clippings and advertisements, lobby cards, and autographed photos of stars, the exhibition aims to render visible the memory of a history whose sources have been poorly preserved and has been kept alive only by personal efforts.
“One Hundred Years of Love” begins by treating of the audience’s most concrete relationship with cinema, in other words, cinema spaces. Emphasizing that movie theaters are “temples of audience”, the exhibition offers a presentation ranging from the first movie houses in Turkey to today’s festival halls. Elements connecting the audience with films and the cinema also constitute a major part of the exhibition: Newspaper advertisements, programs and flyers, brochures, magazines, and posters about films distributed by movie theaters. Another important section in the exhibition features scenes from close to 50 Turkish films showing spectators and auditoriums.
For the exhibition, a comprehensive catalogue has been published featuring articles focusing on the relationship between film and audience, along with various archival visual material. Besides this catalogue, the present website was also prepared to accompany the exhibition. The website includes archival visual material, which are a record of the relationship between the audience and cinema in Turkey throughout its history. The website also features a panel on which visitors assemble their own selection of items they chose from the exhibition, which they can then share on social media. The aim of this project is to bring the exhibition to a wider audience and keep the archive available for visitors once the exhibition is over.
Click to curate your own “One Hundred Years of Love” exhibition!
EXHIBITION CURATORS
GÖKHAN AKÇURA, MÜGE TURAN
PROJECT MANAGER
ANLAM ARSLANOĞLU
RESEARCH ASSISTANTS
BELKIS ELGİN AKYILDIZ, YİĞİT İYİSEVER
ADVISOR
AGÂH ÖZGÜÇ
EXHIBITION DESIGN
PATTU - IŞIL ÜNAL, CEM KOZAR
EDITOR
N. CAN KANTARCI
TRANSLATION
BRENDAN FREELY, LINDA STARK
PHOTOS
ŞAHAN NUHOĞLU
THIS WEBSITE IS DEVELOPED IN CONJUCTION WITH “ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF LOVE: THE AFFAIR BETWEEN FILM AND AUDIENCE IN TURKEY”, THE EXHIBITION OF ISTANBUL MODERN.
