DECEMBER 2023 – Literature, Culture & Art Program

BOOK

• Muazzez İlmiye Çığ, Çam Bayramı (Noel mi Nardugan mı?)
• Byung-Chul Han, Saving Beauty
• Stephen Hawking, A Brief History of Time
• Ernst Gombrich, the Story of Art

CHRISTMAS THEMED SONGS TO LISTEN

• Frank Sinatra, White Christmas
• Sia, Gimme Love
• Elvis Presley, Blue Christmas
• Mariah Carey, Joy to the World

CONCERT

• Dolu Kadehi Ters Tut will be at Volkswagen Arena on December 15th!

• Best of Genres – Hayko Cepkin, Ceza, Mercan Dede will give a concert at Zorlu PSM on December 22nd!

• New Year’s concert with Borusan Quartet Piazzolla at Kadıköy Municipality Süreyya Opera House will be on December 25th!

• Georgian National Ballet “SUKHISHVILI“, which has a huge costume collection with 2500 special costumes will be on stage at Türker İnanoğlu Maslak Show Center Istanbul on December 9th and 10th. The orchestra will fill the stage with a special performance technique passed down from generation to generation,

• The concert where Fazıl Say and Genco Erkal will take the stage together will be at Volkswagen Arena on December 23rd!

CINEMA

• The Turkish movie Hayat, directed by Zeki Demirkubuz and starring Miray Daner, Burak Dakak and Cem Davran, will be in theaters on December 15th!

• In the movie Wonka, Timothée Chalamet plays the young Willy Wonka, one of the main characters of the “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” (2005). Directed by Paul King, the film also stars important actors of British cinema such as Olivia Colman, Hugh Grant and Sally Hawkins. The movie will be in theaters also on December 15th!

• Maestro, a film inspired by a true story and telling about the life-long love story of the famous orchestra conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein and Felicia Montealegre Cohn Bernstein, can be watched on Netflix this month!

• The movie Past Lives, directed by Celine Song, is about two close childhood friends, Nora and Hae Sung, whose lives went in different directions, and their reunion after many years. It will be in theaters on December 8th!

• May December, a production directed by Todd Haynes and starring Natalie Portman, Cory Michael Smith and Julianne Moore, will be in theaters on December 29th!

SERIES

• Berlin, which is a spin-off project of La Casa de Papel, tells the story of the events of the series. Focusing on Berlin, the series follows what happens when he comes to Paris for a robbery.

DOCUMENTARY

• It’s highly recommended that you watch the three-dimensional documentary Anselm (Das Rauschen der Zeit) whose creator Wim Wenders premiered at the Cannes Film Festival this year. The film examines the world of the famous German artist Anselm Kiefer in depth and provides us with a summary of Kiefer’s career.

• The Elephant Whisperers, the project that won the Best Documentary Short Film award at the 95th Academy Awards, is an important production that you should watch on Netflix.

• The documentary Miss Americana, where you can take a look at the outstanding life of Taylor Swift is on Netflix!

THEATRE

• Agatha Christie’s novel Murder on the Orient Express is on the theater stage for the first time in Turkey! The play will be at Stage Dragos on December 7th and 8th, and at Akla Kara Kadıköy Stage on December 22nd, 23rd, and 24th!

• Leyla ile Mecnun Değil can be watched at Caddebostan Cultural Center Grand Hall on December 17th and at Kadıköy Eğitim Stage on December 21st!

• The theater play Yaşamaya Dair, adapted and directed by Genco Erkal for the 54th anniversary of Nazım Hikmet’s death, will be performed at Ataköy Yunus Emre KM Müşfik Kenter Stage on December 6th, Watergarden Performance Center on December 18th, Avcılar Barış Manço Culture on December 20th, Caddebostan Cultural Center Grand Hall on December 26th and Trump Stage on December 27th!

• The play Barbaros Şansal Terzi Yamağı Konuşuyor Burda Olmaz will be performed at Ataköy Yunus Emre KM Müşfik Kenter Stage on December 25th and at Trump Stage on December 26th!

EXHIBITION

• The exhibition Modernizmin İzinde Türk Resmi, which follows the process from the production of paintings reflecting the history of Westernization in the Ottoman Empire to the works of the Republican generation that claims to form an intellectual basis for art, can be visited at Sakıp Sabancı Museum until December 31st.

• Body Worlds: Animal Inside Out, the Anatomy of Real Animals, which clearly reveals the mysterious inner worlds of animals without feathers, fur or skin, can be seen at Metropol Istanbul Avm throughout December.

• The exhibition titled Meşgul Şehir: İşgal İstanbul’unda Siyaset ve Gündelik Hayat curated by Daniel-Joseph MacArthur-Seal and Gizem Tongo, can be visited at the Istanbul Research Institute until December 26th.

• The exhibition and performance series We Are Not Alone: Panicattack Duo Retrospective, 2054 by Panicattack Duo -consisting of the artists Naz Balkaya and Emily Demetriou- can be seen at Performistanbul until December 30th.

• Ekin Su Koç touches on both individual and social issues; the exhibit Venüs’ün Yeniden Doğuşu, which covers themes such as body perception, gender, being a woman, migration and nature, is waiting to meet art lovers at Istanbul Anna Laudel until December 31st.

PODCAST

• Psychologist Beren Aka’s new podcast channel titled Konuştukça is on Spotify with its first episode called “Aşk”.

• A podcast series consisting of journalist and writer Nilay Örnek’s conversations with people who work in different fields and have achieved success: Nasıl Olunur?

CHRISTMAS MARKETS

Welcoming guests with both world and traditional tastes, Christmas markets in Istanbul are opening their doors this year with many events from New Year-themed souvenir stalls to brand shopping stands, DIY workshops, carousels and ice skating, and surprise concerts.

• Six Senses Koçataş Mansions, Christmas Market Istanbul, between the dates December 8th and 25th.

• Küçükçiftlik Park, Wonder Village, between the dates December 1st and 30th. (every day except Mondays)

Did you know?

The world-famous sumerologist Muazzez İlmiye Çığ says that the tradition of decorating pine trees at Christmas and New Year’s Eve in many countries is a tradition unique to the Turks. According to Çığ, the origin of this tradition is the Nardugan Festival celebrated by Asian Turkish societies. Referring to the similarities between Nardugan Festival and Christmas holiday, Çığ states that the origin of the tradition of decorating a pine tree on New Year’s Eve, is the Turks’ Tree of Life. The place where Santa Claus distributes gifts to children at Christmas was first seen, is also located in Turkish mythology. You can find more information on this subject in Muazzez İlmiye Çığ’s book Çam Bayramı (Noel mi Nardugan mı?).

Prepared by: Nazperi YILMAZ