May 2023 – Literature, Culture, Art Program

BOOKS

• Hüseyin Rahmi Gürpınar, Kuyrukluyıldız Altında Bir İzdivaç: One of the most read works of Turkish literature, “Kuyrukluyıldız Altında Bir İzdivaç” is a significant literary work that sheds light on the problems of the period through science. It has a humorous content and proceeds through letters that convey messages from life.

• Bilge Karasu, Gece: In this book, we can find reflections from many social, historical and cultural situations. It confronts us as a work directly related to life itself that goes beyond traditional norms. “Gece” deals with life where there are both hopes and fears.

• Didier van Cauwelaert, Le Journal Intime d’Un Arbre: In the book, Tristan, a pear tree, questions the meaning of his life through the emotions he has experienced during his time with people and through the shadows of the past he has faced. It is among the works that should be read as a book that pushes people to question the meaning of life from different perspectives and enables them to look at nature from different perspectives.

• Amin Maalouf, Love from Afar: Set in the 12th century, the novel is about the realization of the eternal love dreamed of by a noble poet, who is full of pleasure and entertainment. This work of Maalouf, which has a very high meaning density and contains deep messages, is one of the author’s signature works.

• Dino Buzzati, the Dessert of the Tartars: As one of the most important authors of Italian literature, Buzzati has a modernist literary approach in “The Dessert of the Tartars”. Having dealt with existential questions, the book is among the works that should be read with its importantly rich narration in the World literature.

MUSIC DISCOVERY OF THE MONTH

• Birileri, Yansıma x Yanılsama
• Teoman, Nevrozumun Zindanları
• Post Malone, Chemical
• Owlle & Vendredi sur Mer, Toujours des Mensonges

CONCERTS

• Nil Karaibrahimgil will be at Bostancı Show Center on May 6th!

• The bands Athena, Lil Zey, Khontkar, Second will be on stage at Küçükçiftlik Park on May 12th!

• Cello Paradiso, a band formed by 4 cellist friends, will take the stage at Sahne Dragos on May 17th!

• Teoman is meeting his fans again at Harbiye Open Air Theater on May 31st!

FESTIVALS

• As part of VibeFest, Turkey’s popular music bands such as Seksendört, İkiye On Kala, Manga and İkilem will take the stage at Life Park Istanbul on May 6-7th!

• Holifest Istanbul, brings together resounding musicians such as Uzi, Madrigal, Mavi, and Evdeki Saat. The festival will be at Life Park on May 20th!

• Bringing together the flavors of the street with music, the 7th Street Flavors Festival will be at Beşiktaş Etiler Artist Park on May 27-28th!

CINEMA

Luchino Visconti retrospective:

In the retrospective to be held at the Cinematek Cinema House between April 25th and June 25th with the cooperation of the Italian Cultural Center, we encounter master Italian director Visconti’s best feature lengths:  “Il Gattopardo”, which won the Golden Palm Award at the 1963 Cannes Film Festival, “Ossessione” (1943), which is accepted the first example of the Italian Neorealism movement, and “La Terra Trema”, which won an award at the 9th Venice International Film Festival in 1948.

MOVIES OF THE MONTH:

• Mon Crime: The French-made comedy and drama film directed by François Ozon will be in theaters on May 5th!

• L’Innocent: The romantic comedy, directed by Louis Garrel and starring also in the film, will be in theaters on May 12th!

• What’s Love Got to Do with It?: The British movie is directed by Shekhar Kapur. The release date of the movie is May 19th!

THEATRE

• Kibarlık Budalası will be at Cevahir Stage Hall B on May 7th, and Ataköy Belediyesi Yunus Emre Kültür Merkezi-Müşfik Kenter Stage on May 20th!

• Yasemin Sakallıoğlu’s performance called Doğru Koca Nasıl Seçilir? will be at Maximum UNIQ Hall on May 8th and at Bostancı Show Center on May 17th!

• Evrim Alasya and Emre Kınay’s İki Bekar will be at KKM Gönül Ülkü and Gazanfer Özcan Stage on May 17th!

• Roma’da Bir Cinayet, written by Elçin Gürler and directed by Kubilay Penbeklioğlu, will be at Akatlar Cultural Center on May 22nd!

• Che’nin Vedası, directed by Arzu Bingöl and played by Vedat Bingöl, will be at Caddebostan Cultural Center on May 25th!

EXHIBITIONS

• Ozkan Isik’s exhibition titled Beni Bir Yerden Tanıyor Gibisin meets the visitors at Bilsart between May 3rd and 13th !

• Reyhan Mente’s exhibition Enigma-Muamma is at Beyoğlu IFSAK between April 29th and May 18th!

• Aylin Zaptçıoğlu’s new solo exhibition which explores the needs of being loved and accepted Seni Seviyorum/Beni Sev can be visited at Art x-ist until May 13th!

• Sevinç Çiftci’s solo exhibition Aynı Elma Yeni Dünya is at Galeri Diani between May 6th and May 27th!

• The solo exhibition of Gölge Artizm, Lâl Gece can be seen at Decollage Art Space until June 9th!

PODCAST

• You can listen to many novels, stories and poems in Turkish by local and foreign authors, from Gogol to Sabahattin Ali, from Oscar Wilde to Franz Kafka, on the podcast channel titled Sesli Kitap Dünyası.

• On Weekly Motivation by Ben Lionel Scott channel, you can listen to motivating stories in English from Scott’s voice, based on the life journeys of enlightened people who have achieved great success.

Prepared by: Nazperi YILMAZ