BBC's Istanbul Modern documentary

Istanbul Modern is the first museum to be featured in BBC's "Inside Museums" series.

The first episode of BBC News' documentary series "Inside Museums," which looks at the world's most inspiring museums, is dedicated to Istanbul Modern. Produced by art critic Alastair Sooke, the 24-minute documentary explores Istanbul Modern's new building in the company of architect Renzo Piano and takes viewers on a journey of Turkish art through interviews with artists featured in the collection exhibition.

The documentary begins with Renzo Piano, architect of Istanbul Modern's new museum building, who talks about his design and the inspiration he drew from the sparkling waters of the Bosphorus and reflections of light. Sooke then converses with artists Gülsün Karamustafa, Refik Anadol and İnci Eviner about their works in the museum before turning to one of the principal works in Istanbul Modern’s collection, Fahrelnissa Zeid's "My Hell."

Through the perspectives of Turkey’s leading artists, Alastair Sooke tries to discover what makes the art emerging from Istanbul – which he describes as a unique meeting point of cultures – so special.

The program will be broadcast on BBC News at 04.30, 11.30 and 19.30 on Saturday, July 8 and 17.30 and 23.40 (all times TRT) on Sunday, July 9.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001nrkf

Istanbul Modern in the world press

The opening of Istanbul Modern's new museum building has been covered extensively by the world press. David Belcher of The New York Times talked about Renzo Piano’s design for Istanbul Modern's new building and said the opening exhibitions honored modern art. An article by Francesco Merlo in La Repubblica described the new building as a dance of light and water and featured an interview with Piano about the design process. Renzo likened the building to a "flying ship” and called Oya Eczacıbaşı, the Chair of the Istanbul Modern’s Board of Directors, "the queen not only of Istanbul Modern but of all Istanbul as well." Stefan Trinks of Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung described Istanbul Modern as "Turkey's Centre Pompidou," and said the simple, yet elegant, new building features a collection exhibition that offers an almost complete overview of art movements in Turkey since 1945.