Mahalle

Artists: Silva Bingaz, Korhan Karaoysal, Serkan Taycan, Sevim Sancaktar, Yusuf Sevinçli, Kerem Uzel (2009)

M. Cevahir Akbaş, Dilara Arısoy, Osman Bozkurt, Hasan Deniz, Sinem Dişli, Canan Erbil, Beril Gür, Ekin Özbiçer, Alp Sime, Selim Süme, Erdem Varol, Cemre Yeşil Gönenli, Cansu Yıldıran (2018)

Curators: Refik Akyüz, Serdar Darendeliler

Exhibition Dates: 10 June-10 July 2009, Tuzla İdris Güllüce Kültür Merkezi, Istanbul

15 July-15 August 2009, Kartal Bülent Ecevit Kültür Merkezi, Istanbul

3 October-3 November 2009, Eyüp Belediyesi Ek Hizmet Binası, Istanbul

18 October-7 November 2018, Depo, Istanbul

 

'Mahalle' was a project realised in 2009 as part of the Portable Art programme of the Istanbul 2010 European Capital of Culture Agency. Starting from the simple question, “What would you say your neighbourhood is like?”, the project invited six photographers to explore and question the idea of the neighbourhood in the areas where they lived, looking beyond its social dimensions to consider its architectural and urban aspects through photography.

Approaching the notion of the neighbourhood from their own subjective perspectives, the six photographers explored how it could take on very different meanings and forms across Istanbul’s districts. Some slowed down and looked more closely at their surroundings, noticing details that had gone unseen amid the routines of everyday life; others stepped back, seeking a wider perspective from which to understand the neighbourhood as a whole. The resulting works were exhibited at cultural centres in Tuzla, Kartal, and Eyüp during the second half of 2009.

Nearly a decade later, in 2018, 'Mahalle' was presented to a central Istanbul audience for the first time as part of the exhibition 'Geniş Açı – From the Magazine to the Project Office'. The project was expanded with new works produced by 13 photographers living in different neighbourhoods of Istanbul, who were given just 15 days to develop their responses. The exhibition also included a selection of works produced through workshops with residents of the neighbourhoods in the three districts—Tuzla, Kartal, and Eyüp—where the original exhibition had been presented in 2009.