French President Jacques Chirac, German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and British Prime Minister Tony Blair each sent a message to İstanbul Modern. Chirac said that he regretted being unable to attend the opening celebration, which represented “an important opportunity to exalt the universal and particularly the European dimensions of Istanbul”. Schröder said the museum was “a new beacon in our shared European cultural landscape of which we can all be proud”. Blair stated that the world needed to learn more of what Turkey and Turkish people had to offer.

İstanbul has finally realized its longstanding aspiration of having a museum of modern art. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan officially inaugurated the İstanbul Museum of Modern Art, whose building –Antrepo No.4– covers 8,000 square meters on the pier of Karaköy. Also attending and speaking at the event were cabinet ministers Güldal Akşit, Kürşat Tüzmen, Recep Akdağ, Erkan Mumcu and Sami Güçlü, as well as the Mayor of the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality, Dr. Kadir Topbaş, and the former French Minister of Culture, Mr. Jacques Aillagon.

French President Jacques Chirac, German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and British Prime Minister Tony Blair each sent a message to the opening ceremony.

In his opening speech, Prime Minister Erdoğan thanked everyone who worked on the project and said, “İstanbul Modern, you will agree, is for all of us a long-delayed engagement. This beautiful project, which I believe will become a monument of Turkey’s future, is taking its place on the necklace of this magnificent city like a jewel that has already had its place set for it.  This museum, which will become a universal vessel for distilling cultural colors, human values and artistic wealth, will never disappoint our dear friends who have worked for years to make this ideal a reality.  I am confident that Istanbul and this beautiful museum will suit one another perfectly. In our journey to construct the future, we have added a precious new address of civilization that we can show our children.”

In his message, Chirac said that all those who contributed to the founding of İstanbul Modern “may be justifiably proud of having conferred on Istanbul a cultural institution which enriches the city’s unique heritage with its architectural beauty”. He then added, “My hope is that this new museum, whose design resembles that of the Pompidou Center, will naturally strengthen and intensify the cultural cooperation between our countries. Truly, within the European perspective, it is concrete projects like these that are widely visible to the public that will give better expression to the French/Turkish partnership. I am sorry that due to my busy schedule I am unable to be present in person at this opening celebration, which represents an important opportunity to exalt the universal and particularly the European dimensions of Istanbul. On the other hand, with this message I want to wish continued success to you and to everyone who contributed to this magnificent project.”

Schröder, in his message, noted that “İstanbul Modern is following in the footsteps of world-famous collections of modern art – the MoMA in New York, the Tate Modern in London and the Center Pompidou in Paris”, adding, “It is a new beacon in our shared European cultural landscape of which we can all be proud.” Noting his satisfaction that İstanbul Modern would soon be holding an exhibition of works from the Deutsche Bank Collection, Schröder continued his message by saying, “This also shows how close relations between Turkey and Germany are in the cultural sphere. It was above all private initiative that made the ambitious “Istanbul Modern” project possible. The Eczacıbaşı family is making its major collection available to the museum as a basis and is thus expressing its awareness of the responsibility business bears for culture, seen of course as a task for society as a whole.  This deserves our respect. I wish all the officials, guests and visitors to the museum many moments of inspiration with the art displayed here and, in turn, the new Museum a  happy and successful future as well at the international level.”

British Prime Minister Tony Blair said, "Istanbul Modern is filling an important gap in the cultural and historical heritage of this magnificent city. As we look ahead to the prospect of Turkey joining the European Union, it is increasingly important that the world learns more of what Turkey and Turkish people have to offer us.”

Stressing that İstanbul Modern’s inauguration represented the realization of a longstanding aspiration, Oya Eczacıbaşı, Chair of the Board of Istanbul Modern said, “Istanbul Modern is opening its doors so that all can see the heritage of Turkish art, our creativity, our dynamism, the universal values that we share and the modern Turkish cultural identity. The works of art exhibited in our museum prove that visual arts in our country are deeply rooted in a heritage that has been shaped in close interaction with Western, especially European, culture.”

Oya Eczacıbaşı added that the aim was to establish a multifaceted, polyphonic, flexible, and dynamic museum through a wide range of activities. “We will complement these activities with educational programs for the young and adults that are fun and interactive,” she said.

Museum Founders and Main Sponsors
As the Founder of İstanbul Modern, which has been established under the aegis of the İstanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts, the Eczacıbaşı Group has provided the initial investment and project management finance as well as the core collection. Avea and Hedef Alliance are the main sponsors of İstanbul Modern.

İstanbul Modern will exhibit major works of art belonging to the Dr. Nejat F. Eczacıbaşı Foundation, Oya- Bülent Eczacıbaşı Collection, İstanbul Modern Collection, Mimar Sinan University of Fine Arts İstanbul Painting and Sculpture Museum and the Türkiye İş Bank Collection. Collaboration with the Deutsche Bank Collection and Berlin Guggenheim will also enable İstanbul Modern to exhibit outstanding works of international art in the coming years.

In line with its mission of being “a living museum that embraces the public”, İstanbul Modern will be an institution of culture and learning. İstanbul Modern’s goal is to attract one million visitors each year and to contribute to efforts to make İstanbul a cultural capital of Europe. In its first year alone, the museum aims to provide art education workshops to 20 thousand primary school students.

The chief curator of İstanbul Modern is Rosa Martinez, who curated the 1997 International İstanbul Biennial and is currently curating the Venice and Moscow Biennials. Martinez draws attention to the importance of museums as centers of cultural production, stressing that they offer important opportunities for preserving and interpreting collective memory. İstanbul Modern’s goal, says Martinez, is to integrate art and its audience and create a bridge between local and universal cultures.

İstanbul Modern’s Board of Directors include Oya Eczacıbaşı (Chair) Ethem Sancak (Vice Chair), Egemen Bağış, Nuri Çolakoğlu, Münir Ekonomi, Hilal Özince, Cahit Paksoy, Görgün Taner, Dr. Kadir Topbaş, Okşan Atilla Sanön and Arzuhan Yalçındağ.

Polyphonic and dynamic cultural center
The main galleries of the museum will exhibit the principal trends and works of modern and contemporary Turkish art since the early 20th century. İstanbul Modern will update this exhibition at regular intervals with contributions from other important collections in Turkey, as well as acquisitions and loans. The inaugural exhibition of the permanent collection is “Observation/Interpretation/Multiplicity”, which has been curated by Ali Akay, Levent Çalıkoğlu and Haşim Nur Gürel.

The objective of the temporary exhibition gallery on the ground floor is to exhibit modern and contemporary art in the context of its historical development. The gallery will organize four shows each year under the direction of its curator, Fulya Erdemci.

The temporary exhibition gallery will initiate its 2005 program with a retrospective of Fikret Mualla. This exhibition will run between January and March 2005. The next exhibition, curated by Rosa Martinez, is entitled “This is just the beginning” and will run between April and August. Fulya Erdemci will curate the following exhibition of contemporary Turkish artists, which will be held between September and December 2005 in parallel with the 9th International İstanbul Biennial. At the end of December, the gallery will exhibit the Deutsche Bank Collection.

The sculpture garden at the entrance to the museum will present a historical survey of contemporary sculpture. The new media area in the entrance foyer provides a wireless network environment where visitors can view examples of new media art and other artwork in a digital museum environment. Visitors to this area will also be able to view video art that has been created with an interdisciplinary approach using digital technology and which reflects distinct and emerging trends.

The photography gallery at İstanbul Modern will organize three exhibitions each year. Its first exhibition comprises works from its initial collection of photographs donated to the museum by contemporary Turkish photographers. Engin Özendes is the curator of this gallery.

In addition to exhibitions, İstanbul Modern is developing diverse activities and social spaces that will make it a “living museum”. Experts have designed educational programs for a wide range of age groups and created a special space solely for these programs. Students will be able to attend workshops on such topics as “Getting to Know an Artist” and “Understanding and Interpreting Works of Art”. The director of this department is Zehra Erkün, faculty member of the Department of Fine Arts Education at Yıldız University.

The museum’s Library of Modern Art, which is located in the building, will be open to the public. Although the core of the library will consist of materials on modern Turkish art, it will also carry reference material on the main issues, movements and trends in modern international art and eminent works of art.
The Arthouse Cinema Center will present a diverse program of independent productions and festival films under the management of Event 4. The museum shop will sell catalogues and books of exhibitions and events, as well as original gifts and reproductions and posters of works in the museum. Loft is operating İstanbul Modern Café, which will offer museum guests and visitors a pleasant setting for reflecting and relaxing with refreshment.
İstanbul Modern will be open every day except Monday between 10:00 and 18:00 hours. On Thursdays, it will remain open until 20:00. Regular admission is 5 YTL; admission for students and groups is 2 YTL.

Admission to İstanbul Modern will be free of charge through the end of February 2005.

INAUGURAL EXHIBITIONS OF İSTANBUL MODERN
OBSERVATION / INTERPRETATION / MULTIPLICITY
İstanbul Modern’s permanent collection is housed on the first floor of the museum. The collection is presented thematically to demonstrate the main trends and major works of modern and contemporary Turkish art since the early 20th century. Drawing on other institutional collections in Turkey, İstanbul Modern will update this exhibition at regular intervals.

İstanbul Modern’s first exhibition of its permanent collection is entitled “Observation/ Interpretation/ Multiplicity 1”. The works of art in this exhibition were selected from the Dr. Nejat F. Eczacıbaşı Foundation Collection, Oya- Bülent Eczacıbaşı Collection, İstanbul Modern Collection, Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University Istanbul Painting and Sculpture Museum and the Türkiye İş Bank Collection. The aim of curators Haşim Nur Gürel, Levent Çalıkoğlu and Ali Akay in this first exhibition is to present some of the main trends in Turkish painting between 1900 and 2000 in such a way as to imprint the images in the minds of old and young viewers.

THE MAKING OF İSTANBUL MODERN
The objective of the temporary exhibition gallery on the ground floor is to assemble and exhibit outstanding examples of contemporary art using diverse exhibition methods, while introducing Turkish painters to the international art world.

Curated by Fulya Erdemci, “The Making of İstanbul Modern” is the inaugural exhibition of the temporary exhibition gallery. The exhibition moves from a macro to micro focus of Istanbul’s privileged status as a seaport and the development of  the Galata, Karaköy and Tophane axis over the years. It then documents with visual, textual and oral material the process of incorporating İstanbul Modern in this unique historical, social and cultural map. The exhibition also shares with visitors the transformation of the 50-plus year old Antrepo No. 4 building into a fully equipped museum of modern art. 

APPEARANCES AS WE SEE THEM
In forming its photography collection, which brings together the milestones in art photography since the early years of the Republic, İstanbul Modern considered the entire history of Turkish photography. Drawing from this collection of photographs, the museum will organize temporary exhibitions under different conceptual frameworks.

Engin Özendes is curating the museum’s photography collection, for which the Photography Advisory Council has made its first selection. “Appearances As We See Them: A Selection of Turkish Photography since the Founding of the Republic” comprises selected work of the collection’s first 35 photographers.

VIDEO ART
The entrance foyer to the İstanbul Modern Art Library, cinema /auditorium, photography gallery and new media area is exhibiting young talent in the field of video art. Between December 2004 and March 2005, visitors will be able to see the works of Haluk Akakçe, Şener Özmen & Erkan Özgen and Nasan Tur in this space.

ALİYE BERGER
The gravures of Aliye Berger will be on exhibition in the education hall of İstanbul Modern’s Education and Social Projects Department. The exhibition brings together her three great passions in life: Büyükada, love and İstanbul.

“VISIONS OF EUROPE” AT ARTHOUSE
Located on the ground floor of the building, Arthouse will offer a diverse program of classic movies, independent productions and festival films. It will also host concerts and theater performances organized by the İstanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts.

The opening film of Arthouse is “Visions of Europe”, a collection of five-minute short films by 25 famous directors in 25 European Union countries. Fatih Akın is representing Germany in this collective effort, which Arthouse will begin showing on 14 December.

Arthouse will provide a platform for producers, directors, actors and moviegoers to meet and share ideas. The films that Arthouse has booked will only be shown at Arthouse, which will be open six days a week. Avid cinemagoers can watch a midnight screening on Fridays and Saturdays. Film programs will change once a week on Tuesdays.