Istanbul More Alluring in Autumn

The perfect season to visit Istanbul, one of the liveliest cities in the world, is autumn. With summer ending Istanbul gets more vibrant, buzzing with colourful culture- and arts events, such as film screenings, exhibitions and concerts, and also with organizations highlighting fashion, moderns arts and gastronomy. The exhilarating atmosphere here becomes more pleasant, shining with activities and events day and night. Istanbul truly is breathtaking, stealing the hearts away.

Presumably, it is during autumn that you can best experience and explore Istanbul, a city that regularly renews itself and bustles in a lovely way, day and night, for a thousand years. For those back from a toasty holiday or for the visitors, autumn feels like attending a fascinating opening ceremony. With the coming of autumn the city awakens once more, and the residents make fresh start as they regularly do on a new year’s day.

Istanbul has tremendous charm and magnetism that has no match in other cities. Try to gaze at the city with the gifts of autumn. Starting from September every year, Istanbul turns out to be a scene of festivals and vibrates with culture- and arts events, such as movies, exhibitions and concerts, and also with organizations and shows related to fashion, modern arts and gastronomy.

The seventh continent: 16^th Istanbul Biennial

With 15 biennials successfully held since 1987, Istanbul is again ready to highlight one of the most eye-catching exhibits between 14 September and 10 November. Every year Istanbul Biennial attributes arts to a current issue, and this year’s biennial explores the Seventh Continent, the huge volume of waste, a serious challenge that the modern world is facing now. The Seventh Continent refers, among popular scientific circles, to the huge mass piling up at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, one of the most visible outcomes in the Anthropocene epoch. This tremendous mass of plastic wastes holds an area of about 3,5 million square kilometres and weighs 7 million tonnes. This new continent that humankind has created will be constituting the starting point for many artists, scholars, anthropologists and ecologists to reflect upon the current state of the arts in a world suffering ecological challenges.

14^th Contemporary Istanbul

Contemporary Istanbul is what tops the events list of modern arts in Istanbul. This year Contemporary Istanbul will be inaugurated for the 14th time, on 12-15 September 2019. It is set to open its doors for the modern art gallerists, artists, collectors and art enthusiasts from every corner of the world. As the thriving art scene of Istanbul, Contemporary Istanbul brings together the best examples of moderns arts in a place that straddles Asia and Europe. This renowned event will be groundbreaking together with the exhibition titled “Recent Acquisitions/Collectors’ Stories, whose curator is Hasan Bülent Kahraman. The artworks recently bought by the Turkish collectors will be highlighted and introduced to the visitors on fairground during CI’19. 

Arter in Dolapdere

Another popular spot that embraces arts in Istanbul is Arter, a centre now receiving quite a lot of artworks in its brand-new building. Placed in the very centre of the city, on Istiklal Avenue, it has already held 35 exhibitions. It is owned by Vehbi Koç Foundation, one of the main supporters of arts in Istanbul. This year, Vehbi Koç Foundation is celebrating its 50th anniversary of foundation. Its new venue is 18 thousand square metres, eager to meet art fans on 13 September. Designed by Grimshaw Architects, Arter is ready now to spotlight its regular events and activities in more authentic way. Besides collections it owns and other exhibitions, it will also bring under one roof some other events of different art disciplines.      

Istanbul Coffee Festival

A fantastic event takes place every autumn in Istanbul to please the coffee lovers. Besides the famous Turkish coffee, Istanbul offers different flavours in the new generation coffeehouses during the Istanbul Coffee Festival that is held on 19-22 September. From discussions and workshops to seminars and concerts, many events will take place as part of the festival that also offers distinct experiences at the very heart of the city, Küçük Çiftlik Park.

Filmekimi

Now is the time for a countdown to Filmekimi, an exciting event in Istanbul during which much-appreciated productions will be screened for the audience. It heralds the screening of quite a lot of films. This mini-festival, organized since 2002, will take place this year on 4-13 October. Portrait of a Lady on Fire by Céline Sciamma, The Wild Goose Lake by Diao Yinan, Jessica Hasuner’s Little Joe, Xavier’s Dolan’s Matthias & Maxime and Pain and Glory in which Antonio Banderas plays Almodovar are some of the productions to be screened for the audience during the festival.     

Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Istanbul

A centre of new trends and fashion, Istanbul embraces Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Istanbul, MBFWI, during which professional fashion designers, opinion leaders as well as representatives of national and international brands will meet young talents on 8-11 October.