Art in Istanbul metro tunnel, themed healing in the city

Metro Istanbul, one of the subsidiaries of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM), opened the exhibition titled 'Finding Healing in Istanbul' in the Yenikapı-Haciosman metro line approach tunnel. The exhibition, created by 3 researchers and 17 artists with 40 works, will be open to visitors between 26 June and 19 July.

Ozgur Soy, General Manager of Metro Istanbul, stated in Istanbul, one of the few metropolises of the world, it is difficult to spare time for cultural and artistic activities in the routine rush and pace of the day. "This is the Taksim approach tunnel. As of today, we are adding and gaining a new art and activity space to Istanbul. We are very excited about this" he said.

Soy said, "We named this the approach tunnel. Actually, its technical name. Approach tunnels are the places opened for logistics purposes while the subway excavation is being carried out. These are the places that are opened for the equipment to enter and exit to metro tunnels. These are usually closed later, but this one remains open. We were very excited when we saw this place. Very suitable for art activities. We are very happy to bring this to Istanbul. We are waiting for visitors. As of today, we are opening an exhibition called 'Finding Healing in Istanbul'. After that, I think this place will be at the service of the artists and very nice exhibitions will be opened. There is also interest from international artists. There will be international exhibitions. There will also be many events."

"FROM CHOLERA TO CORONA, WE ARE FOCUS ON THE SUBJECT OF HEALING IN THE CITY"

Melis Bektas, the curator of the exhibition, said that they have been prepared for the exhibition for 1 year. Bektas said, "This exhibition 'Finding Healing in Istanbul' is actually a multi-layered exhibition. Its process was also layered. We have been working for this exhibition about a year. In fact, we focused on the issue of healing. There are not only artists in the exhibition. It is an exhibition with 20 participants. There are 3 researchers and 17 artists. It is an art work that everyone feeds each other throughout the process, and both the art part and the research part are intertwined. Artists from many different disciplines divided ‘healing’ into sub-titles and everyone created art works from their own discipline. Each of these works actually talks to each other along the tunnel and it becomes very easy to follow them," she said.