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One of the rarest joys of living abroad is to visit home. In my case, home is Istanbul. Most of my friends and colleagues prefer vacationing in the exotic spots of the Mediterranean or travel thousands of miles just to relax and get into the mood to vacation. In contrast, I fly more than 11 hours from Singapore in order to step foot on my mother land. When I am in the city I enjoy everything without exaggeration: people, food, music, traffic, livelihood, lights, walking in the narrow streets, contemplating the fabulous moon, the sunset… It is amazing to see how much there is to enjoy in this magnificent city.
‘Sight of the Bosphorus at the very morning, Nargile (Shisha) at Galata Bridge, 2 hour long boat ride to Princes Islands, early dinner at the roof of the new IKSV building just to enjoy the sunset, lively trettoirs of the Galata Tower, visit to Hagia Sophia to see the newly restored Angels, journey to the roots of Istanbul in Sabancı Museum’s Legendary Istanbul – From Byzantion to Istanbul: 8000 Years of A Capital…
Istanbul is one of those women who age as well as wine. She is Aphrodite whose beauty and charm mesmerized many Gods. She is Joan of Arc whose devout belief and courage was legendary. She is Halide Edip Adıvar, the first female writer of the Turkish Republic who fought against the enemy with her soul, heart and pen. Above all times and gender, she is Rumi of Anatolia who welcomes everyone regardless of religion, belief, language and race.
Istanbul has been like a woman with many husbands. Each husband asked her to change herself according to his beliefs. As a loving wife, she gracefully agreed. First, she was pagan. She respected many Gods and Goddesses as well as many icons. Centuries later, the pagan husband got sick and passed away. She didn’t stay single for long. A strong ruler loved her at first sight, he immediately wanted to marry her. She fell in love with his monotheist religion and let her husband work day and night to make her the grandest Christian city. He built a basilica called Hagia Sophia that announced firmly to the Christian world that Constantinople is the Christian capital of the world. Then again, the husband weakened over centuries and had to let go the beautiful Christian to the rule of the Muslims. The 15th century was the time of the Mehmet the Conqueror who immediately fell for the gorgeous city and converted her without second thought to Islam. Right after the conquest, one could hear ezan, the call for prayer, from many former basilicas turned into mosques. Like that, the beautiful bride converted to Islam and asked her inhabitants to attend the prayers. She remained with the same husband but never abandoned her tolerant approach towards other religions, people and traditions. That is how she remained today’s breathtaking metropolitan city.
If you’re one of those lucky Istanbulites who have the pleasure of staying in town while many are gone, I strongly encourage you to take a futuristic journey of modern art in Arter on Istiklal Avenue. Arter is a new art gallery situated in a renovated old building owned by Koç family. The gallery collection is curated by Rene Block. Two pieces of art makes the gallery undisputably special. One is Mozart Mix by John Cage and the other is Water Music by Walter Marchetti. In Mozart Mix, John Cage creates a sound environment by playing 5 different Mozart compositions at the same time for an unusual audio experience.
Marchetti says that sound is the last thing I want to show in my music. They are not necessary, they’re empty. He shows that music is visual by his work ‘Water Music.’ Broken pieces of a violin are placed in a fish tank filled with water where art enthusiasts vividly experience the soundless art of violin.
I hope you will get the chance to visit these wonderful exhibitions while enjoying your summer in the city.
Enjoy life wherever you are!
Ela Erozan Gürsel writes a weekly column named “Değişim Yelpazesi ” on global business trends for Dünya Gazetesi on behalf of Datassist for almost two years. Her feature topics include: green energy; climate change; impacts of financial crisis on companies, sectors and regions; innovative technologies in sciences, human resources and management; social networks transforming business and politics; changing dynamics of marketing and branding.
She also writes articles for international magazines published in Singapore.
Prior to her writing career, she worked at Datassist as a Project Manager in a project that combines human resources and mobile communications with the aim to connect blue-collar workers and employers through mobile phones. Before engaging in this exciting project, she was in pharmaceutical sales working for a multinational company. She graduated from American University, Washington, DC, majoring in International Studies with a concentration on International Business and Europe. She worked in Washington D.C. as an Account Manager at a boutique telemarketing firm that specializes in fund raising and publication renewals. She speaks Turkish, English, French, and Spanish. She currently resides in Singapore with her husband.
