This week in Istanbul: Theater, music, exhibitions across the city

This week, Istanbul will host a wide range of cultural events spanning theater, concerts, exhibitions, talks and workshops, offering a vibrant program across many venues in the city.

In theater, the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB) City Theaters will present several productions between April 14 and 18 at different stages across the city. These include “Ölü Canlar” (“Dead Souls”) at the Mecidiyeköy Main Stage, “Kontrabas” (“The Double Bass”) at the Mecidiyeköy Studio Stage, “Sadakat” (“Loyalty”) at Küçükçekmece CKSM Stage and “Karacaoğlan” at the Bahçelievler Nurettin Topçu Cultural Center.

One of the week’s most prominent productions, “Amadeus,” which dramatizes the rivalry between Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri, will be performed on April 15 at the Atatürk Cultural Center (AKM), featuring Selçuk Yöntem and Tansu Biçer in leading roles and a large 70-person cast.

At the same venue, Juan Mayorga’s “Ebedi Barış” (“The Perpetual Peace”) will be staged on April 17 and 18, exploring moral dilemmas between obedience and ethical decision-making.

Also at AKM on April 15, the digitally reinterpreted Mevlevi experience titled “Sema Nedir Bilir misin? Sema Mukabelesi Deneyimi,” (“Do You Know What Sema Is? The Sema Ceremony Experience”) will be presented, combining traditional spiritual heritage with contemporary digital arts.

Elsewhere in the city, “Yarım Akıl” (“Half-witted”), which focuses on the heroism of the Gallipoli campaign, will be staged at the Bağcılar Gallipoli Victory Museum, while “İnsanlar Mekanlar Nesneler” (“People Places Things”), a production centered on an individual’s existential struggle and search for courage, will be performed on April 16 at Zorlu PSM. On April 15, Eugène Ionesco’s absurdist classic “Kel Diva” (“The Bald Prima Donna”) will also be staged at Zorlu PSM’s Turkcell Platinum Stage, portraying a surreal evening in a British household.

Events

Alongside theater, the city will host a series of talks, cultural programs and workshops. Writer Hayati İnanç will meet audiences at Pendik Yunus Emre Culture and Arts Center with a talk titled “Akla Rehber Kalbe Tercüman Şairlerimizden Esintiler” (“Guiding the Mind, Translating the Heart: Reflections from Our Poets”).

İdris Cevahir will deliver a lecture on the “Journey of Islamic Thought” in Esenler at Dr. Kadir Topbaş Culture and Arts Center. The same cultural center will also host a children’s art event “Sanatçı Olacak Çocuk” (“A Child Who Will Become an Artist”), marking World Art Day, on April 15.

Concerts

The concert scene in Istanbul will also be particularly active. The band “Ayna” will perform in Ümraniye’s Şehit Kaymakam Muhammed Fatih Safitürk Cultural Center on April 15.

The Presidential Classical Turkish Music Choir will present a “Bahar, Sazkar” (“Spring, Sazkar”) concert at AKM on April 19, featuring classical works from the ancient Sazkâr makam, performances by tanbur virtuoso Murat Aydemir and soloists Tolga Şekerci and Gizem Coşkun will also be included.

Cemil Sağyaşar will bring his “Unforgettables” project to Zorlu PSM, blending film music and global classics on April 15.

Ebru Gündeş will perform a three-night series of concerts at Volkswagen Arena between April 17 and 19.

The Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra will take the stage tomorrow at the AKM Türk Telekom Opera Hall under the baton of conductor Orçun Orçunsel, accompanied by soloist Elvin Hoxha Ganiev, to perform selected works by Jean Sibelius and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.

A separate classical program directed by Osman Kırklıkçı will also be held at AKM Theater Hall, featuring traditional compositions and solo performances. The program will feature classical works in the Kürdilihicazkâr makam performed by Asdik Ağa, as well as performances by soloist Jülide Bilgi in various other makams.

Exhibitions

Finally, Istanbul’s exhibition scene will include several ongoing and upcoming shows. The exhibition “Sessiz Ayakkabılar” (“Silent Shoes”), which aims to make visible the traces of lives left unfinished in Gaza through ceramics and painting, can be visited at the Kalyon Culture Zone in Nevçarşı Shopping Center until April 30.

The works of painter Emel Cankat, known for her oil landscape and figurative paintings, can be visited at the AKM Multipurpose Hall until April 19.

The third solo exhibition of lawyer and artist Işın Karahan Yıldırım, titled “Masal Şehirleri” (“Fairy Tale Cities”), will open to visitors on April 18 at Zoi Istanbul. Meanwhile, painter, visual designer and writer Emre Delioğlu’s exhibition “Portreler” (“Portraits”) will be presented to art lovers also on April 18 at the Ütopya Art Project Art Gallery.

DAILYSABAH