A City Transformed: Images of Istanbul Then and Now
Feb 06, 2016 - Jun 26, 2016

The city we now know as Istanbul has been an important cultural and economic hub for centuries. Under its many guises — first as Byzantium, then Constantinople, and finally Kostantiniyye/Istanbul — this magnificent place has witnessed a succession of empires, the migration of peoples, and astounding urban growth.

The city we now know as Istanbul has been an important cultural and economic hub for centuries. Under its many guises — first as Byzantium, then Constantinople, and finally Kostantiniyye/Istanbul — this magnificent place has witnessed a succession of empires, the migration of peoples, and astounding urban growth.

Experience the many faces of this city through the astonishing historical collection of the noted Turkish collector and art philanthropist Ömer Koç, and a selection of works by the renowned contemporary photographer Murat Germen. Albums, panoramas, and individual photographs from the 1850s to the early 1900s are combined with 21st-century views that seem almost futuristic in their rendering of scale and space. Immerse yourself in a living city whose history is as varied as the people who call it home.

Organized by the Aga Khan Museum in collaboration with Ömer M. Koç, Private Collection.

Co-Curators
Dr. Filiz Çakır Phillip (Aga Khan Museum) and Bahattin Öztuncay (Ömer M. Koç Collection, Istanbul).

LEFT: “Golden Horn and Suleymaniye Mosque, built for Suleyman I”
From the Album of Constantinople
With the tuğra of Sultan Abdülhamid II
By Photoglob Zürich, ca. 1890
Photochrom print, hand-tinted and mounted on boards
Binding: full leather with gold tooling
Ömer M. Koç, private collection

RIGHT: Detail of Muta-morphosis, Istanbul, Ataköy #1
By Murat Germen, 2012
Lambda C-print
Photo courtesy of the artist.



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