WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.580 So I want you to picture this. You are walking 00:00:01.580 --> 00:00:05.820 down Istiklal Street, right in the really vibrant, 00:00:05.919 --> 00:00:09.000 just beating heart of Biyolu in Istanbul. It's 00:00:09.000 --> 00:00:11.759 quite the scene. Oh, it's incredibly loud, like 00:00:11.759 --> 00:00:14.060 overwhelmingly loud. You've got the famous red 00:00:14.060 --> 00:00:17.480 tram just dinging its way through these dense, 00:00:17.600 --> 00:00:20.600 dense crowds. The pavement is practically vibrating 00:00:20.600 --> 00:00:23.480 with energy. And the sheer volume of modern life 00:00:23.480 --> 00:00:26.760 there is just, it's a lot. But then... Nestled 00:00:26.760 --> 00:00:28.379 right within all that incredible architecture, 00:00:28.719 --> 00:00:31.519 you step through a set of doors. Right. And the 00:00:31.519 --> 00:00:33.359 noise of the street just instantly vanishes. 00:00:33.439 --> 00:00:35.119 Yeah. You're suddenly standing in this sanctuary, 00:00:35.359 --> 00:00:38.899 a space dedicated to memory, to art, and really 00:00:38.899 --> 00:00:41.600 to voices that spent a century completely in 00:00:41.600 --> 00:00:45.210 the dark. And, you know, that contrast, the contrast 00:00:45.210 --> 00:00:47.250 between the chaotic present of a street outside 00:00:47.250 --> 00:00:50.070 and that highly curated silence inside, that's 00:00:50.070 --> 00:00:52.170 really fundamental to understanding spaces like 00:00:52.170 --> 00:00:54.350 this. Yeah, absolutely. Because when we evaluate 00:00:54.350 --> 00:00:56.530 cultural institutions, the truly great ones, 00:00:56.649 --> 00:00:58.689 they're never just four walls holding up canvases. 00:00:58.710 --> 00:01:01.310 Right. They do more. Exactly. They function as 00:01:01.310 --> 00:01:04.530 active vessels. They are physical spaces engineered 00:01:04.530 --> 00:01:07.700 for societal reflection. They're designed to 00:01:07.700 --> 00:01:10.099 pull these forgotten histories out of the archives 00:01:10.099 --> 00:01:12.920 and really force them into our contemporary field 00:01:12.920 --> 00:01:15.719 of vision. And that concept right there of a 00:01:15.719 --> 00:01:18.159 building as an active vessel, that brings us 00:01:18.159 --> 00:01:21.040 to our mission for today. We are taking a deep 00:01:21.040 --> 00:01:23.599 dive into an extraordinary cultural institution 00:01:23.599 --> 00:01:26.500 in Istanbul. It really is extraordinary. We're 00:01:26.500 --> 00:01:29.780 going to examine the architectural mysteries 00:01:29.780 --> 00:01:32.900 of the space itself, and then we are going to 00:01:32.900 --> 00:01:36.890 thoroughly explore. one specific blockbuster 00:01:36.890 --> 00:01:39.569 exhibition that, well, it basically attempted 00:01:39.569 --> 00:01:42.069 to fundamentally rewrite art history. By mapping 00:01:42.069 --> 00:01:44.269 the female psyche directly onto the physical 00:01:44.269 --> 00:01:46.769 layout of a building, no less. Right, which is 00:01:46.769 --> 00:01:48.870 just brilliant. So, okay, let's unpack this, 00:01:48.909 --> 00:01:50.870 starting with the physical space. The institution 00:01:50.870 --> 00:01:53.290 is called MISCHER. Yes, because MISCHER is an 00:01:53.290 --> 00:01:55.349 art exhibition space, and it's operated by the 00:01:55.349 --> 00:01:58.109 private Baby Coast Foundation. Right. As an institution, 00:01:58.310 --> 00:02:00.430 it's relatively new. They just opened their doors 00:02:00.430 --> 00:02:03.500 back in 2019. Which is funny, because the institution 00:02:03.500 --> 00:02:06.219 is new, but the structure it actually occupies 00:02:06.219 --> 00:02:08.699 is definitely not. No, not at all. Before 2019, 00:02:09.120 --> 00:02:11.819 this exact building housed the Arter, which is 00:02:11.819 --> 00:02:14.180 another contemporary art space. But if you start 00:02:14.180 --> 00:02:16.460 digging into the foundational bones of the building, 00:02:16.560 --> 00:02:19.280 it reveals this really compelling historical 00:02:19.280 --> 00:02:22.539 irony. Because according to our source material, 00:02:22.860 --> 00:02:25.340 the actual architect of the building is only 00:02:25.340 --> 00:02:27.939 speculated to be a man named Petrachi Memoridis 00:02:27.939 --> 00:02:30.340 Zafendi. Right. And the fact that the architectural 00:02:30.340 --> 00:02:32.740 credit is essentially reduced to speculation, 00:02:32.979 --> 00:02:36.199 that sets a really fascinating thematic baseline 00:02:36.199 --> 00:02:38.919 for our discussion today. How so? Well, think 00:02:38.919 --> 00:02:41.439 about it. We are analyzing an institution whose 00:02:41.439 --> 00:02:44.500 most famous exhibition is entirely about unearthing 00:02:44.500 --> 00:02:47.560 forgotten creators. Yet the very person who designed 00:02:47.560 --> 00:02:50.900 the walls holding that art has essentially been 00:02:50.900 --> 00:02:54.120 lost to time. Wow. Yeah, it is a profound irony. 00:02:54.300 --> 00:02:56.659 You're standing in a masterpiece, looking at 00:02:56.659 --> 00:02:59.039 forgotten masterpieces, housed in a building 00:02:59.039 --> 00:03:01.319 whose creator is a historical question mark. 00:03:01.439 --> 00:03:05.000 And that tension, that tension between what is 00:03:05.000 --> 00:03:08.219 remembered and what fades away, that is clearly 00:03:08.219 --> 00:03:10.419 a driving force for the V .B. Coase Foundation. 00:03:10.819 --> 00:03:12.960 Especially when you look at what they chose to 00:03:12.960 --> 00:03:15.520 name the initiative. The name itself is very 00:03:15.520 --> 00:03:17.740 deliberate. Yeah, the word Mesher, it's an Ottoman 00:03:17.740 --> 00:03:20.500 Turkish word. In the Arabic script, it's spelled 00:03:20.500 --> 00:03:25.710 Ujja or... And it translates literally to just 00:03:25.710 --> 00:03:29.110 exhibition. or exhibition space. And, you know, 00:03:29.189 --> 00:03:31.810 on the surface, that might seem like a very simple, 00:03:31.909 --> 00:03:34.370 literal naming convention, just calling an exhibition 00:03:34.370 --> 00:03:37.169 space exhibition. Right. But from a curatorial 00:03:37.169 --> 00:03:40.550 perspective, branding a brand new 2019 contemporary 00:03:40.550 --> 00:03:43.770 art space with an Ottoman Turkish word, that 00:03:43.770 --> 00:03:46.090 is a deeply deliberate choice. But doesn't it 00:03:46.090 --> 00:03:47.990 risk coming across as, I don't know, a bit of 00:03:47.990 --> 00:03:50.590 a linguistic gimmick, like just slapping an antique 00:03:50.590 --> 00:03:53.150 word onto a modern space, give it some false 00:03:53.150 --> 00:03:55.349 sense of gravitas? I mean, it would be a gimmick 00:03:55.349 --> 00:03:57.189 if the programming didn't. actually support it 00:03:57.189 --> 00:03:59.629 fair point but in this case the name acts as 00:03:59.629 --> 00:04:02.759 a programmatic bridge By invoking that Ottoman 00:04:02.759 --> 00:04:05.659 vocabulary, Mesur is signaling to the visitor 00:04:05.659 --> 00:04:09.159 that this space absolutely refuses to sever the 00:04:09.159 --> 00:04:12.280 modern Istanbul art scene from its deep, complex 00:04:12.280 --> 00:04:14.979 past. So it sets a tone right at the door. Exactly. 00:04:15.159 --> 00:04:18.019 It establishes this expectation that the art 00:04:18.019 --> 00:04:20.759 inside will be a constant, active conversation 00:04:20.759 --> 00:04:22.759 between the historical and the contemporary. 00:04:23.079 --> 00:04:24.860 And I don't think that conversation was ever 00:04:24.860 --> 00:04:26.800 more apparent than in the centerpiece of their 00:04:26.800 --> 00:04:31.019 programming. The exhibition titled Ayyüde. A 00:04:31.019 --> 00:04:33.660 century of artist women. Oh, this was a monumental 00:04:33.660 --> 00:04:36.560 undertaking, both in its physical scale and its 00:04:36.560 --> 00:04:38.620 academic ambition. Yeah. To frame the timeline 00:04:38.620 --> 00:04:40.980 for you, this exhibition originally opened on 00:04:40.980 --> 00:04:44.060 October 9th, 2021, and it was slated to close 00:04:44.060 --> 00:04:47.480 on March 27th, 2022. A standard run initially. 00:04:47.720 --> 00:04:49.779 Right. But the cultural footprint of the show 00:04:49.779 --> 00:04:52.779 was so substantial, so popular, that the institution 00:04:52.779 --> 00:04:55.240 extended its run by an additional two months. 00:04:55.600 --> 00:04:59.139 It finally closed on May 29th, 2022. And the 00:04:59.139 --> 00:05:01.199 demand for that extension makes total sense when 00:05:01.199 --> 00:05:03.139 you look at the parameters the curators set for 00:05:03.139 --> 00:05:05.519 themselves. Yeah, they were very specific. Very. 00:05:05.819 --> 00:05:09.000 They focused exclusively on female artists who 00:05:09.000 --> 00:05:11.579 were based in Turkey and who were active over 00:05:11.579 --> 00:05:15.860 a highly precise 100 -year span, from the 1850s 00:05:15.860 --> 00:05:18.899 to the 1950s. A full century of lived experience. 00:05:19.079 --> 00:05:21.500 A century of immense change, too. Definitely. 00:05:21.699 --> 00:05:24.300 And the curators, Deniz Artun, working under 00:05:24.300 --> 00:05:27.199 the patronage of Şizdim Samavi, they gathered 00:05:27.199 --> 00:05:30.300 over 200 artworks for this exhibition. A massive 00:05:30.300 --> 00:05:33.009 collection. But... And this is the detail that 00:05:33.009 --> 00:05:35.470 demands real attention here. It's the exhibition 00:05:35.470 --> 00:05:38.810 history of those specific pieces. According to 00:05:38.810 --> 00:05:41.550 our sources, the vast majority of these 200 works 00:05:41.920 --> 00:05:43.660 had never been part of an exhibition before. 00:05:43.819 --> 00:05:46.120 Never. Just think about the psychological weight 00:05:46.120 --> 00:05:48.459 of that fact. It's heavy. We are talking about 00:05:48.459 --> 00:05:50.800 women who dedicated their life to honing their 00:05:50.800 --> 00:05:53.199 craft, producing highly technical and deeply 00:05:53.199 --> 00:05:56.500 personal work between 1850 and 1950, with the 00:05:56.500 --> 00:05:58.639 full knowledge that their art might never leave 00:05:58.639 --> 00:06:00.699 their private spaces. They were basically painting 00:06:00.699 --> 00:06:03.279 into a void. Exactly. Classic art history essentially 00:06:03.279 --> 00:06:05.660 ignored them. And to put a few of these creators 00:06:05.660 --> 00:06:08.019 into the room with us, the source's footnotes 00:06:08.019 --> 00:06:10.060 provide an extensive list of the featured artists. 00:06:10.300 --> 00:06:13.879 You have Ali Berger, Samihal Berksoy, Feral Nisa 00:06:13.879 --> 00:06:17.100 Zaid. Incredible names. Hale Esaf, Sabihaboz 00:06:17.100 --> 00:06:21.660 Ghali, Yildiz Moran, Mariam Shahinian. And that 00:06:21.660 --> 00:06:23.819 is just a mere fraction of the dozens of women 00:06:23.819 --> 00:06:26.560 whose life's work was finally validated on those 00:06:26.560 --> 00:06:29.019 walls. What's fascinating here is the underlying 00:06:29.019 --> 00:06:32.199 motive of the exhibition. The goal wasn't merely 00:06:32.199 --> 00:06:34.540 aesthetic display. It wasn't just to make a pretty 00:06:34.540 --> 00:06:38.300 room. Right. The co -curator, Ebru Esra Satucha, 00:06:38.579 --> 00:06:41.560 outlined a highly academic, almost combative 00:06:41.560 --> 00:06:44.300 objective. She stated the exhibition was designed 00:06:44.300 --> 00:06:46.959 to reveal these hidden treasures, specifically 00:06:46.959 --> 00:06:50.399 to researchers, art historians and scholars specializing. 00:06:50.480 --> 00:06:52.240 in women's studies. Yeah, she goes on to say 00:06:52.240 --> 00:06:54.120 the intent was for those scholars to conduct 00:06:54.120 --> 00:06:55.720 more research on these names and come up with 00:06:55.720 --> 00:06:58.240 new finds. Exactly. It reads less like an exhibition 00:06:58.240 --> 00:07:00.720 statement and more like a provocation to the 00:07:00.720 --> 00:07:03.379 academic community. It is an explicit challenge. 00:07:04.079 --> 00:07:05.959 Satucha and the Mescher team are essentially 00:07:05.959 --> 00:07:09.319 acting as archaeologists here. They are excavating 00:07:09.319 --> 00:07:11.980 the raw artifacts of a forgotten century and 00:07:11.980 --> 00:07:14.279 laying them out for the public. Here they are. 00:07:14.339 --> 00:07:16.699 Look at them. Yes. But they're also pointing 00:07:16.699 --> 00:07:19.300 directly at the academic establishment and demanding 00:07:19.300 --> 00:07:21.500 that the history books be rewritten to include 00:07:21.500 --> 00:07:25.079 these 200 unseen works. And the way they chose 00:07:25.079 --> 00:07:28.199 to present these artifacts is where the curatorial 00:07:28.199 --> 00:07:32.620 brilliance really... They didn't just hang 200 00:07:32.620 --> 00:07:35.040 paintings chronologically on a white wall. No, 00:07:35.180 --> 00:07:37.420 that would be too simple. They utilized the three 00:07:37.420 --> 00:07:39.620 distinct floors of the Misher Building to create 00:07:39.620 --> 00:07:41.860 a physical journey through the female psyche 00:07:41.860 --> 00:07:44.819 and the escalating pressures of societal expectation. 00:07:45.019 --> 00:07:48.220 They structured the building as I, you, and they. 00:07:48.360 --> 00:07:51.259 A literal spatial mapping of identity. So let's 00:07:51.259 --> 00:07:52.519 walk through this structure, starting on the 00:07:52.519 --> 00:07:55.639 ground floor. Floor one is titled I. This entire 00:07:55.639 --> 00:07:57.800 level is dedicated strictly to the artist's self 00:07:57.800 --> 00:08:00.670 -perception. It explores self -discovery, internal 00:08:00.670 --> 00:08:03.129 reflections, and it features deeply personal 00:08:03.129 --> 00:08:05.949 items like self -portrait photographs. In psychological 00:08:05.949 --> 00:08:09.610 terms, this is the foundational self. It is the 00:08:09.610 --> 00:08:12.370 identity that exists in a vacuum, completely 00:08:12.370 --> 00:08:15.410 devoid of external observation. Like if you were 00:08:15.410 --> 00:08:18.540 entirely alone in a room. Who are you? Right. 00:08:18.660 --> 00:08:21.000 How do you perceive your own value and your own 00:08:21.000 --> 00:08:23.800 narrative before anyone else walks in and demands 00:08:23.800 --> 00:08:27.259 something from you? The I floor captures that 00:08:27.259 --> 00:08:31.079 raw, unedited version of the artist. It's boundless 00:08:31.079 --> 00:08:33.240 because it is entirely self -defined. And this 00:08:33.240 --> 00:08:36.559 is the genius part. The exhibition requires you 00:08:36.559 --> 00:08:39.100 to physically climb a set of stairs. You literally 00:08:39.100 --> 00:08:41.100 have to exert effort to move to the next phase. 00:08:41.259 --> 00:08:43.360 Exactly. You ascend to the second floor, which 00:08:43.360 --> 00:08:46.470 is titled You. Here, the thematic focus shifts 00:08:46.470 --> 00:08:48.730 outward. The art transitions to subjects of the 00:08:48.730 --> 00:08:51.070 close environment. Motherhood, children, parents. 00:08:51.309 --> 00:08:53.710 So it moves from the internal self to the immediately 00:08:53.710 --> 00:08:56.070 adjacent relationships. Which introduces the 00:08:56.070 --> 00:08:59.409 concept of the relational self. Identity is rarely 00:08:59.409 --> 00:09:02.450 forged entirely in isolation, you know. For women 00:09:02.450 --> 00:09:04.750 living and working in Turkey between the 1850s 00:09:04.750 --> 00:09:07.269 and 1950s, their societal value was intrinsically 00:09:07.269 --> 00:09:09.409 tied to their roles as mothers, daughters, and 00:09:09.409 --> 00:09:12.970 caregivers. So the U -floor. explores how these 00:09:12.970 --> 00:09:15.230 artists negotiated their own identities through 00:09:15.230 --> 00:09:17.870 the lens of those intimate obligations. But does 00:09:17.870 --> 00:09:20.870 that relational focus act as an expansion of 00:09:20.870 --> 00:09:23.350 their identity or is the beginning of a limitation? 00:09:23.669 --> 00:09:25.429 And that is the crucial tension of the second 00:09:25.429 --> 00:09:28.590 floor. It is a beautiful exploration of intimacy 00:09:28.590 --> 00:09:31.990 and connection. Absolutely. But it also represents 00:09:31.990 --> 00:09:34.870 the first layer of external definition. The first 00:09:34.870 --> 00:09:37.539 boundary. Yes. The artist is no longer just the 00:09:37.539 --> 00:09:40.059 I from the ground floor. Her identity is now 00:09:40.059 --> 00:09:43.360 tethered to the you she's caring for. Her canvas 00:09:43.360 --> 00:09:45.679 is suddenly occupied by the needs and the presence 00:09:45.679 --> 00:09:48.539 of others. Which perfectly sets up the final 00:09:48.539 --> 00:09:50.620 ascent. You climb to the third and top floor 00:09:50.620 --> 00:09:53.299 of the building. This floor is titled They. The 00:09:53.299 --> 00:09:55.679 societal gaze. Yeah, and this is where the atmospheric 00:09:55.679 --> 00:09:58.259 pressure of the exhibition really peaks. The 00:09:58.259 --> 00:10:01.360 they floor is entirely dedicated to how the broader 00:10:01.360 --> 00:10:04.299 society views women, and more specifically, the 00:10:04.299 --> 00:10:06.539 subjects that society deemed appropriate for 00:10:06.539 --> 00:10:08.740 female artists to paint during that century. 00:10:08.919 --> 00:10:10.860 And the source material is quite explicit about 00:10:10.860 --> 00:10:13.419 what those acceptable subjects were. Very explicit. 00:10:13.539 --> 00:10:16.659 The art on the they floor is dominated by heavily 00:10:16.659 --> 00:10:21.740 domestic topics. Flowers, children, food. Plants. 00:10:21.740 --> 00:10:24.580 This was the boundary line of acceptable female 00:10:24.580 --> 00:10:26.840 expression. If we connect this to the bigger 00:10:26.840 --> 00:10:29.220 picture, the architectural narrative Mescher 00:10:29.220 --> 00:10:31.679 constructed here is devastatingly effective. 00:10:32.080 --> 00:10:34.289 Oh, it really is. look at the progression from 00:10:34.289 --> 00:10:36.470 the ground floor to the top floor on floor one 00:10:36.470 --> 00:10:39.570 the eye the artist's focus is infinite it is 00:10:39.570 --> 00:10:41.990 the unconstrained exploration of her own soul 00:10:41.990 --> 00:10:44.970 but as you climb higher the thematic aperture 00:10:44.970 --> 00:10:48.590 continually narrows the physical elevation correlates 00:10:48.590 --> 00:10:50.769 with a shrinking of creative freedom precisely 00:10:50.769 --> 00:10:53.750 by the time you reach floor three the they the 00:10:53.750 --> 00:10:55.730 boundless potential of the first floor has been 00:10:55.730 --> 00:10:58.909 compressed by society into a mandate to paint 00:10:58.909 --> 00:11:01.370 a bowl of fruit or a vase of flowers right the 00:11:01.370 --> 00:11:03.470 tragedy isn't that they painted flowers. I mean 00:11:03.470 --> 00:11:05.990 many of these works are likely technical masterpieces. 00:11:06.070 --> 00:11:08.769 Of course. The tragedy is the constraint. It's 00:11:08.769 --> 00:11:12.289 the realization that the they of society dictated 00:11:12.289 --> 00:11:14.509 the parameters of their legacy. So what does 00:11:14.509 --> 00:11:17.230 this all mean? To me, it highlights the absolute 00:11:17.230 --> 00:11:19.730 genius of using a building's physical layout 00:11:19.730 --> 00:11:22.789 to force a visitor to physically experience the 00:11:22.789 --> 00:11:25.190 compounding weight of societal expectations. 00:11:25.529 --> 00:11:28.070 You feel it in your legs. You do. You start with 00:11:28.070 --> 00:11:30.029 the pure self, you navigate the complexities 00:11:30.029 --> 00:11:33.190 of familial duty, and you end up surrounded by 00:11:33.190 --> 00:11:35.929 the suffocating domestic expectations of the 00:11:35.929 --> 00:11:38.750 societal day. You literally have to labor up 00:11:38.750 --> 00:11:41.190 the stairs to feel the burden these women carried 00:11:41.190 --> 00:11:44.470 for a century. It's a masterclass in experiential 00:11:44.470 --> 00:11:47.429 curation. It proves that Mesher understands how 00:11:47.429 --> 00:11:50.450 to use its physical space as an active participant 00:11:50.450 --> 00:11:52.850 in the storytelling, not just a passive backdrop. 00:11:53.210 --> 00:11:55.389 Yeah. But, you know, to fully understand Mesher 00:11:55.389 --> 00:11:57.389 as an institution, we have to look beyond just 00:11:57.389 --> 00:12:00.590 Ayude. Their repertoire is remarkably broad, 00:12:00.750 --> 00:12:02.889 and examining their other exhibitions reveals 00:12:02.889 --> 00:12:05.889 a really complex curatorial strategy. Let's look 00:12:05.889 --> 00:12:07.409 at the evidence from the source material for 00:12:07.409 --> 00:12:09.649 that. We have to rewind to their inaugural year, 00:12:09.850 --> 00:12:13.529 2019. From September 13 to December 22, they 00:12:13.529 --> 00:12:16.090 launched an exhibition titled Beyond the Vessel. 00:12:16.230 --> 00:12:19.190 And the focus of this show was myths, legends, 00:12:19.289 --> 00:12:22.509 and fables in contemporary ceramics around Europe. 00:12:22.750 --> 00:12:25.490 That is a fascinating juxtaposition. It feels 00:12:25.490 --> 00:12:28.070 like a massive pivot. On one hand, we have a 00:12:28.070 --> 00:12:31.009 deeply historical, century -long excavation of 00:12:31.009 --> 00:12:33.590 female Turkish painters. On the other hand, we 00:12:33.590 --> 00:12:36.190 have contemporary European ceramic fables. Yeah, 00:12:36.230 --> 00:12:38.429 it seems disconnected at first glance. It begs 00:12:38.429 --> 00:12:41.690 the question, is Mesher just... programming whatever's 00:12:41.690 --> 00:12:44.330 available, or is there a cohesive vision connecting 00:12:44.330 --> 00:12:47.269 these wildly different mediums and geographies? 00:12:47.409 --> 00:12:49.850 The cohesion lies in the concept of the vessel 00:12:49.850 --> 00:12:52.759 itself. Whether you are looking at a contemporary 00:12:52.759 --> 00:12:55.799 European ceramic piece that holds a myth, or 00:12:55.799 --> 00:12:58.220 a 1920s painting by a forgotten Turkish woman 00:12:58.220 --> 00:13:00.379 that holds a hidden history, the institution 00:13:00.379 --> 00:13:02.600 is focused on how narratives are contained and 00:13:02.600 --> 00:13:04.659 transmitted. Oh, I see. And they continue to 00:13:04.659 --> 00:13:06.980 bridge disparate narratives in 2020 as well. 00:13:07.179 --> 00:13:09.039 Right. Right in the middle of these two shows, 00:13:09.159 --> 00:13:12.080 they hosted Alexis Grichanko, The Constantinople 00:13:12.080 --> 00:13:15.279 Years. That exhibition ran for a significant 00:13:15.279 --> 00:13:18.200 portion of the year, from February 7 to November 00:13:18.200 --> 00:13:22.450 1, 2020. So when you synthesize these three data 00:13:22.450 --> 00:13:25.649 points, the vision of Mesher becomes undeniably 00:13:25.649 --> 00:13:28.929 clear. You have contemporary European ceramics 00:13:28.929 --> 00:13:32.309 in 2019. You have the historic Constantinople 00:13:32.309 --> 00:13:34.629 years of Alexis Grichenko bridging the European 00:13:34.629 --> 00:13:37.149 perspective with the Istanbul location in 2020. 00:13:37.409 --> 00:13:40.610 Right. And then you have the monumental unearthing 00:13:40.610 --> 00:13:44.950 of female Turkish artists in 2021 and 2022. So 00:13:44.950 --> 00:13:47.169 they are operating as a sort of temporal and 00:13:47.169 --> 00:13:49.649 geographical crossroads. Exactly. They refuse 00:13:49.649 --> 00:13:52.399 to be boxed into a single category. They are 00:13:52.399 --> 00:13:54.240 not just a contemporary gallery, and they aren't 00:13:54.240 --> 00:13:56.519 just a historical archive. They are actively 00:13:56.519 --> 00:13:59.600 cross -pollinating mediums, ceramics, paint, 00:13:59.820 --> 00:14:02.820 photography, and dragging the timeline back and 00:14:02.820 --> 00:14:05.460 forth from the 1850s to the modern day. Keeping 00:14:05.460 --> 00:14:08.340 you on your toes. Yes. By doing so, they force 00:14:08.340 --> 00:14:10.559 the visitor to constantly re -evaluate how the 00:14:10.559 --> 00:14:12.879 past informs the present. It makes the physical 00:14:12.879 --> 00:14:15.340 location on Istiklal Street feel even more appropriate. 00:14:15.759 --> 00:14:17.779 Just like the street outside is a chaotic blend 00:14:17.779 --> 00:14:19.919 of historical architecture and modern commerce, 00:14:20.139 --> 00:14:22.399 the inside of Messier is a curated collision 00:14:22.399 --> 00:14:24.700 of time and medium. That's a great way to put 00:14:24.700 --> 00:14:27.299 it. But as we wrap up our analysis of these sources, 00:14:27.460 --> 00:14:29.759 I really want to pivot the focus directly onto 00:14:29.759 --> 00:14:32.179 you, the listener. Because studying an exhibition 00:14:32.179 --> 00:14:34.960 like Ayude is a stark reminder of the nature 00:14:34.960 --> 00:14:37.879 of history itself. It absolutely shatters the 00:14:37.879 --> 00:14:40.279 illusion that history is merely an objective 00:14:40.279 --> 00:14:43.320 record of events. History is a curated product. 00:14:43.440 --> 00:14:46.120 It is only what is preserved, what is valued 00:14:46.120 --> 00:14:48.799 by the establishment, and ultimately what is 00:14:48.799 --> 00:14:51.100 brought into the light by people willing to do 00:14:51.100 --> 00:14:55.019 the exhaustive research. Exactly. Those 200 artworks 00:14:55.019 --> 00:14:58.220 sat unseen for decades, not because they lacked 00:14:58.220 --> 00:15:00.980 artistic merit, but because the society of their 00:15:00.980 --> 00:15:03.419 time didn't deem them worthy of the they floor. 00:15:04.399 --> 00:15:06.220 It forces you to look at your own professional 00:15:06.220 --> 00:15:09.419 field or even your own family archives and wonder 00:15:09.419 --> 00:15:11.539 what hidden treasures are sitting in the dark 00:15:11.539 --> 00:15:14.059 just waiting for someone to curate them. This 00:15:14.059 --> 00:15:16.240 raises an important question, and it's a concept 00:15:16.240 --> 00:15:18.559 that builds directly on the architectural psychology 00:15:18.559 --> 00:15:20.899 we've been discussing today. We have spent this 00:15:20.899 --> 00:15:23.399 time analyzing how these female artists were 00:15:23.399 --> 00:15:25.799 forced to navigate the increasingly tight spaces 00:15:25.799 --> 00:15:29.080 between their internal reality and societal demands. 00:15:29.419 --> 00:15:31.519 So I want to leave you with a lingering thought 00:15:31.519 --> 00:15:34.879 about your own architecture. How does that? map 00:15:34.879 --> 00:15:38.519 onto our lives today. Imagine that a museum like 00:15:38.519 --> 00:15:41.159 Mischer decided to curate an exhibition of your 00:15:41.159 --> 00:15:43.700 life right now, and they utilize that exact same 00:15:43.700 --> 00:15:46.360 three -floor structure. Okay. The ground floor 00:15:46.360 --> 00:15:50.320 is A, a collection representing your true, unvarnished 00:15:50.320 --> 00:15:53.159 self -perception when you are entirely unobserved. 00:15:53.539 --> 00:15:56.769 The second floor is U. representing how your 00:15:56.769 --> 00:15:59.230 identity morphs and adapts in relation to your 00:15:59.230 --> 00:16:02.009 closest family, friends, and dependents. And 00:16:02.009 --> 00:16:05.090 the top floor is they, a display of the professional, 00:16:05.289 --> 00:16:07.830 social, and domestic expectations that modern 00:16:07.830 --> 00:16:10.490 society has handed to you. That is a heavy thought 00:16:10.490 --> 00:16:12.509 experiment. It is, because if you were forced 00:16:12.509 --> 00:16:14.230 to walk through that museum of your own life, 00:16:14.330 --> 00:16:16.230 you have to ask yourself, would the artifacts 00:16:16.230 --> 00:16:18.610 on the they floor reflect the person who exists 00:16:18.610 --> 00:16:20.970 on the I floor? Or would it just be the modern 00:16:20.970 --> 00:16:22.850 corporate equivalent of painting flowers because 00:16:22.850 --> 00:16:24.750 that is what your environment expects of you? 00:16:25.070 --> 00:16:27.429 And perhaps the most vital question to consider, 00:16:27.629 --> 00:16:29.570 if you were handed the keys to that building, 00:16:29.789 --> 00:16:31.789 which floor of your own life would you choose 00:16:31.789 --> 00:16:34.129 to spend the most time on? It's a profound question 00:16:34.129 --> 00:16:36.710 of alignment. Are the floors of your life in 00:16:36.710 --> 00:16:40.250 conversation, or are they in conflict? We will 00:16:40.250 --> 00:16:42.490 leave you to explore the floors of your own museum. 00:16:43.039 --> 00:16:44.940 Thank you for joining us on this deep drive into 00:16:44.940 --> 00:16:47.700 Istanbul's Mesha, the unseen artists of the forgotten 00:16:47.700 --> 00:16:50.559 century, and the architecture of identity. Stay 00:16:50.559 --> 00:16:52.919 curious, keep excavating the hidden histories 00:16:52.919 --> 00:16:54.820 around you, and we will catch you on the next 00:16:54.820 --> 00:16:55.299 deep dive.