Istanbul | The New York Observer

Istanbul Asks: Why Gungoren?

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 00:26:41 -0400

ISTANBUL, July 29—Two nights after devastating terrorist bombs exploded on its popular pedestrian shopping block, the neighborhood of Gungoren swarmed with people: old and young men repaired the shattered windows of a clothing shop under the blank, watchful eyes of naked mannequins; women in head scarves shared ice cream next to women in sundresses; shop owners smoked beside their boxes of shoes for sale; a handful of policemen clutched riot shields opposite tiny pink...

Joy (and Sex) in Istanbul: Bausch Has a Good Time

Sun, 17 Dec 2006 19:00:00 -0500

Who could have imagined that the aggressive, angry, über-feminist Pina Bausch of 20 years ago would have metamorphosed into the romantic, sensual and—yes—charming Pina Bausch of today? The sensibility that produced what Arlene Croce, in 1984, referred to as “ Animal House with weltschmerz” is now celebrating life and love in Istanbul, in a piece called Nefés (that’s Turkish for “breath”). Yes! The old in-your-face New Wave is rapidly receding from B.A.M.’s shoreline; in...

Joy (and Sex) in Istanbul: Bausch Has a Good Time

Sun, 17 Dec 2006 19:00:00 -0500

Who could have imagined that the aggressive, angry, über-feminist Pina Bausch of 20 years ago would have metamorphosed into the romantic, sensual and—yes—charming Pina Bausch of today? The sensibility that produced what Arlene Croce, in 1984, referred to as “Animal House with weltschmerz” is now celebrating life and love in Istanbul, in a piece called Nefés (that’s Turkish for “breath”). Yes! The old in-your-face New Wave is rapidly receding from B.A.M.’s shoreline; in its...

Penélope and Pedro Return! Almodóvar Loves the Ladies, Again

Sun, 12 Nov 2006 19:00:00 -0500

Pedro Almodóvar’s Volver, from his screenplay (in Spanish, with English subtitles), turns out to be by far the most disciplined narrative film, structurally and stylistically, of the 16 or so that he’s made over the past quarter of a century. Mr. Almodóvar’s ingrained partiality to his women characters attains almost heroic proportions here, as he follows the adventures and misadventures of a half-dozen closely related women for whom men are, at best, a necessary...

Vasif Kortun, Biennial Man

Fri, 21 Apr 2006 05:51:50 -0400

Clarissa Dalrymple "Next year, in 2007, I think it's like the year of the suicide—the art world commits suicide," said Vasif Kortun. "It starts with Moscow, and then there's the Emirates, and then there's Venice, then in Istanbul; there's Documenta, there is Muenster Sculpture Projects—there's like fifty biennials next year." Mr. Kortun, whose polite patience punctuates his lengthy disquisitions on the state of the contemporary art world, holds some responsibility for this biennial blitz. After...

The Daily Transom

Fri, 21 Apr 2006 05:39:28 -0400

"Next year, in 2007, I think it's like the year of the suicide—the art world commits suicide," said Vasif Kortun. "It starts with Moscow, and then there's the Emirates, and then there's Venice, then in Istanbul; there's Documenta, there is Müenster Sculpture Projects—there's like fifty biennials next year." Mr. Kortun, who has a polite patience punctuating his lengthy disquisitions on the state of the contemporary art world, holds some responsibility for this biennial blit....

Becoming Lobbyists

Mon, 13 Feb 2006 07:26:20 -0500

Citizens Union's Dick Dadey emailed over revenue numbers for the top New York political consulting and lobbying firms for the past five years that give a strong sense of how political consultants' main product line is increasingly...lobbying. It's not a new trend, but it's a worrying one for good-government groups, as the question of whether influence is being peddled depends largely on the consultants' personal integrity. In the worst case, the political work is...

Byzantine Bonanza: Giant Met Exhibit Of Eastern Empire

Sun, 25 Apr 2004 20:00:00 -0400

The exhibition called Byzantium: Faith and Power (1261-1557) , at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, encompasses some 350 objects from approximately 30 countries, including Greece, Bulgaria, Egypt, France, Italy, Romania, Russia, Turkey, Serbia and Montenegro, and Macedonia. This is almost too much geography for most of us to comprehend in a single exhibition, even one as large as this, and obstacles to comprehension may be compounded by the fact that the very name Byzantium...

Dining with Moira Hodgson

Sun, 21 Dec 2003 19:00:00 -0500

Turkish With a Twist:

Soho Garage Revs Up Kitchen A dark-haired woman of a certain age, muffled up to the chin in a black coat, took a seat by herself at a small table near the bar. "You need a glass of wine," said the manager. "In red, we have Spanish, Portuguese, French, Turkish …. " "I'll have the Turkish," she said. He brought over a thick tumbler of red wine and a bowl of...

Beyond the Met Staircase Lies the Byzantine Glory

Sun, 26 Nov 2000 19:00:00 -0500

I have never cared much for what art museums call "orientation" galleries. With their plethora of video and computer images, their stocks of well-worn art-historical clichés and their breezy reduction of complex aesthetic and historical issues to a few easily grasped labels and formulas, they have always struck me as a poor way to introduce museum visitors-especially first-time visitors-to great works of art.

People go to art museums, after all, to see the real thing,...

NATO Dictates Our Location: Rothschild's Lawn

Sun, 30 May 1999 20:00:00 -0400

Your diarist is filing this dispatch from a small village named Halton, some 50 miles northwest of London.

To be more precise, I am filing this dispatch from inside an American-made motor home sitting on the great lawn of a 52-room English country manor house, built by the banker Alfred de Rothschild in 1882. At present, the estate-Halton House, by name-serves as an officers' training ground and mess hall for the British Royal Air Force. And...