It was Paradise, Unfortunately (No such thing as theatre)

Performance

March 2, 2024 / 18:00

Pera Museum presents a performance titled It was Paradise, Unfortunately (No such thing as theatre) as part of the public programming of the exhibition Souvenirs of the Future, explores the connections between memory and future imaginings through contemporary works, based on the Suna and Inan Kirac Foundation's Kütahya Tiles and Ceramics Collection.

This research performance looks at the exciting and futuristic potential of the "past" to heal the world today. It reframes our concept of theater, focusing on why and how we originally practised it and asks if it can change the world.As we enter the Anthropocene, it reimagines a queer intersectional utopia that might give us answers for what is to come. 

The work in progress performance written by the Jordanian trans playwright and theater maker Raphael Amahl Khouri and performed with the artist Myrto Stampoulou, was commissioned for the Outburst Festival held in Belfast November 2023 is being staged in Istanbul for the first time.

The free performance will take place at Pera Museum Auditorium and the language is English. No reservations are taken. Suitable for audiences aged 18+.

Temporary Exhibition

Souvenirs of the Future

The exhibition focuses on the memories recalled through objects whilst exploring the connections between memory and future imaginings through a contemporary lens. The cultural and symbolic value and significance of objects taken as souvenirs, those that remind us of a certain place and time, or those that are collected, weave together personal journeys and the memory of the region. Instead of a nostalgic attachment to the past, it proposes contemplating how the future will be remembered and focuses on memory's future-oriented functions.

Souvenirs of the Future

It’s better to burn out than to fade away

It’s better to burn out than to fade away

In 1962 Philip Corner, one of the most prominent members of the Fluxus movement, caused a great commotion in serious music circles when during a performance entitled Piano Activities he climbed up onto a grand piano and began to kick it while other members of the group attacked it with saws, hammers and all kinds of other implements.

The Battle of Varna

The Battle of Varna

Over the years of 1864 through 1876, Stanisław Chlebowski served Sultan Abdülaziz in Istanbul as his court painter. As it was, Abdülaziz disposed of considerable artistic talents of his own, and he actively involved himself in Chlebowski’s creative process, suggesting ideas for compositions –such as ballistic pieces praising the victories of Turkish arms. 

Midnight Horror Stories: <br> Witches’ Sun <br> Mehmet Berk Yaltırık

Midnight Horror Stories:
Witches’ Sun
Mehmet Berk Yaltırık

I walk over rocks hot as iron under the September sun. I can make out a few lines in the distance, and a few cracked rocks, but apart from those, not a single tree, not one plant