Curator's Tour
June 14, 2025 / 15:00
We invite you to explore Marcel Dzama: Dancing with the Moon, the artist’s first solo exhibition in Turkey, accompanied by the exhibition curator Alistair Hicks!
The exhibition brings together Dzama’s enchanted universe, where music and dance take center stage, alongside poignant reflections on the chaos brought about by environmental destruction, war, and poor governance.
In Hicks’ words: “While Dzama does tell lyrical, magical, sometimes downright whimsical stories, the thrust of his staggering energy is against War, is against the populists and dictators who are so often the causes or at least the catalysts of War.” Perhaps, Curator Alistair Hicks follows Dzama’s moves much like a chess master anticipating his opponent’s strategy.
Guided by curator Alistair Hicks, we welcome you to experience this world of lyrical, magical, humorous, and often telling of exaggerated or peculiar stories.
The 1-hour guided tour will be in English, and capacity is limited. Tickets are 300 TL. To join the tour, you can buy tickets from Biletix or make a reservation via resepsiyon@peramuzesi.org.tr
About Alistair Hicks
Alistair Hicks is a writer and art curator based in London. He was chief curator of the Deutsche Bank Collection for many years and is the author of many publications, including Urban Mirrors: Reflections from the Artists of Istanbul, Global Art Compass, A Voyage around Our Minds, School of London, New British Art in the Saatchi Collection and Contemporary Art at Deutsche Bank. Among the exhibitions Hicks has curated at Pera Museum are The Time Needs Changing, Doublethink Doublevision and Paula Rego: The Story of Stories.
Temporary Exhibition
Pera Museum is pleased to present Marcel Dzama’s first solo exhibition in Turkey, surveying the artist’s unique approach and compelling storytelling. The exhibition curated by Alistair Hicks, emerging from the artist’s colourful imaginative world that is centred on music and dance, is made up of works that address the failures of governance we are currently subjected to, environmental destruction, and the calamities caused by war.
Click for more information about the exhibition.
Among the most interesting themes in the oeuvre of Prassinos are cypresses, trees, and Turkish landscapes. The cypress woods in Üsküdar he saw every time he stepped out on the terrace of their house in İstanbul or the trees in Petits Champs must have been strong images of childhood for Prassinos.
In the works of western painters, we encounter mosques as the primary architectural elements that reflect the identity of the city of Istanbul. Often we can recognize the depicted landscape as Istanbul simply from the mosques.
Ali Sami is born in Rusçuk in 1866, and moves to İstanbul. Because his family is registered in the Beylerbeyi quarter of Üsküdar, Ali Sami is also called Üsküdarlı Ali Sami. He graduates from the Mühendishane-i Berri-i Hümayun in 1866 and becomes a teacher of painting and photography at the school.
Tuesday - Saturday 10:00 - 19:00
Friday 10:00 - 22:00
Sunday 12:00 - 18:00
The museum is closed on Mondays.
On Wednesdays, the students can
visit the museum free of admission.
Full ticket: 300 TL
Discounted: 150 TL
Groups: 200 TL (minimum 10 people)
