Jawa El Khash, 2020
8’44”
Hammam is a virtual-reality experience that takes place in a bath house. It is an opportunity to experience the majestic and romantic nature of Islamic architecture through the spiritual elements of water and light. In Islamic architecture, light is a sublime element that enlightens the soul within the space, evoking a sense of sanctity as it seeps in through the ceiling, gifting every object it touches with a luminous golden presence. Here, sunlight acts as a mediator that ties two worlds together – the visible and the invisible, the human and the sublime, blurring the distinction between the interior and the exterior, the real and the imagined. The music of water accompanies you in the form of fountains and pools, rhythmically pulsating, reminding you of the flow of the invisible river of time. Unlike bathhouses in real life, this hammam is absent of a human spirit. The living beings in this world are butterflies, prayer beads, lanterns, fog, water and light. Through these symbolic elements, the limits of physical reality are transformed into a virtual environment that breathes surrealism and solitude.
The exhibition “Look At Me! Portraits and Other Fictions from the ”la Caixa” Contemporary Art Collection” examined portraiture, one of the oldest artistic genres, through a significant number of works of our times. Paintings, photographs, sculptures and videos shaped a labyrinth of gazes that invite spectators to reflect themselves in the social mirror of portraits.
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.
The war fought by the Greeks to shake off the Turkish yoke was closely observed around Europe and, this being the era of romanticism, the events taking place around Greece between 1821 and 1832 became a symbol for national liberation struggle.
Tuesday - Saturday 10.00 - 19.00
Sunday 12.00 - 18.00
The museum is closed on Mondays.
On Wednesdays, the students can
visit the museum free of admission.
Full ticket: 25 TL
Discounted: 10 TL
Groups: 20 TL (10 people or more)
