Artist: Isabelle Prim
France, 50’, 2014
French with Turkish subtitles
What could Méliès’ first colourised film, a fire at the Grand Bazar de la Charité and the opening night of Cyrano de Bergerac have in common? Who really wrote Edmond Rostand’s play? Is it all related somehow to the death of Italian anarchist and prompter Ildebrando Biribo, found dead in his prompt box on the night of the first performance, on 28 December 1897? The plot is labyrinthine, or rather, subterranean. Indeed, the camera takes us through tunnels, cellars, sewers, and secret passages that are reminiscent of both the prompter’s hideout and the twists and turns of a case which easily bears comparison with the best 19th century serials, not least Les Mystères de Paris (The Mysteries of Paris). To guide us, there is a prompter, one of those who cue actors up above from below; here, it’s dramatist Edmond Rostand himself, who is out of ideas for plays, and tormented by actress Sarah Bernhardt, played by Clotilde Hesme. Except that this prompter, at once a character in the film and a strange lecturer who recreates the case for us, isn’t hiding himself in the least. On the contrary, he literally invites himself in the film and speaks directly to us and to the characters turned actors, while relating the events that led to his death, which has never been solved. So, does the mystery remain unexplained? Maybe not. Because the prompter’s death marks perhaps the beginning of modernity. Is the file closed, then? No, because Isabelle Prim proves with this film that the inspiration lives on. (Céline Guenot)
The second part of exhibition illustrates Alberto Giacometti’s relations with Post-Cubist artists and the Surrealist movement between 1922 and 1935, one of the important sculptures series he created during his first years in Paris, and the critical role he played in the art scene of the period.
The exhibition Look at Me! Portraits and Other Fictions from the ”la Caixa” Contemporary Art Collection examines portraiture, one of the oldest artistic genres, through a significant number of works of our times. Through the exhibition we will be sharing about the artists and sections in Look At Me!.
Istanbul’s Seaside Leisure: Nostalgia from Sea Baths to Beaches exhibition brought together photographs, magazines, comics, objects, and books from various private and institutional collections, and told a nostalgic story while also addressing the change and socialization of the norms of how Istanbulites used their free time. Istanbul’s Seaside Leisure was a documentary testament of the radical transformations in the Republic’s lifestyle.
Tuesday - Friday 11.00 - 18.00
The museum is closed on Mondays,
Saturdays and Sundays.
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)
