Director: John Akomfrah
UK, 2011, 92', HDD, color
English with Turkish subtitles

Structured as an allegorical fable, The Nine Muses is a stylized and idiosyncratic telling of the history of mass migration from Africa, the Caribbean and South Asia to rebuild post-war Britain. This film is a monument to a forgotten generation.

Weaving Homer’s epic poem, The Odyssey, stunning winter vistas and a vast array of archival material The Nine Muses is divided into nine overlapping musical chapters to create a philosophical rumination on the emigrants experience, the journey and the idea of home. Devised and scripted from the writings of an array of authors including Dante Alighieri, Samuel Beckett, Emily Dickinson, James Joyce, John Milton, Friedrich Nietzsche, William Shakespeare, Sophocles and Dylan Thomas, The Nine Muses is a cerebral and sensual journey – a mediation on displacement, identity and memory.

Handsworth Songs

Handsworth Songs

Testament

Testament

Who Needs A Heart

Who Needs A Heart

Speak Like A Child

Speak Like A Child

The Nine Muses

The Nine Muses

The Ottoman Way of Serving Coffee

The Ottoman Way of Serving Coffee

Coffee was served with much splendor at the harems of the Ottoman palace and mansions. First, sweets (usually jam) was served on silverware, followed by coffee serving. The coffee jug would be placed in a sitil (brazier), which had three chains on its sides for carrying, had cinders in the middle, and was made of tombac, silver or brass. The sitil had a satin or silk cover embroidered with silver thread, tinsel, sequin or even pearls and diamonds.

Explore the Museum with the Little Yellow Circle!

Explore the Museum with the Little Yellow Circle!

Published as part of Pera Learning programs, “The Little Yellow Circle (Küçük Sarı Daire)” is a children’s book written by Tania Bahar and illustrated by Marina Rico, offering children and adults to a novel learning experience where they can share and discover together.

Symbols

Symbols

Pera Museum’s Cold Front from the Balkans exhibition curated by Ali Akay and Alenka Gregorič brings together contemporary artists from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia and Slovenia.