At our 530th Art Meeting, we're visiting Muradiye Han as part of the 18th Istanbul Biennial.

Muradiye Han, one of the most striking venues of the 18th Istanbul Biennial, is a historic building located on Galata Şarap İskelesi Street in Beyoğlu. Designed in 1914 by renowned Turkish architect M. Vedad Tek as a commercial building under the name "Sabit Bey Han." Used as the "Muradiye Police Station" by French soldiers during the occupation of Istanbul, the building underwent extensive restoration in 2021 under the leadership of architect Han Tümertekin, achieving its current state.

Venezuan artist Ana Alenso's work "What the Mine Gives, the Mine Takes" is being exhibited at Muradiye Han as part of the Biennial. In this 2020 work, the artist explores the environmental destruction and social consequences caused by illegal gold mining in the Venezuelan Amazon. It explores the government's diversion of precious mineral reserves during the 2014-2016 oil crisis, the pollution caused by mercury used in this process, and the impacts on the lives of miners and indigenous communities. The work offers a powerful critique of the devastating effects of natural resource exploitation on both the environment and humans.

Wednesday, November 5

12:00-13:00

Address: Kemankeş Karamustafa Paşa, Galata Wine Pier Street No:10, Beyoğlu

https://maps.app.goo.gl/VHSUrugQABdysHNg6?g_st=ipc

 We're visiting Artweeks Akaretler for our 529th Art Meeting.

After experiencing The Ritz-Carlton, where 15 young artists from the Art for Good Association are also taking part, this week we're heading to Akaretler Row Houses. This art bridge between the two venues offers a truly artistic journey through the city's diverse landscape.

Unlike The Ritz-Carlton's vertical gallery offerings, Akaretler invites us to a more organic and exploratory art experience, extending onto the streets. Within this historical fabric, each building tells a different story. Solo exhibitions, independent projects by young and innovative artists, and carefully selected works from institutional collections will be the main characters of this open-air art district.

Wandering among Akaretler's 150-year-old historic stone buildings, you'll encounter established galleries such as Mine Art Gallery, Sanatorium, and Galeri Siyah Beyaz. You'll discover current works from dynamic galleries like MERKUR, Öktem Aykut, and Ambidexter, and encounter selections from Pi Artworks and x-istin. Special projects from Bülent Eczacıbaşı and Nihat Odabaşı also await us. https://gazeteoksijen.com/turkiye/artweeks-istanbul-12-edisyonu-ile-sanati-sehrin-iki-farkli-noktasina-tasiyor-252842

Wednesday, October 22

12:00-1:00

Address: Vişnezade, Süleyman Seba Street No:39, Beşiktaş

https://maps.app.goo.gl/x2AHyWWUsCHNtuft9?g_st=ipc

Then, in the xTalks Business × Art series we held as part of Artweeks Akaretler, we discuss concepts that are transforming the world from the perspectives of businesspeople and artists.

One of this year's special sessions, "MERAK" (CURIOUS ART), will feature Ahu Orakçıoğlu, İpek Özmen Develi, and Zehra Öney on stage. Moderated by our Association President Kamuran Selin Bozkurt, we will host a panel featuring Ahu Orakçıoğlu, İpek Özmen Develi, and Zehra Öney.

Panel details:

Date: Wednesday, October 22

Time: 5:00 PM

Venue: The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Block B, Floor 1 (Art for Good Association)

At our 528th Art Meeting, we're visiting the 12th Artweeks, which includes the Art for Good Association.

The Art for Good Association, which always prioritizes the healing and unifying power of art, has undertaken another meaningful project by participating in the 12th Artweeks Istanbul. The event, brought to life by Bilgili Holding's vision, will be held at Akaretler Sıraevler and The Ritz-Carlton Residences Istanbul from October 15–26.

The association's exhibition, curated by me, will open to the public on Wednesday at The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Block B, on Floor -1. This special selection adopts an inclusive approach, featuring artists from our association as well as independent artists. Bringing together 53 works by 15 artists, the exhibition reinterprets ancient forms of representation, such as portraits and landscapes, through Foucault's concept of "subjectification."

The exhibition will be open to the public free of charge until October 26th, from 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM, on the -1st floor of The Ritz-Carlton Residences.

Artists featured in the exhibition:

Ahmet Hamdi Başsöz, Asya Nur Hasgül, Barışcan Seval, Elif Ece Kazan, Emir Furkan Tekkalmaz, Erman Gürcüm, Esra Mengülerek, Fatih Özkan, Kardelen Erken, Melike Melena, Melisa Geçalp, Merve Topuz, Modilda, Nida Erdoğan, Rabia Yıldırım

Wednesday, October 15th

12:00 PM - 1:00 PM (Preview)

Address: The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Istanbul (Fulya entrance), Block B, -1st Floor

https://maps.app.goo.gl/Tk9aX675zNnsxWzG7?g_st=ipc

At our 527th Art Meeting, we are visiting the Garden of the Former French Orphanage as part of the 18th Istanbul Biennial.

In 1869, Sultan Abdülaziz allocated this land, which housed a four-story mansion, to the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul, on the condition that it be used as an orphanage. The Saint-Joseph French Orphanage opened its doors that same year, along with the adjacent Saint Eugène Primary School. Both institutions remained in operation until 1937. Due to the building's deteriorating condition and legal proceedings regarding its ownership, the building has been unused for some time. The surrounding garden, once known for its orchard, wells, terraces, and flowing water sources, now serves as a public social facility opened to the public by the Beyoğlu Municipality under the name "Tophane Mekan."

Khalil Rabah (b. 1961, Jerusalem) is an artist, curator, and educator who lives and works in Ramallah. Rabah is the founder and artistic director of the ongoing Palestinian Museum of Natural History and Humankind project. In his multidisciplinary conceptual practice, the artist explores displacement, memory, and identity through architectural, ecological, and speculative institutional structures. His solo exhibitions include Through the Palestinian Museum of Natural History and Humankind, Fondazione Merz, Turin (2024); What is not, Sharjah Art Association (2022); Relocation, Among Other Things, Salzburger Kunstverein (2022). His group exhibitions include Desert X AlUla (2022), the 2nd Lahore Biennale (2020), and Manifesta 12, Palermo (2018). Rabah's garden piece, Red Rotavesait (2025), is a conceptual device and spatial intervention that opens and disrupts different paths of labor, movement, and belonging. The installation is an extension of Khalil Rabah's career-long interest in land struggles, deportation, and the questioning of dominant historical narratives. Nestled in a secluded corner of the public garden of the Former French Orphanage, the work invites biennial visitors to wander—and encounter obstacles—within a structure of barriers, thresholds, and contradictory signs. The structural features shaping the installation simultaneously reflect the orphanage's history as a refuge and a space of domination.

https://bienal.iksv.org/tr/18b-sanatcilar/khalil-rabah

Wednesday, October 8

12:00-1:00 PM

Address: Tomtom, Boğazkesen Caddesi 65c, Beyoğlu

https://maps.app.goo.gl/RAYKw2FCa1cPdtENA?g_st=ipc

We're visiting the Elhamra Han as part of the 18th Istanbul Biennial at the 526th Art Meeting.

Curator Christine Tohmé's "Three-Legged Cat" projected the 18th Istanbul Biennial, breaking with traditional formats and spanning three years. The first leg of the biennial, centered around themes of self-preservation and future possibilities, took place at eight different venues along the Beyoğlu-Karaköy route from September 20 to November 23, 2025.

One of these venues is the Elhamra Han, a historically significant venue in Istanbul's memory. Built in 1827 as one of the city's first theaters, the building, with its glass entrance, was once known as the "Palais de Cristal" (Crystal Palace). Over the years, it has hosted theater, music, and cinema events. After the great fire in 1999, the inn continued to serve various purposes, and two apartments on the second floor were opened as exhibition spaces for the biennial.

The artists featured at the Elhamra Han are Mona Benyamin, Şafak Şule Kemancı, Jagdeep Raina, Riar Rizaldi, Lara Saab, Natasha Tontey, and Sevil Tunaboylu.

https://bienal.iksv.org/tr/18-istanbul-bienali/kavramsal-cerceve

Wednesday, October 1st

12:00-1:00 PM

Address: Asmalı Mescit, Beyoğlu

https://maps.app.goo.gl/KnBVhXmH1jbLpB8J8?g_st=ipc

At our 525th Art Meeting, we will be meeting at Gallery Beylikdüzü, in the exhibition "Layers of the Collection," which brings together our association's ten-year collection.

The Art for Good Association's accumulated works not only present a selection of works; they also invite a comprehensive exploration of the layers of art's production, relationships, and meaning. The exhibition's title itself points to this multifaceted structure: from projects providing production support to young artists to meetings that strengthen intergenerational dialogue, from projects that bring local production to the forefront to collective labor, these layers form the foundation of the collection.

The 524 Art Meetings and 277 artist workshop visits held over the course of ten years constituted the collection's most important resources. The works of the artists involved in our projects are also added to this collection, demonstrating that the association has established not only an archive but also a living and thriving art ecosystem.

"Layers of the Collection" reveals a relational network that goes beyond individual creativity, bringing together spaces, materials, institutions, and collective labor. The exhibition shares with the audience the bridge art forms between the past and the future, inviting them to explore the collective nature of cultural production.

We invite you and your friends to our opening to discover the traces of this meaningful journey together.

Tuesday, September 23, 12:00-1:00 PM

Address: Marmara, Avrasya Caddesi No:17/2, Beylikdüzü

https://maps.app.goo.gl/s87faNbWXYXvRmPc8?g_st=ipc