"Two Archives, One Selection: Tracing Ara Güler's Footsteps in Istanbul" Exhibition Event

Conversation

Wednesday, November 20, 19.00

Within the scope of the exhibition “Two Archives, One Selection: Tracing Ara Güler's Footsteps in Istanbul”, exhibition curator Demet Yıldız and exhibition advisor Umut Sülün are in conversation with Ahmet Ersoy from Boğaziçi University, Department of History. Besides talking about the exhibition’s preparation and the collaboration between two institutions, the speakers discuss with Ahmet Ersoy how Ara Güler has created a record of Istanbul from the 1950s to the present and the different ways in which we encounter these visual documents. Ersoy notes that photography can take on different functions in different contexts and can generate new encounters and situations at the points where it meets the viewer. Starting from the premise that photography is “an inconstant medium”, as described by Ersoy, the speakers consider how Ara Güler’s rich visual archive about everyday life and the street can be situated today in terms of nostalgia, memory, and history.