By Justin Mays:
Taksim’s Istiklal
Street's newest cultural center is Hope Alkazar located in the historical
Alkazar Cinema building. With a blockbuster artist, Refik Anadol, exhibiting
until May 2022, art lovers are lining up to enjoy the renovated space. The director of Alkazar, Bahar Türkay, said
that she defines the space as a platform with social wellness at its core
bringing movement, dance, sports, culture, and art together.
Program partners from
many different sectors inspire and give hope, with youth at the center of their
programming. Anadol’s work, Alkazar’s
Dream, is an interactive digital experience taking the history of space,
cinema, uploading data from 150 films to an AI program to create a 20-minute
installation.
In the first 12
minutes, the visitor observes millions of film frames, words, music and then
for eight minutes participates in an interactive experience that incorporates
their movements and visuals to make the space and participant one dynamic work
of art.
Aside from art
exhibitions the space will still function as a movie theater and grow with
workshops from different sectors. The famous brand Nike is a sponsor and
currently, there are sports-related activities from Cihangir Yoga, one of the
largest and first yoga studios in Turkey, and Urban Riders, the only studio
specializing in cycling classes.
Theater, dance, and
musical performances and workshops round out their ambitious agenda. Hope
Alkazar is committed to sustainability, upcycling, and zero waste approach
making this a green venue.
