Istanbul Modern Museum
The Istanbul Museum of Modern Art, Turkey’s first private museum to organize modern and contemporary art exhibitions, was founded in 2004 and occupies an 8,000 square meter site on the shores of the Bosphorus.
Istanbul Modern Museum is the big daddy of a slew of newish, privately funded art galleries in the city. Its stunning location on the shores of the Bosphorus and its extensive collection of Turkish 20th-century art make it well worth a visit. The icing on the cake is provided by a constantly changing and uniformly excellent program of exhibitions by local and international artists in the exhibition galleries on the ground floor. Istanbul Modern embraces a global vision to collect, preserve, exhibit and document works of modern and contemporary art and make them accessible to art lovers.
As part of its commitment to sharing Turkey’s artistic creativity with wide audiences and promoting its cultural identity in the international art world, Istanbul Modern hosts a broad array of interdisciplinary activities.
Apart from permanent and temporary exhibition galleries, a photography gallery, and spaces for educational and social programs, the museum offers a cinema, restaurant, design store and an extensive library.
There’s also a well-stocked gift shop, a cinema that shows art-house films and a stylish cafe-restaurant with superb views of the Bosphorus.
Istanbul Modern is in a prime location and is easy to get to on foot from Taksim Square (if you are prepared for a longer walk). Entry is 15 TL which is very reasonable for the size of the collection.
You could easily spend 3-4 hours here. The restaurant/bar overlooks the Bosphorus (when there is not a cruise ship parked in front of it !) and is a perfect place to grab a quick lunch or snack. Make sure to check out the museum gift shop great gifts not found in the rest of the city.
I thought the Istanbul Modern museum was a good stop, definitely worth visiting. For a city that has been around for over 1000 years, this museum gives a completely different picture of Istanbul. Plan to spend at least one full day here. I would definitely recommend a visit.
I was surprised to see that the collection is still rather small, and not as interesting as I thought it would be. The large cruise boats park next to the restaurant, so save your money and eat elsewhere.
This should be on the 'must do' list of Istanbul. It tracks early art in Istanbul in relation to what was happening in Paris and has great contributions from new up an coming artists
There is a great variety of works here. Some are really quite exciting in both execution and in the texture of their reference to the culture of Istanbul, such as the volcanic representation of destruction by fire of Ottoman houses captured in pvc mosaics.
If you are Istanbul and have some time this is a nice museum to visit. You can spend a few hours or all day here. I particularly like the photography exhibit. If you are looking for old, this isn’t the place as it fits its name, “Modern”. An added bonus is the terrace restaurant overlooking the Bosphorous River.
This museum houses an amazing collection of art works, some great video pieces, and a wonderful library. There's a great cafe/bar with fantastic views of the Bosphorus…and lovely garden grounds to walk on outside. A nice juxtaposition with all of the pieces of history so close by!
There was a great collection of paintings but didn't think much of the video installations. There was a installation performance on whilst there but no information (at least in English) so would of been nice to have some context to what we were watching.
This place is a big contrast with all the other historical places in Istanbul. The museum has a large collection of contemporary art that kind of reminded my of the Metropolitan museum form back home. But with all that they also have historical stuff from the past century.
Spacious, clean, aesthetic museum with wonderful collection and exhibition. There's also a wonderful terrance cafe/bistro with great view to the city. A hidden gem in Istanbul. Friendly staff.
After the rush and crush of museums in Sultanahmet the Istanbul Modern was a pleasant break. Good quality displays of selected contemporary Turkish and international art, alongside early modern works from Turkey. Easy to reach with a walk from the tram.