Saturday, June 12, 1999

The Exhibition

In 1999, NPP staged the first ever contemporary art exhibition within the Kapalicarsi - Grand Bazaar in conjunction with Adnan & Hasan of 89 - 92 Halicilar Caddesi...
http://www.adnanandhasan.com/

NPP painted the pictures, produced the poster, leaflets, brochures and books, all under the title of Istanbul? Yeah!
"Like humanity itself, Istanbul is young yet old, vibrant yet decaying, traditional yet unconventional. There are few cities in the world that reflect the untethered human spirit, as does this one. These contrasts make Istanbul alive and fascinating and are embodied by her people. Sometimes it can feel impossible to do anything here, yet anything can seem possible in Istanbul."
Ned Pamphilon 1997

The concept Istanbul? Yeah! was officially conceived with this exhibition, opened by Mayor Lutfi Kibiroglu...

The Kapalicarsi is the largest covered market in Istanbul. Mehmet II originally founded the Bazaar in 1461 to provide traders with a safe and orderly place in which to do their daily business. With 65 streets and approximately 4,000 shops, the Kapalicarsi has withstood fire and earthquake and still remains among the most famous markets in the world. The city itself was the centre of both the Byzantine Empire and then from 1453 the Ottoman Empire. Renamed "Istanbul not Constantinople", the city has remained a strategic East-West crossroads up to and beyond the foundation of Ataturk’s Turkish Republic in 1923.

TV, radio, newspapers and magazines covered the exhibition as a new catchphrase was born with shopkeepers filmed for TV declaring 'Istanbul? Yeah!'

Ned Pamphilon at the opening with Mayor Lutfi Kibiroglu