As a Production Site: If Beyoğlu Falls

Beyoğlu, a representation of a timeless and alternative cultural vibrancy for centuries, has been positioned against tradition by those in power throughout its history of modernization.

In this context, Burcu Pelvanoğlu aims to focus on the frequented places of the art and literature community and to identify "what we have lost" through the relationships within them, writing a comparative chronicle of Beyoğlu. Within the paradigm of modernism, she divides Beyoğlu into two main sections: "From Tanzimat to 6-7 September" and "From 6-7 September to Today," without overlooking Beyoğlu's third cultural turn. She also includes her observations on the new Turkey-new Beyoğlu, which completely changed its appearance as of the 2010s within the framework of changing capital. She emphasizes the fragility of Beyoğlu's demographic structure, which has been reshaped by each wave of migration, receiving its share from the development of eclectic nationalist thought that inevitably feeds on creating an enemy but ultimately takes on another form, from discussions on locality-universality, and from the profitability calculations of capital and profit centers, without falling into the traps of anti-modernist founding nostalgia.

From Taksim Garden to Gardenbar, from Narmanlı Han to Lebon, from Cumhuriyet Meyhanesi to Mısır Apartment, from Maya Art Gallery to AKM, and finally from Sefahathane to Kemancı, an exercise in urban memory in the light of countless places, memories, and testimonies...