Başakşehir: Bir Kent Modeli
11.12.2015 - 06.01.2016 Studio-X, Meclis-i Mebusan Caddesi 35A, 34427 Istanbul, Turkey
Far away, there is a district called Başakşehir. For some, Başakşehir is just a remote district of Istanbul, but for some, it is the new city center. With the construction of the new international airport, a canal connecting Black Sea and Marmara and other similar projects, the area is emerging as a new city center of the future.
The video installation designed by Sandra Schäfer Başakşehir: An Urban Model tries to understand and describe the urban character of this district. The interviews in the videos enable us to lend an ear to the thoughts of Başakşehir settlers. The research was conducted in collaboration with the anthropologist Ayşe Çavdar.
With its 370,000 inhabitants, Başakşehir is also emblematic of a more comprehensive process of transformation; both a physical and social restructuring of the city. State and the city are acting as a private construction company. And the migrations within the city are changing the social fabric. Thanks to the videos, it is definitely possible to witness Başakşehir’s being in the center of all of these changes.
Başakşehir: An Urban Model, traces the layers and contradictions of the spreading urban transformation. The installation presents the model of Başakşehir intertwined with the perspectives of residents and workers from the area, as well as from the nearby İkitelli industrial zone. Thanks to three different projections and four wallpapers, this exhibition describes the subdivided districts of Başakşehir. The exhibition of Başakşehir: An Urban Model can be visited until 6th January at Studio-X Istanbul.
https://www.studio-xistanbul.org/tr/events/basaksehir-bir-kent-modeli
