ŞUBAT 2020
NEWSLETTER OF ASSOCIATION SUISSE TURQUIE
No 30
With a little delay, we wanted to explore in this edition a book that was published in September 2020 called “Le Corbusier en Turquie”. The authors Bilsel, Morena, Laroche, Maeso, Ziegler, Beyru and Demiren delve into Swiss/French architect’s relationship with Turkey.
The book describes in detail how Le Corbusier (birthname: Charles-Edouard Jeanneret) was commissioned in 1939 to create a new urban planning scheme for Izmir, parts of which were still in ruins after the great fire of 1922. However, due to the 2nd WW, financial issues and arduous negotiations, it wasn’t until 1948 that Le Corbusier was able to come to Izmir. After much work, he sent his plans to the authorities in 1949. However, the plans remained on ink only, and not a single building of Corbusier rose from them due to various reasons (including the city’s desire to protect its old heritage neighbourhoods that were to be destroyed according to those plans).
This seemingly long but unfruitful business relationship between Le Corbusier and the city of Izmir does not encompass, however, the entirety of the relationship between Le Corbusier and Turkey. According to Jean-Luc Maeso and Didier Laroche, Turkey always held a significant place in the elaboration of Le Corbusier’s theories, both architectural and urban. A seven-month-long back-packing trip that Le Corbusier undertook in 1911 when he was 24 years old, to Damas, Edirne, Bursa, Istanbul where he spent seven weeks, is considered to have had a formative role in his thinking and later works.
Very much inspired and influenced by this trip, le Corbusier built a house in 1917 at La Chaux-de-Fonds for the wealthy watchmaker Anatole Schwob, which is called “Villa Turque” due to its oriental and exotic style and to the interiors that reflect the spaces seen in ottoman yalıs.
And indeed the very last book le Corbusier’s finished writing in the weeks prior to his death in 1965, was “Le voyage d’Orient” which contained the travel notes and sketches of this long ago trip to Turkey in 1911. It was as if he owed it to himself and to the world to immortalize this special bond he felt between himself and Turkey.
We look forward to getting together again and in the meantime wish you all a Happy Valentine’s.
Editors
Please keep us posted on events and news that you would like to share at
editorsassosuisseturquie@gmail.com
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FEBRUARY AND MARCH EVENTS
Future Association Events
Zoom meeting with Hülya Kurt – February 9 at 19:30
Please register at assosuisseturquie@gmail.com
This will be a coaching session on personal development and coaching. If there is enough demand a 2nd session in English can also be organized.
Zoom meeting with Murat Alder – February 23 at 19:00 Answers to your questions about the popular vote on March 7th.
More details to follow and please register at assosuisseturquie@gmail.com
Annual general meeting and Conference about historical relations between Malta and Turkey – April 20
More details to follow and please register at assosuisseturquie@gmail.com
April 23 Children’s Day Celebration – April 25
We hope to organize this celebration with the sponsorship of our members Cardahis and an exhibition, TürkArt2.
More details to follow and please register at assosuisseturquie@gmail.com
Conference of Metin Arditi for his new book ‘Rachel et les siens’ – 2021
Details will follow!
Annual Republic Day Ball – October 30, 2021
We are holding the date as we hope the situation to improve by then
For future Association events : https://assochtr.ch
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LARTA VIRTUAL 2021 – NOW LIVE ONLINE: Until Sunday 14 February
The London Antique Rug and Textile Art Fair
https://www.cornucopia.net/events/larta-virtual/
LARTA will take place ONLINE this year over three weeks, with an extended selling exhibition, video interviews, virtual tours plus buying tips for collectors. Twenty specialist rug and textile dealers will showcase their best pieces, from furnishing textiles to tribal weavings and collectors’ items, to room-sized rugs and contemporary design carpets as well as beautiful kilims and tapestries.
Book Talk with Dr Elizabeth Rodini – February 16 at 17:00
Gentile Bellini’s Portrait of Sultan Mehmet II (Fatih): Lives and Afterlives of an Iconic Image
In 1479, the Venetian painter Gentile Bellini arrived at the Ottoman court in Istanbul, where he produced his celebrated portrait of Sultan Mehmed II. An important moment of cultural diplomacy, this was the first of many intriguing episodes in the picture’s history. Elizabeth Rodini traces Gentile’s portrait from Mehmed’s court to the Venetian lagoon, from the railway stations of wartorn Europe to the walls of London’s National Gallery, exploring its life as a painting and its afterlife as a famous, often puzzling image.
To register: https://www.cornucopia.net/events/dr-elizabeth-rodini-gentile-bellinis-portrait-of-sultan-mehmed-ii/
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ANNOUNCEMENTS
This year all the revenues generated from the sale of “Lausanne Bizim Lozan” will go to support the students who are financially struggling because of the Covid-19’s economic impact. A sub-committee has been created within the Association for this purpose.
In the last year, we’ve supported three graduate and doctoral students studying in Switzerland. One of them has already graduated. We are covering the fees of 10 highschool female students in Turkey. We’ve made donations to Tema and Otium. And last but not least, we’ve donated to WWF-Turkey. Now each of our members has an adopted sea turtle.
The much-praised book “Lausanne Bizim Lozan” published by our Association is available for purchase at:
Bookstore Letu in Geneva
Online on our website https://assochtr.ch
And also on https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=22298731039&searchurl=sortby%3D0%26vci%3D601833
We believe it will be a much-appreciated gift by your friends and family!
Cornucopia Magazine
Our annual sponsor and the source of many events that take place in Turkey and around the world, would much appreciate your support
Subscribe to Cornucopia Magazine in time for the next issue
http://www.cornucopia.net/store/subscriptions/
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RECENT HIGHLIGHTS
The vaccination against Covid-19 is ongoing in Geneva
As of February 4, 21’646 doses were administered in the Canton of which 19’786 are 1st doses. Currently two vaccines are authorised in Switzerland; those from Pfizer/Biontech and Moderna. For registering to get vaccinated, the website https://www.ge.ch/se-faire-vacciner-contre-covid-19/inscription-vaccination and the telephone 0800 909 400 can be used.
2021 marks 50 years since women gained the right to vote in Switzerland.
The event will be honoured by Swissmint with a CHF50 gold coin that will be released on April 29. The coin has been designed by Karin Widmer from Bern. Switzerland was one of the last countries in Europe to give women the right to vote.
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ARTS UPDATE sponsored by Cornucopia Magazine
TURKEY
Istanbul museums and institutions
Ara Güler and Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar
Ara Güler Museum, Bomonti, Şişli
Until February 28, 2021
https://www.cornucopia.net/events/ara-guler-and-ahmet-hamdi-tanpinar/
On Celestial Bodies
Arter, Dolapdere
Until March 7, 2021
https://www.cornucopia.net/events/on-celestial-bodies/
For Eyes that Listen
Arter, Dolapdere
Until March 31, 2021
https://www.cornucopia.net/events/for-eyes-that-listen/
Şakir Eczacıbaşı: Selected Moments
Istanbul Modern, Beyoğlu
Until March 31, 2021
https://www.cornucopia.net/events/akir-eczacba-selected-moments/
Motif: From the Sadberk Hanım Museum
Sadberk Hanım Museum, Sarıyer, Istanbul
Until October 31, 2021
https://www.cornucopia.net/events/motif/
Istanbul galleries
Selma Gürbüz: This Place We Call World
Istanbul Modern Temporary Space, Beyoğlu
Until March 31, 2021
https://www.cornucopia.net/events/selma-gurbuz-this-place-we-call-world/
Izmir
Ara Güler: Merhaba Izmir
Arkas Art Centre, Izmir