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September 3, 2010, 6:00 AM
In Istanbul, 8,000 Years of History
By SUSANNE FOWLER
[Photo Caption]
A panorama of Istanbul in the dome room of the “Legendary Istanbul” exhibition at the Sakip Sabanci Museum.
Istanbul
From
the moment you enter the “Legendary Istanbul” exhibition at the Sakip
Sabanci Museum, you are plunged into a dark and moody prehistoric
forest, and, sitting on a tree stump, you watch as the Sea of Marmara
forms.
This dramatic video introduction is just the beginning of
the amazing sights and sounds at “Legendary Istanbul: 8,000 Years of a
Capital,” which has been extended through Sept. 26. The exhibition
traces the history of the cultural capital of Turkey from Neolithic
times (check out the terra-cotta fertility goddess figurine) to the
creation of the mega-city that today pulses with an almost overwhelming
energy.
Curated by the museum’s director, Nazan Olcer, and
designed by the exhibition “architect” Boris Micka, the roundup of more
than 500 pieces from nearly 60 Turkish and international museums — from
Topkapi Palace to the Louvre and the Vatican — is a captivating
chronological journey through the city that was the capital of
successive civilizations. Visitors stroll through Roman, Byzantine and
Ottoman empires via one jaw-dropping display after another, right up
through a large-scale slide show of the creation of the Turkish
Republic in the 20th century.
Read the rest at http://intransit.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/03/in-istanbul-8000-years-of-history/