The experience of culture and art is taking on a new dimension with the opportunities offered by the digital age. While galleries and museums continue to host physical exhibitions, it is also possible to access the artworks more quickly and easily through online exhibitions today. Art galleries and museums can reach a wider audience by moving their exhibitions to digital media. Digital exhibitions offer the possibility to get to know and explore the artworks by making art accessible to everyone. We have compiled the prominent museums and art galleries in Turkey that moved their exhibitions to digital media.

Arkas Art Center

Located in Izmir, Arkas Art Center shares the exhibitions that it hosts with the art lovers on its website by three-dimensional virtual reality. A total of 19 virtual exhibitions including “Arkas Koleksiyonu’nda Pencere” (Window in the Arkas Collection), “L’air de Paris-Paris Havası”, “Elgiz Koleksiyonu’nda Mitler ve Hayaller” (Myths and Dreams in the Elgiz Collection), “Doğa, Bahçeler, Düşler” (Nature, Gardens, Fantasies), “Ara Güler, Merhaba İzmir!” (Ara Güler, Hello Izmir!), “Picasso: Gösteri Sanatı” (Picasso: The Art of Spectacle), “1001 Gece” (1001 Nights), “Arkas Koleksiyonu’ndan Su Manzaraları” (Landscapes of Water From the Arkas Collection), “Victor Vasarely”, “Arkas Koleksiyonu’nda Işığın Ustaları” (The Luminists From the Arkas Collection), “Anadolu Seyahatleri” (Anatolian Travels), “Üç Denizin Arasında: Osmanlı ve Fransız Boğaz Haritaları” (Among Three Seas: Ottoman and French Cartography of the Dardanelles and Bosporus), “Antik Anadolu’nun Tanıkları” (Testimony of Anatolian Antiquity), “İzmir: Yarınlara Bir Miras” (Izmir: A Legacy for Tomorrow), “Hoca Ali Rıza” (Hodja Ali Rıza), “18. ve 19. Yüzyılda İzmir; Batılı Bir Bakış” (Smyrna in the 18th and 19th Centuries: A Western Perspective), “Asker Ressamlar” (Soldier Painters), “O, Bir Yıldızdı” (He Was a Star), and “Batılının Fırçasından Ege’nin Bu Yakası” (This Side of the Aegean From a Westerner’s Brush) can be accessed through computers and smartphones..

You can visit the web page for a virtual tour on the exhibitions in Arkas Art Center.

Istanbul Research Institute

For those who missed the past exhibitions, Suna and İnan Kıraç Foundation Istanbul Research Institute brings them together with the audience on digital media. The exhibitions titled as “Meşgul Şehir” (Occupied City), “Hafıza-i Beşer” (Memories of Humankind), “Bir Kâğıt Mimarının Hayali Dünyası” (Imaginary World of a Paper Architect), “Şişli Camii” (The Şişli Mosque), “Taksim İstanbul’un Kalbi” (Taksim the Heart of Istanbul), “Uzak İzlenimler” (Impressions From Afar), “Doğu’nun Merkezine Seyahat 1850-1950” (Journey to the Center of the East), “Dört Ayaklı Belediye” (The Four-Legged Municipality), “Uzun Öyküler” (Long Stories), “Ahşap İstanbul” (Wooden Istanbul), and “Üç Kitaplı Kentler” (Cities of the Three Books) are included in the Digital Exhibitions section of Istanbul Research Institute.

Click here to visit the “Digital Exhibitions” section of Istanbul Research Institute.

Lütfi Özkök: Portraits Exhibition, Istanbul Modern, 21 December 2019–15 November 2020.

Istanbul Modern

Istanbul Modern continues to entertain the art lovers in its new museum building while also making it possible to be in touch with art on digital media. The past exhibitions of the museum titled as “Lütfi Özkök: Portreler” (Lütfi Özkök: Portraits), “Sanatçı ve Zamanı” (Artists in Their Time), “Koleksiyon Sergisi” (Collection Exhibition), “Selma Gürbüz: Dünya Diye Bir Yer” (Selma Gürbüz: This Place We Call World), “Şimdinin Peşinde” (In Pursuit of the Present), and “Şakir Eczacıbaşı: Seçilmiş Anlar” (Şakir Eczacıbaşı: Selected Moments) can be remotely explored through the virtual tour on its website.

To access Istanbul Modern’s exhibitions on digital media, you can select the “Virtual Tour” from the “Exhibitions” section on the website.

İş Sanat

Standing out with its activities ranging from documentaries on collections, museology, and archaeology to podcasts, children’s events, and the world of Metaverse, İş Sanat aims to make the art accessible to anyone thanks to the virtual exhibitions on its website. The retrospective exhibitions of Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu, Mustafa Ayaz, Maria Kılıçlıoğlu, Erol Kınalı, and Nevhiz and the “Hatırlıyorum: İş Sanat’ın İlk 20 Yılı” (I Remember: First 20 Years of İş Sanat) exhibitions that present a selection from the 20-year stage history of İş Sanat can be visited through the Virtual Exhibitions section on the website.

For a virtual tour on the past exhibitions of İş Sanat, you can select the “Virtual Exhibitions” from the “İş Sanat Digital” section on the website.

Meşher

Having opened its doors as an institution of Vehbi Koç Foundation (VKV) in September 2019, Meşher hosts selections from a wide range of disciplines. Located in Istiklal Street, Istanbul, Meşher also brings its past exhibitions together with the art lovers on digital media. The exhibitions titled as “Ben Kimse. Sen de mi Kimsesin?” (I Am Nobody. Are You Nobody Too?), “Ben-Sen-Onlar” (I-You-They), “Alexis Gritchenko”, “Maziyi Korumak” (Preserving the Past), and “John Craxton: Işığın Peşinde” (John Craxton: Drawn to Light) can be visited online on Meşher’s website.

To closely examine the exhibitions of Meşher that hosts artists from various disciplines, you can visit the online exhibitions section on the website.

Pera Museum

Suna and İnan Kıraç Foundation Pera Museum brings the artworks in its collection as well as the remarkable exhibitions of artists from various disciplines together with the audience on digital media. The 360-degree images of more than 20 exhibitions including “Kesişen Dünyalar: Elçiler ve Ressamlar” (Intersecting Worlds: Ambassadors and Painters), “Osman Hamdi Bey”, “Isabel Muñoz: Yeni Bir Hikaye” (Isabel Muñoz: A New Story), “Zamane İstanbulları” (Istanbuls Today), and “Gelecek Hatıraları” (Souvenirs of the Future) as well as “Tam Yerinden” (On the Spot), which are also displayed in the museum building today, can be found on Pera Museum’s website.

You can access Pera Museum’s online exhibitions from the “Art” section on the website.