Istanbul is literally the crossing point between Asia and Europe. For centuries, the port has been seen as the gateway to the East. On the other hand, Antwerp has emerged from being a port city on a river to a leading world port: a gateway to the rest of the world. Both cities have been known for centuries for their bustling commerce and political influence.
The exhibition Port City Talks / Istanbul-Antwerp will motivate the audience to walk through the traces of Istanbul, discovering art works and artefacts from different centuries and using multimedia installations, and to discover the Bosporus, its inlet Golden Horn and their hinterland.
The first part of the exhibition will show for the very first time in Belgium a selection of archeological objects from Yenikapi, the oldest harbor of Istanbul, in use between the 4th and 11th Century. The following chapters will explore the way people live and travel in both cities and will treat the bridges and tunnels, the ships, the shipyards and the docks and decks.
A series of digital artists will also create new work for the exhibition and its undoubtedly unusual, promising design.