Gizli Istanbul / Hidden Istanbul
Inkjetprint auf gmg ProofMedia Newspaper 76g, 77.3 x 58 cm oder 43.5 x 58 cm
Book: Hidden Istanbul, APE#194, Art Paper Editions, Belgien, 2021
The book HIDDEN ISTANBUL serves as the basis for the exhibition at the Schneidertempel Arts Center. Photographs and images of archival material are printed in inkjet on thin newsprint and hung on the walls in equal measure as a kind of documentary tracing of Istanbul Jewish life. The statements from the interviewees can be found in the book.
How can something that is concealed be represented, be shown? This is precisely what Françoise Caraco has tried to undertake in the current book HIDDEN ISTANBUL. On a quest to find her ancestors, Françoise Caraco travelled to Istanbul numerous times and talked to people who knew or had known a Caraco—or Karako—or at least remembered the name. This afforded her a unique glimpse of the culture of the Sephardic Jews, who have inhabited the Turkish metropolis for centuries but remain unseen by most eyes. In ‘Hidden Istanbul’ Françoise Caraco sensitively weaves family memories with her own contemporary photographs of her journey and researches, intermingled with various voices from Istanbul’s Jewish community. The result is a rich and nuanced portrait of a vanishing past and a still-vibrant present of the city from the perspective of a largely unknown segment of its population.
September 2022
