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Istanbul's cultural activities, both traditional and contemporary, are rich and varied, although not invariably well publicized. Matching the city's exploding youth population is a growing number of festivals, galleries, new music venues and film centers and, within the last decade, Turkish artists have begun to make an international impact. There are now a number of independent record companies in the city, releasing experimental works that combine Turkish traditional artists with contemporary groups. The Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Art, the Istanbul Kültür ve Sanat Merkezi (IKSV), Istikal Caddesi 64, (tel: (0212) 334 0700; website: www.istfest.org), puts on an impressive series of international festivals. The French Culture Center, Istiklal Caddesi 4 (tel: (0212) 393 8111; website: www.infist.org) often has French film screenings, and dance performances.

Tickets can be hard to come by for the popular film and jazz festivals, so visitors should book well in advance for any events at existing concert venues, especially the Atatürk Cultural Center or Atatürk Kultur Merkezi, Taksim Square, Taksim (tel: (0212) 251 5600) and the Cemil Topuzlu Açik Hava Tiyatrosu (Open Air Theater). The annual Contemporary Artist Istanbul Exhibition celebrates the work of young local artists, many of whom progress to being internationally renowned. Akbank Culture and Arts Center, Istiklal Caddesi, Zambak Sokak 1, (tel: (0212) 252 3500 or 3501; website: www.akbanksanat.com), is also the venue for jazz and classical music.

The private sector has helped take the load off Istanbul's government-supported venues, by opening specialized arts events and private galleries, many of which can be seen on Istiklal Caddesi and the Taksim area. Among the most adventurous is the Borusan Center for Culture and Art, Istiklal Caddesi 213 (tel: (0212) 336 3280; website: www.borusansanat.com), which alternates ‘conceptual' Turkish and international exhibitions, plus an enormous music library and concert space for classical music performances. Platform Garanti Contemporary Art Center, Istiklal Caddesi 115A (tel: (0212) 293 2361; website: www.platform.garanti.com.tr), is a three-story venue with regularly changing exhibitions and artists in residence. The recently opened attractive Pera Museum, Meşrutiyet Caddesi 65, Tepebaşi (tel: (0212) 334 9900; website: www.pm.org.tr), often hosts major art exhibitions.

Tickets for most cultural events are available at Biletix outlets (website: www.biletix.com), from locations including Ada bookshop on Istiklal Caddesi, Vakkorama, MMMigros supermarkets and Raksotek record stores.

The Guide Istanbul (website: www.apa.com.tr/apa/g_istanbul_eng.htm), published bi-monthly and available at newsstands and in bookstores and major supermarkets, provides up-to-date information on cultural events and performance in the city. Other excellent sources of information are available at www.mymerhaba.com, an expatriate forum. Turkish Daily News (website: www.turkishdailynews.com.tr) also has listings.

Music: The most reliable guides to music events in the city are the fly posters and banners along Istiklal Caddesi. The 900-seat Atatürk Cultural Center or AKM (see above), is shared by the State Opera and Ballet, the State Theater and the State Symphony Orchestra, as well as the Istanbul Festivals. The most stunning venue in the city is the Byzantine church of Haghia Eirene (Aya Irini Kilisesi), in the grounds of the Topkapi Palace complex, the only pre-Ottoman church in the city that was never converted into a mosque. It is now a museum and used by the IKSV (see above) during the Classical Music Festival in June and the Istanbul Jazz Festival. A popular venue for summer music festivals is the outdoor Parkorman, Büyükdere Caddesi, Maslak (tel: (0212) 328 2000; website: www.parkorman.com.tr). Other venues used during annual festivals include trendy nightclub Babylon, Istanbul Jazz Center, Topkapi Palace Museum and even the Basilica Cistern (Yerebatan Sarayi). Most music events are spread throughout the summer.

Theater: Plays by international and Turkish playwrights are frequently staged in Istanbul, many in smaller venues off Istiklal Caddesi, while the more commercial extravaganzas (such as during the Istanbul International Theater Festival usually held in May) are at the Atatürk Kültür Merkezi (see above), sometimes with digital subtitling in English. There are some foreign-language productions at the French Cultural Center (see above) and the Goethe Institute, Yeniçarşi Caddesi 32, Beyoğlu (tel: (0212) 249 2009; website: www.goethe.de/ins/tr/ist/deindex.htm).

Dance: The Turkish State Opera and Ballet performs at the Atatürk Kültür Merkezi (see above) and there are also dance performances at the indoor Cemal Reşit Rey Concert Hall, Gümüş Sokak, Conference Valley, Harbiye (tel: (0212) 232 9830; website: www.crrks.org). There are also performances in galleries and smaller venues.

Film: Foreign films, mostly from Hollywood, outnumber Turkish domestic output and generally show in their original language with Turkish subtitles. Most of the city's cinemas are in Istiklal Caddesi, in Beyoğlu. Visitors should check the Turkish Daily News for listings or simply comb the streets. The Alkazar Sinema Merkezi, Istiklal Caddesi 179 (tel: (0212) 293 2466/7), Emek, Istikalal Caddesi Yeşilçam Sokak 5 (tel: (0212) 293 8439), and Beyoğlu Sinemalan, Istiklal Caddesi 140, Halep Pasaji (tel: (0212) 251 3240), are good bets, showing European, Turkish, and Hollywood films. Mega cinema complexes are only found at huge shopping malls in the outer suburbs, like AFM Akmerkez, Akmerkez Shopping Center, Etiler (tel: (0212) 282 0505; website: www.afm.com.tr). Istanbul Modern (website: www.istanbulmodern.org) has a cinema in its basement showing films from around the world. Beyoğlu cinemas also participate in the International Film Festival, usually taking place in April, and sometimes screen lesser-known international films.

Turkish films have made a recent impact on world cinema, especially Fatih Akin's The Edge of Heaven (2007), which won best screenplay at the Cannes Film Festival. Akin's earlier films include Crossing the Bridge: The Sounds of Istanbul (2005), Uzak (2002) and Hamam (1997), all filmed in Istanbul and winning several international awards. Music documentary Crossing the Bridge takes a journey through Istanbul following different musical genres emerging from the city, including hip-hop and Sufi sounds. (The same director also produced hard-hitting Head-On, a German-Turkish dark thriller.)

Literary Notes: Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, the wife of the British Ambassador to Turkey in 1716-18, was a well-known socialite at Pera and openly admired the sensuality of Ottoman daily life. Her Letters from Constantinople were published posthumously in 1763 and give a fascinating insight into upper-class 18th-century Istanbul.

Many writers have described the filth, the narrowness of the streets, the lack of women in evidence and the quantity of stray dogs. Those things have certainly changed but the Turks' love of bargaining and shopping has not, nor has the difficulty of finding grave space, seeing as cremation is forbidden by Islam. ‘It is as if the Turks are entirely absorbed in buying goods, selling goods and dying,' noted French writer Francois René de Chateaubriand in 1806. American satirist Mark Twain (1835-1910) found even Haghia Sophia dark and dirty and the dance of the Mevlevi dervishes ‘the most barbaric manifestation I have seen to this day'. During the same period, naval officer and French romantic writer Pierre Loti (real name Louis Marie-Julien Viaud) conducted a passionate affair with local girl Aziyade, the details of which were recorded in Aziyade (1879) after he left. The area around Eyüp (see Further Distractions), where he would drink coffee to mend his broken heart, is affectionately dubbed Pierre Loti and the hilltop cafe there is also name after him. Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express (1934) was written when she stayed at the Pera Palas Hotel. The work of exiled Communist poet Nazim Hikmet (1901-1963) is still widely read and admired, as are the novels of Yaşar Kemal (1922-present).

Istanbul's most famous contemporary writer is Orhan Pamuk, recipient of the 2006 Nobel Prize for Literature, which was seen as a great honor for the country. It was also a blow to nationalists who wanted him prosecuted for his repeated references to the Ottoman's massacre of Armenians (the mention of which is viewed as dishonoring the state). Pamuk had provoked earlier controversy in 1995 for his outspoken support of Kurdish political rights. His books, White Castle (1985), Black Book (1990), The New Life (1995), My Name is Red (2000), Snow (2002) and memoirs of his upbringing Istanbul (2003) have been translated into 40 languages. Pamuk is being followed by younger writers, such as Latife Tekin, known for her magic realism in novels such as Tales from the Garbage Hills (1984), Swords of Ice (1989) and Signs of Love (1995). British-born novelist Barbara Nadel has written a series of crime thrillers set in Istanbul, including Belshazzar's Daughter (1999) and Harem (2003).

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