Welcome to Al-Monitor Istanbul.

This week, we open literal and metaphorical drawers in the city's most theatrical minds and myth-infused corners. From a boutique hotel with a fashion wing to an artist's psychological salon, our Cabinet of Curiosities edition is all about glamorously unsettling the present.

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1. Leading the week: Kezban’s Cabinet of Curiosities

Whimsical and unhinged: Kezban at her cabinet. (Courtesy of the artist)

Multimedia artist Kezban Arca Batibeki was born into Turkish cinema royalty. Her father, Atif Yilmaz, who directed over 100 films, shaped the Golden Age of Yesilcam, the Turkish equivalent of Hollywood. Her mother, Nurhan Nur, was a legendary beauty of the white screen. Batibeki was named “Kezban” after a naive but courageous heroine in Yilmaz’s filmography.

Batibeki’s “Kezban’s Cabinet of Curiosities” at MeshRu Istanbul, a relatively new gallery located near the historic Pera Hotel, is a room-sized puzzle. Inspired by the clutter and character of her own studio, the artist has curated a cabinet of 37 new works that blur the line between installation, archive and autobiography. The toy-sized figures of her favorite artists,........

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