Welcome to Al-Monitor Istanbul.

The end of August finds us in Cesme and Alacati, twin escapes an hour from Izmir. We begin with Alacati’s take on climate anxiety, linger over farm-to-table plates, then return to Istanbul as jazz and nostalgia season kicks off. The holiday haze breaks at the Istanbul Photo Awards, where images of Gaza’s famine cut through with unflinching clarity.

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Nazlan (@NazlanEr on X)

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1. Leading the week: Staged dystopia

Murat Germen, “Simulacrum #02” (Courtesy of the artist)

Alacati may be synonymous with bougainvillea facades and overpriced mojitos, but tucked behind its cobblestoned alleys stands something more enduring: Arkas Art Alacati. The stone building with a central patio, travertine walls and a reflecting pool draws visitors from the bustling street into stillness.

The art center’s permanent exhibition honors Victor Vasarely, the Hungarian-French master of op art, tracing decades of work that bent lines and shapes into illusions. This season, however, the museum looks at illusion and denial in a different way.

Curated by Billur Tansel, “Staged” gathers 86 works by 35 artists in an immersive confrontation with what Jean-Paul Sartre called “the nausea of existence” and what Jean Baudrillard warned against as the tyranny of simulacra, where representation displaces reality.

Conceived as a criticism of collective blindness to climate change, the exhibition brings together installations, video works and staged photography. “I wanted to create an approach that........

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