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As Turkish parliamentarians battle over a new bill reshaping the ownership and management of foundation and cultural properties, one that could place more than a hundred Istanbul Municipality sites, including historic piers, under central government control, it feels apt to look again at the city’s varied facades.

This week, we turn our gaze to the artist who paints them with precision and love: Ayse Turemis and her exhibition, “Istanbul: Unfinished Painting.” We also stop by her favorite cafe in Cihangir, explore new exhibitions, catch the last days of the Biennial, and end with a sobering look at what Turkey throws away and what it doesn’t recycle.

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Thanks for reading,

Nazlan (@NazlanEr on X)

P.S. Have tips on Istanbul’s culture scene? Send them my way at nertan@al-monitor.com.

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1. Leading the week: Istanbul, Unfinished

Ayse Türemis’ “Phanar Greek School” (Courtesy of the artist and IBB Kultur)

If you love Istanbul and are curious about its many facades, head to Mecidiyekoy Sanat to see the city through the detail-oriented eye and the sure hand of Ayse Turemis. A graduate of Istanbul’s Mimar Sinan University’s Stage and Costume Design Department, Turemis has spent more than two decades building an archive of the city’s architecture in watercolor, a medium as delicate as it is unforgiving of error.

Her solo exhibition “Istanbul: Unfinished Painting” brings together 77 drawings and two scale models under the auspices of Istanbul Buyuksehir........

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