Istanbul is an international art and cultural center.
The International Arts and Cultural Festival is held each year in
June and July with famous artists coming from all over the world.
These performances are held mostly at the Ataturk Cultural Center.
Those who enjoy classical music can hear it at the Cemal Resit Rey
Hall. Operas, operettas, ballets, films, concerts, exhibitions and
conferences all contribute to the cultural palette of the city. Istanbul
also has a rich program of light entertainment. Nightclubs provide
splendid entertainment throughout dinner, ranging from a selection
of Turkish songs to belly-dancing.
Istanbul is a preffered city in terms of international art activities
. This is because the art-lovers of Istanbul are respectful to the
art and the artist. The famous performance artists feel themselves
very comfortable in Istanbul concerts. Because the audience is very
well aware of "the rituel of watching an artistic performance."
The artist knows that he or she will not come across with impudent
or disrespectful behavviours. It is the same for the international
picture galleries, biennials, and visual activities. Neither the spectator
nor the critic leave their "respectful attitude aganist the artist.
" Hence the myths of traditional pop-rock genres, giants of jazz
contempoporarylegends of classical western music are always in Istanbul,
on the stage.
To sum up; Istanbul is a city that can add compassion next to its
giant size in terms of living area and population, and siling to assimilate
the universal culture while "welcoming" it with utmost hospitality:
a "world city" ... In this case, it deserves to be called
"universal culture capital"
Ataturk Cultural Center
Taksim Ýstanbul
+90 (212) 251 56 00
American Information Center
Mesrutiyet Cad. No:108, Tepebasi +90 (212) 251 26 75
