Pera Museum is celebrating teachers’ hard work and their transformative role in education through art. On 24 November, Teachers’ Day, the museum opens all its exhibitions to teachers free of charge, and has prepared an art-filled experience with its current exhibitions, a free online teachers’ workshop and special discounts at the Artshop.
Celebrating the 20th anniversary of its founding, the Suna and İnan Kıraç Foundation Pera Museum is marking Teachers’ Day on 24 November with events and offers especially for teachers. On this special day the museum opens its doors free of charge to all teachers, offering them not only its current exhibitions and collections but also an online workshop prepared by Pera Learning and discounts at the Artshop. Visiting teachers can look forward to an inspiring, many-sided experience spanning different fields of art.
From tradition to modernity in the current exhibitions
Curated by Ulya Soley, the exhibition Ortak Duygular: British Council Koleksiyonu’ndan Yapıtlar (Shared Feelings: Works from the British Council Collection) explores the universality of emotions and the bonds between cultures through works by 29 artists selected from the British Council Collection. Works by leading figures of contemporary art such as Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin, Lucian Freud and David Hockney offer teachers a space for artistic empathy.
The first solo exhibition in Türkiye by Swedish artist Åsa Jungnelius, Åsa Jungnelius: Toprak, Ateş, Su ve Havayla Yazılmış Bir Dize (A Verse Written with Earth, Fire, Water and Air), builds a poetic narrative born of the transformation of glass and stone. Curated by Elif Kamışlı and produced in collaboration with Şişecam, the large-scale sculptures invite viewers to rethink the relationship between nature and humanity.
A historical journey through the collection exhibitions
Pera Museum’s four collection exhibitions bring to light the intellectual heritage of the Ottoman world in a frame where art and science intersect. Focusing on the work of the Kütahya master Minas Avramidis, Sıradışı Minas: Kütahya Çini ve Seramiklerinde Esin ve Yeniliğin Hikâyesi, (Extraordinary Minas: A Story of Inspiration and Innovation in Kütahya Tiles and Ceramics) opens up a space for reflecting on cultural continuity through an approach that unites traditional craft with individual expression and innovation. The Osman Hamdi Bey exhibition conveys, through documents, the artist’s identity as painter, archaeologist and educator. The Ağırlık ve Ölçü Sanatı (The Art of Weights and Measures) exhibition presents historical measuring systems through an aesthetic lens, highlighting the cultural dimension of science. Meanwhile, the Kesişen Dünyalar: Elçiler ve Ressamlar (Intersecting Worlds: Ambassadors and Painters) exhibition examines Ottoman–European relations through artistic representations, bringing a fresh perspective to the history of diplomacy.
An online workshop for teachers: Visual Thinking on Preserving Care
In “Visual Thinking on Preserving Care”, an online workshop prepared especially for Teachers’ Day, Pera Museum Learning Programmes invites teachers on a journey of discovery that is both intellectual and creative. In the online workshop, taking place on Tuesday 25 November at 20.00, participants will first take a guided online tour of the Ortak Duygular exhibition, then, led by Filiz Kara Bilgin, interpret themes such as care, labour, transience and decay through a two-stage visual composition exercise.
Teachers’ Day discounts at the Artshop
As part of Teachers’ Day, the Pera Museum Artshop is offering a special discount to all visitors. From 21 to 25 November, 15% off applies to all products in the Artshop. Over the same dates, a 20% discount is available on all membership categories of the Pera Museum Friends Programme. With its wide selection of publications, design products, art objects and special collection pieces, the Artshop offers visitors an enjoyable space to explore.
The “Teachers’ Day: Visual Thinking on Preserving Care” workshop, held on Zoom Meeting, is free of charge; booking is required.
Pera Museum is open Tuesday to Saturday from 10.00 to 19.00 and on Sundays from 12.00 to 18.00. On Fridays, as part of “Long Friday”, all visitors can visit the museum free of charge from 18.00 to 22.00, and on Wednesdays, as part of “Young Wednesday”, all students can visit free of charge.
