Art on Prince’s Islands: Escaping the things we do

While we constantly talk about escaping the city, an art exhibition I saw last weekend made me think of breaking the cycle of things I do rather than places I live in. I don’t mean to deny the pleasure of being in a different spot. I just want to stress the importance of doing something different like watching art works in an unlikely holiday spot like the Prince’s Islands.

Sabuncakis mansion on Prince' Islands, Istanbul at the opening.
Photo: Ahmet Sel.

The art works were the outcome of collaboration among three men, artists who also distanced themselves from their familiar surroundings in London, Tel Aviv and Istanbul respectively. Nick Barratt, Nir Segal and Irmak Canevi, went to art school together in London (Slade School of Fine Art) and are good friends. They spent three weeks with each other in a workshop on Prince’s Island seeing “eye to eye” and produced the art works exhibited in the Sabuncakis Mansion on Prince’s Islands - Büyükada from  23 through 28 July 2011. The mansion is also known as the “house with the eye” for it has an eye on it.

Untitled by Nir Segal.
Photo: Ahmet Sel.

Barratt's triangular installation at "eyetoeye",
Polygon blanket, Princes Islands.
Photo: Ahmet Sel.

Irmak Canevi and his friends and fellow artists came up with the idea of the workshop. The Canevis opened their family house on the island to be used as the workshop venue. The caretakers of the house also took care of the three and selflessly fed one delicious meal after another to the lucky artists. Canevi’s dedication to his second career (second life) deserves the generosity of his support from his family and should be an inspiration to those previous slaves of corporate legal culture.

Irmak Canevi's "sponge island" installation at Princes Islands.
Photo: Ahmet Sel.

Typcial horse car from Princes Islands.
Photo: Nir Segal.

What I like most in Canevi’s work is the respect he shows for the sites of his exhibitions.  Previously, when he participated in a group show organized by Galeri Non and Dilara Moran at addresistanbul, he first made drawings of ‘pebble pools’, as he calls them, that punctuate the geometry of the floor plan of this furniture mall. Hence the name of Project, “Pebble Geometry”. Here, Canevi made a sketch of the Greek orphanage at the island which is Europe’s largest monoblock wooden building. Owing to the state of Turkish-Greek relations, the building has remained empty and decaying for decades, when after a European Court of Human Rights decision in 2010, it was finally transferred to the Greek Patriarch. Canevi used charcoal (one of the favorite things to do in the island is barbeque) and traced the texture of the wood pieces he laid under the paper. For pictures of the orphanage refer to here.

Mixed media work mainly based on the map of the island
by N.Barratt&I.Canevi with "Pendulum" in the background
left by Nir Segal.
Photo: Nir Segal

A happy Nick Barratt at the "eyetoeye"
in front of Nir Segal's neon installation "What? Gone".
Photo: Nir Segal.

This alone makes the cooperation between Segal and Canevi more meaningful in the historic low point between Turkish-Israeli relations. The cognizance of location was also apparent in the “island series” of mixed media.…..They were among my favorites as were the neon light “1500m” and “Illuminous”. I also found the installation “sponges” cute with its suggestion of the colors and cacophony Prince’s Islands absorb in the summer. While the “eye to eye” project smells of summer colors and joy of collaboration, it also had multiple trilogies. Three men working for three weeks culminating in Barratt’s triangular installation at the entrance of the exhibition. Looking for a place for the exhibition, they were helped by Mr. Hayri Özen who has been renovating the mansion from a building (converted from a former Masonic connection with its obvious triangles on the roof. Another piece I liked was by Segal’s Run Lola Run.

Three artists getting ready for "eyetoeye".
Photo: Zeren Göktan.

Irmak Canevi and Nir Segal at work to hang a drawing.
Photo: Zeren Göktan.

Given all this, it can be said that “breaking the routine” did everyone good. Mine started with Yalovalı Kardeşler’s kroket (patates köftesi), a must delicacy for everyone visiting the island. It continued with walking amid horse cars racing by my side; dozing in the garden of the Canevi house and ended with dinner at Ali Baba next to the harbor. Milto and Kapri are all good and seasoned choices of restaurants, although Şükrü seemed to be trying too hard to give the island a needless clubby scene reminiscent of the city. I left the island at lunch time next day to beat the returning crowds. Wasn’t the purpose of going to the island to get some peace of mind after all? With the growing popularity of Istanbul as a tourist destination (and Princes Islands getting its share -NYT agrees-) Büyükada seems less and less able to cater to that need. This is exactly when the art scene comes handyJ.

Travelmind, Zeren Göktan (responsible for selection and curation)
 and admirer Despina Minaoglu at "eyetoeye".
Photo: Ahmet Sel.

Gökçeada (İmroz): a "successful" Turkification project

This is not a happy “go and visit” story. It’s rather a “go and mourn” story. Indeed, the feeling of sadness engulfed me one more time in my second visit to the island of Gökçeada (or Imroz), the largest of the two islands that belong to Turkey in the Aegean Sea. The island is incredibly beautiful with its untouched nature and old villages that are established in hills. However, as you drive around the island, it is heart wrenching to observe the abandonment of those villages since their once Greek residents have escaped “Turkification”.

An abandoned house from Dereköy in Gökçeada.

The Turkification efforts included settling non-Greek populations on the island, sometimes turning a blind eye to their looting the property of the Greeks or by encouraging  them to legally buy or illegally occupy Greek houses. A prison was built on the island, occupiers of which were released every now and then to stoke fear in the Greek population. Greek schools were closed down and land was expropriated that was used by Greek villagers , depriving them from their only livelihood. As a result of all this, very few Greeks are left on the island while few seem to enjoy a revival by opening restaurants and pastry shops especially in Zeytinli, the village of the Greek Orthodox Patriarch in Istanbul.

In front of the Zeytinli church in Gökçeada Atatürk says
"happy is who calls himself a Turk".
Photo: Ahmet Sel.

Greek women in Zeytinli, Gökçeada.
Photo: Ahmet Sel.

Their calling on passers by with their accented Turkish makes their presence appear almost exotic -in a reverse orientalist fashion- while turning them into “objects of affection”. It also creates a false pretense of multiculturalism and almost self congratulatory “tolerance” of a Christian minority in a Muslim country. When one takes into consideration that the average age among the Greek population on the island is well over sixty, the false pretensions are better highlighted.  

Entrance of Tepeköy Primary School in Gökçeada.

On the wall of the Tepeköy primary school again: "happy...".
And why exactly a Greek kid
would be happy to call himself a Turk?

All of this become heavy to digest for me as I drink Turkish coffee at Mustafa’nın Kayfesi in Kaleköy (Kastro), the first village where looting of property seems to have started. The  café is located next to the oldest church in the island, Aya Marina standing in ruins. Two years ago, its ceiling was fine, today it has collapsed. 1949 is the latest restoration date of it.

View from Kaleköy (Kastro) towards the harbor in Gökçeada.

Kite surfers in Kefalos (Aydıncık) in Gökçeada.

Aydıncık beach in Gökçeada, with wind surfers in the back. 

Attempting to shake melancholy, we hit the road to Kefalos (Aydıncık). This is a windy coast full with trailers who came for kite surfing. Given the license plates, one wonders when did kite surfing become so popular in Bulgaria or Romania? As there is no shade in the beach, we hit the next beach that is reminiscent of Kum Beach in Alaçatı with all the wind surfers. We stop at Şen Camping where Greek music reins. Another option to swim is Lazkoyu literally meaning the Bay of Laz because someone from Trabzon bought the land. Both places are great for sunbathing and swimming although Lazkoyu is smaller and quieter.

An unofficial street sign in Bademli in Gökçeada in Greek.

View of Samothraki (Greece) from Gökçeada.

In addition to Mustafa’nın Kayfesi in Kaleköy, an afternoon coffee can also be sipped at Zeytinli by sitting in the village’s main square. The nearby restaurants and cafés seems to have turned it into a touristic attraction. While sipping coffee, also taste the mastic pudding with sour cherry syrup and ice cream, yummy! As for dinners on the island, two options stand out. One is Son Vapur in Liman with its delicious octopus although it can be very crowded in the weekends. The other is Barba Yorgo in Tepeköy whose restaurant overlooks the valley.

Mustafa'nın Kayfesi in Kaleköy (Kastro) in Gökçeada.

In 2011, the Aya Marina church in Kastro.

The Aya Marina church in 2009.

Depite the beauty of its nature and Greek villages, only very determined souls can make it to Gökçeada. Not only there are very few places to stay on the island but it is the ferry that is the drag. Once we missed a ferry for lack of space, it took us an incredible 12 hours to get back to Istanbul despite the meager 340 km distance. Previous times also included lengthy waits for ferry under the sun as a car is a must on the island since public transportation is virtually nonexistent.

Views from Dereköy houses in Gökçeada.

While recently Borajet and Anadolu Jet seem to have started direct air connection from Istanbul, the island mires one in a conceptual confusion. You can be part of looting/illegal occupation by renting a room in the latest pansion that has been converted from a (Greek) primary school, brochures of which are handed off by a 14 year old boy to visitors just off the ferry. You can share the same beach with those who have religious swimming clothing as the island seems to be a popular destination with those close to God. You can sympathize with the soldiers ever ready for a never to occur military confrontation with Greece. Alternatively, you can admire kite surfers from Bulgaria and Romania -of all places. It remains to be seen what this conceptual confusion will lead to in the coming years… 

Girl power sailing the Turkish coast

One of the nicest things to do in Turkey is sailing or yachting the Southwest coast, locally called “doing a blue voyage”. Along with Croatia, Turkey has one of the best coasts in the Mediterranean for this given the zigzag nature of the (Aegean) coast stretching 450 miles. According to Ali Boratav, there are 5 routes 2 of which I have already explored. The Bodrum-Gökova route is the classic route for beginners usually done with a goulet, a Bodrum built wooden yacht.

Korsan Bay in Marmaris, Turkey.

Turunç Pınarı east of Marmaris.

On the shore Fisherman Osman at Turunç Pınarı, Marmaris.

The second is the subject of this post done by a team of four women that I call "girl power". Under captain Aylin, the team -all professional women by the way- sailed from Marmaris to the East towards Dalyan. Because I have done the tour myself couple of years back, I can totally relate to their adventure. If you love the nature, the sea and boats, it is the perfect holiday. You first stack up all food, alcohol and details until toilet paper in Marmaris, board the boat, do the last checks and set sail. 

Daily boat trip to Dalyan, Turkey.

Daily boat trip to Dalyan.

The team departed from Marmaris with s/y Hadar, a Beneteau Oceanis 40 (appx. 13 metres) chartered by Offshore Yachting. Since this was their second trip, instead of last year's hesitant "should we take you out of the harbour?", the company was like "yeah, Captain Aylin can take you out". So the ladies went off to Turunç Pınarı via Korsan Koyu (Pirate Bay). 

Ekincik My Marina in Marmaris.

What is so nice about the whole thing is that you are constantly in fresh air and at night under stars. This is why noone sleeps in the rooms but onboard. You wake up, jump into the crystal clear water and then sip your freshly brewed coffee. Then you look around and  amid the silence, admire life while the first team starts cooking the breakfast. Cooking onboard is fun as people take rounds for it and cleaning afterwards. Of course, there are more bossy and less bossy, more perfectionist and less perfectionist teams and their "creations" make the daily conversation and jokes while onboard. 

And this is the Beneteau Oceanis 40, look at the tidyness of girlpower.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T! Girlpower's captain Aylin Şasa.

After breakfast, it's departure time from the bay you anchored the night before. You get the latest news from the neighboring yachts, check wind and currents. At open sea, you may be accompanied by turtles and dolphins. Weather permitting, you can sail or go by engine. Sailing is fun but the preparations before it is even more fun: collect everything that can fall; secure this and that; close all windows; find yourself a dry spot, etc. 

Göbün Bay, Turkey.

s/y Hadar entering the Karacaören bay.

The ladies arrived in Ekincik marina and anchored there. This spot can only be reached by boat like most of the spots on yachting. They took a boat to Dalyan to see the famous caretta caretta turtles that nest there. Dalyan is also where you can buy blue crabs. Our captain bought and cooked some for us when I went! Yummy! Indeed, when it's noon, the daily alcohol over-consumption starts with beer. Towards 5 PM, it is gin-tonic or mojito or campari-orange time. Later, it is wine or rakı at dinner time. Pretty much everyday for a week, it's the same! Late in the night, drinking goes on until you get too drunk and jump into calm water and get sober! It's impossible to be onboard and not drink.

A perfect sunset at Panormitis, Simi, Greece.

These ladies did a different route last year departing again from Marmaris towards the Greek island Simi. For other girl power trips click here. In Simi we swam in the Agios Yiorghos beach and anchored at Panormitis (back of the island). In the morning, I went with our zodiac to the beach and practiced my Greek a little while buying from the local pastry shop. The ladies, on the other hand, went further down to Rhodes and Halki. In addition to these options east and south of Marmaris, one can also explore the Hisarönü region along with some Greek islands, the last two can also be combined. For a view of the area click here. 

On the way to Dalyan, the rock tombs.

And the proud girlpower in Turunçpınarı.
(All pictures by Dolunay Özbek).

Now, when you have a license, you can rent “bare boat” from Marmaris but if you don't, the boat comes with the crew: captain and cook or additional seamen depending on the size of the boat and your group. In that case, you do nothing but read, eat and drink. I prefer when we rent "bare boat" or with the captain and do the sailing work ourselves. In off-season early June, one week on this boat cost €1800 for the ladies, while stacking up   cost €850. Now, where do you get all of that for €650 per person for one week?