Elâ Atakan worked as Art Coordinator for Sophie Calle’s solo exhibition For the Last and First Time, presented at Sakıp Sabancı Museum in parallel with the Istanbul Biennial. The exhibition explores memory, perception, and the act of seeing through two poetic narratives: the final visual memories of individuals who lost their sight, and the first encounters with the sea by people who have lived in Istanbul their whole lives without ever seeing it.
Sabancı Üniversitesi Sakıp Sabancı Müzesi, zengin bir hat ve resim koleksiyonunu bünyesinde barındıran ve düzenlediği geçici sergilerle birçok ünlü sanatçının eserlerine ev sahipliği yapan bir sanat müzesidir.
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Curatorial Statement
Sophie Calle: “For the Last and First Time”
The Sakıp Sabancı Museum (SSM), affiliated with Sabancı University, proudly hosts French artist Sophie Calle in a solo exhibition titled For the Last and First Time, launched in parallel with the Istanbul Biennial. For this special project realized in collaboration with SSM, Calle turns her lens toward Istanbul and focuses on a select group of people living in the city. The artist explores, through her distinctive perspective, the final images remembered by individuals who have lost their sight, as well as the intriguing Notion of people who have lived their entire lives in Istanbul without ever seeing the sea.
The exhibition opens with The Last Image, in which Sophie Calle documents the last visual memories of thirteen people who were either born blind or lost their sight later in life. She records their stories, photographs them, and captures the essence of their memories.
The conceptual foundation of Calle’s project draws inspiration from the founding myth of Istanbul. According to legend, the city was established in the 7th century BCE as a Greek colony. The settlers, led by Byzas, arrived through the Dardanelles and first saw – Chalcedon modern-day Kadıköy – on the Asian shore. Opting to settle there instead of the more fertile lands across the Bosphorus, they were later called “the city of the blind.” This myth, centered on sight and perception, served as a point of departure for Calle. In The Last Image, she invites us to see Istanbul through the eyes of those who no longer see.
In the second section, Seeing the Sea, Calle shifts her focus to residents of Istanbul who, despite living in a city surrounded by water, have never seen the sea. This powerful and emotional segment features ten close-up video portraits by acclaimed cinematographer Caroline Champetier. Each video captures the moment of their first encounter with the sea, an experience both personal and poetic, guided by Calle’s narration.
The exhibition concludes with a poetic reflection taken from a work Sophie Calle began in 1986. Two poignant quotes: “The most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen is the sea. It stretches so far that you can no longer see it…” and “In 1986, I met people who had been blind from birth. I asked them what beauty meant to them. The first to answer described the sea…” ..
Sabancı Üniversitesi Sakıp Sabancı Müzesi, zengin bir hat ve resim koleksiyonunu bünyesinde barındıran ve düzenlediği geçici sergilerle birçok ünlü sanatçının eserlerine ev sahipliği yapan bir sanat müzesidir.
