Contrasts and Similarities Between İstanbul Modern, Santral İstanbul, Bilbao Guggenheim and Tate Modern

İstanbul Modern

To get a better grasp of a particular type of art institution such as a Modern Art Museum or a Contemporary Art Museum, comparisons between known institutions of that sort may prove to be very useful to obtain solid facts and further information on the subject. To achieve this goal we can obviously claim that as well as the existing similarities between certain art institutions such as İstanbul Modern, Santral İstanbul, Tate Modern and Bilbao Guggenheim, indeed there exist a number of differences among these institutions.

The main elements to look for and to be analyzed in the course of reviewing art institutions are the ownership type adopted by the institution (public, private, public-private etc.), the architecture, the branding, the position in the regeneration process of the city, programming, communication of the institution and how it has transformed throughout the years.

Guggenheim Bilbao

            To begin with our analysis, architecture is assigned to be the starting point. Tate Modern is an institution that is contained within a renewed building that used to be the old Bankside Power Station. According to the article “The Guggenheim Bilbao” by Jim Lane, the renewed architecture of the Tate Modern Museum can be classified as a building with characteristic 20^th century features whereas the rather newly built Guggenheim Bilbao’s architecture reveals the trends of the “22^nd or even the 23^rd century”. The building of the Tate Modern is situated near the Thames River transforming the area since the day it has opened its doors to its visitors. According to another article “Artists, Galleries and Regeneration” published in 30 October 2008 by the Gallery of Modern Art in Glasgow, “Tate is a very physical building, it also recognizes that it is not just an exhibition space and it recognizes the value in longer term engagement.” In comparison with the architectural characteristics of Tate Modern, Guggenheim Bilbao is a building that has been created from scratch. It also has another significance that makes the Guggenheim building distinctive from the Tate Modern, İstanbul Modern and Santral İstanbul buildings: In the article “Art For Whose Sake? Modern Art Museums and Their Role In Transforming Societies: The Case of The Guggenheim Bilbao”, Evdoxia Baniotopoulou states “The “emblematic buildings” can in addition be related to the particular political situation. In a region where ethnic identity has a significant importance, both on a private and a governmental level, a visual reminder of it distinctive enough to become an emblem could serve as a point of reference and generator of civic pride.” where it’s implied that Guggenheim building is an “emblematic building”. Furthermore on the comparison of buildings, İstanbul Modern has emerged in 2004 with its recently constructed building near the Bosphorus in an area consisting of 8.000 meter squares. The construction was in fact not started from scratch in contrary to the case of Guggenheim Bilbao, it used to be an entrepot. The storage building was transformed into a Modern Art Museum with the hope of transforming the rest of the district that probably has one of the best views of the city of İstanbul. Moving on to our next location of interest, Santral İstanbul is a large art space with extending roots of history. The article “Orienting Istanbul: Cultural Capital of Europe?” by Deniz Göktürk, Levent Soysal and İpek Türeli, states “On the other hand, for a city which claims to be part of the contemporary world, the production of new spaces for art is a responsibility. The only example in this sense is Santral, the huge exhibition space that was built by the Bilgi University in the grounds of the Ottoman-era electric power plant, which was given for use to the university by the Akp Leader, Erdoğan, the current Prime Minister.” The resemblance of the Santral building to the wind turbine of the Tate Modern is inevitable to the professional eye.

Santral İstanbul

            However, the role that these architectural geniuses play in the process of transformation of the city and the district they are built in is equally important. The extent to which these buildings have succeeded in transforming their environment is questionable. Without a doubt, the Tate Modern building as well as Guggenheim Bilbao building and İstanbul Modern attracted the attention of investors to their region. Hotels are built into these neighborhoods and the resident profile has changed dramatically. In contrast to Tate Modern and Guggenheim Bilbao, in case of İstanbul Modern, the residents nearby became generally consisting of foreigners or rather tourists along with the traditional Turkish families. Santral İstanbul is considerably less successful compared to its competition in terms of transforming its environment.

Tate Modern

            Furthermore on the comparison, according to a review by Locum Destination in 2001 called “Transforming the Thames”, Tate Modern is a “high-profile” public sector project. Again in the same article, it’s claimed, “Tate Modern, on the other hand, opened with a bang and has attracted only positive public and media reaction. As well as succeeding commercially, welcoming 2.9 million visitors in its first six months alone, it has been able to participate in plans for a socially inclusive economic transformation of its locality, led by the local authority.” This information reveals that Tate Modern has been a successful public sector project in terms of its communication and planning techniques. The planning of Guggenheim is “The concept, which originated from Baltimore, could be defined broadly as “a development in its own right, which may or may not be self- sustaining; a marshalling point for further investment [and] a marketing tool for an area or city” (Smyth 1994).” The success of Guggenheim Bilbao is also evident in terms of its communication and planning. In terms of branding, it’s said, “What renders this museum particularly interesting is that its phenomenal success – due to a combination of stunning architecture, a big name collection and huge amounts of publicity worldwide – will most probably set it as a precedent for other projects.” İstanbul Modern is also an institution which is well capable of creating its own brand and making advertisement through its exhibitions and by hosting biennials. The difference is that it’s a private museum unlike Guggenheim and Tate. Santral İstanbul has emerged a result of cooperation of public, private and non-governmental organizations and in terms of branding the institution doing well which is apparent with all the foreign and native visitors that it attracts.

Further info:

Failures of regeneration in Tate Modern: http://www.tate.org.uk/liverpool/eventseducation/symposia/13812.htm.

The citations of the sources are indicated within the entry after or before each quotation.