Orhan Pamuk’s ‘Museum of Innocence’ in Istanbul

Posted on April 22, 2013 in Uncategorized

Reprinted with permission of The Culture Trip.

Nobel Laureate Orhan Pamuk has opened a museum displaying artefacts in parallel with his novel Museum of Innocence, which tells a love story lasting three decades. The actual Museum of Innocence in Istanbul offers visitors a trip through the city’s past as well as illuminating Pamuk’s work.

Orhan Pamuk’s novel Museum of Innocence is written from the perspective of Kemal, who obsessively loves a woman called Füsun and starts creating a museum for her belongings. The idea of an actual museum was in Pamuk’s mind right from the outset of writing his novel. In fact, he started collecting objects beforehand and let them inspire him throughout the writing process. He was planning to open the museum and publish the book at the same time. However, it took a long time for the author to curate the museum.

Situated in an old three-storey building in Çukurcuma which was built in 1897, the museum exhibits a variety of artefacts including clothes, toys, utensils, bus and cinema tickets, bankbooks, paintings, photographs and various other items from the time in which the novel is set. These objects are curated chronologically according to the chapters of the book and displayed in 83 showcases. An installation of 4213 cigarettes that Füsun has smoked is the first thing that welcomes visitor. On one of the showcases runs a black-and-white soda pop advertisement made by two famous contemporary advertisers, Serdar Erener and Sinan Çetin, as a gift to Pamuk.

The museum also offers audio installations which evoke the spirit of an older Istanbul through nostalgic voice recordings. Each showcase reflects a period from the past life of Istanbul between 1950 and 2000 allowing visitors to discover forgotten details about that period. In the attic, visitors encounter the room in which, in the novel, Kemal wrote his account of his obsessive love for Füsun. The room also features the manuscript for the novel, unpublished chapters, Pamuk’s drafts and notes, as well as designs that he made for the museum.

Aside from concretising the story of Kemal and Füsun, the museum also constitutes a city archive for Istanbul. Entry tickets for the museum are printed on the last pages of the novel, and readers have been waiting impatiently to use them since the book was published.

By Deren Erelçin

Images courtesy: Sabah Newspaper and Olaf Blecker

For more articles on Turkey’s art and culture; handpicked local galleries; local books, films, music and apps recommendations; local cultural events and tours; and a selection of restaurants and hotels – have a look at http://www.theculturetrip.com/europe/turkey/