In Stillness, Form
Some weeks move quietly, but leave a deeper imprint. I didn’t rush through galleries or race across the city — instead, I let myself settle into places that invited stillness. Alev Ebüzziya Siesbye’s stoneware bowls held the air like suspended breath, while the ancient rooms of the Archaeological Museum seemed to pulse softly with memory. Each visit reminded me that there’s power in form, rhythm in restraint, and a kind of grace in simply looking — without needing to explain.
Alev Ebüzziya Siesbye at Galeri Nev Istanbul
25 February – 28 March 2025
I visited Galeri Nev Istanbul to see Alev Ebüzziya Siesbye’s latest exhibition, and the stillness of the space was the first thing that struck me. The room was silent but filled with presence—row after row of pale stoneware bowls, arranged with almost reverent simplicity. Each piece, handmade in 2024, looked like it had always existed, yet somehow newly born.
There’s a quiet authority to Siesbye’s forms. She uses the ancient coiling technique and a wooden kick-wheel—no molds, no electricity. That physicality is palpable in the curves of each vessel. Wide, smooth bodies taper to narrow bases that seem to hover just above the table surface, balanced on shadows. Their sharp, slightly flared rims hold the eye: crisp lines that frame the dark interiors like thresholds.
The palette was restrained—mostly whites, with a few bowls in soft lavender, powder blue, or plum. Nothing decorative, no surface patterns, just the tension between glaze and clay, weight and lift. A few had faint horizontal lines just beneath the rim, like a quiet anchor holding them down. It’s said those lines are added to stop the bowls from appearing to float away. And I believed it.
What moved me most was how each bowl seemed both solitary and part of a larger rhythm. Differences in height, curve, and hue created a visual tempo—like breath. The variations were subtle, but intentional. Each piece had its own tone, its own presence, and yet together they formed a kind of quiet symphony.
This is mastery through restraint. Decades of refinement made visible through simplicity. I left feeling calmed, as if I had just stood before something both fragile and eternal.
Galeri Nev Istanbul, Firuzağa Mah., Hayriye Cad. No:18, 34425 Beyoğlu/İstanbul
Address: Bankalar Cd. No:10, Karaköy, Beyoğlu
Rezan Has Museum: Archaeology in the Basement
Ongoing
I wandered into this small private museum near Kadir Has University almost by accident. Tucked beneath a restored Ottoman building, it houses a surprisingly rich archaeological collection—including terracotta oil lamps and Roman-era glass. The lighting is low, the air cool, and you can almost hear the footsteps of centuries. It’s one of those places that remind you how deep Istanbul’s roots go.
Address: Kadir Has Üniversitesi Cibali Kampüsü, Cibali Mah. Fatih
This week’s encounters weren’t loud or dramatic, but they stayed with me. I kept thinking about how form itself — whether ancient or newly shaped — can hold a kind of quiet knowing. And maybe, in a city as intense as Istanbul, those moments of stillness are a way to stay balanced.
Why Turkiye? 
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