The exhibition “Bridging Art Deco: A Hidden Heritage from Istanbul to Brussels” highlights, in the context of European Heritage Days, Istanbul’s Art Deco legacy, revealing a unique interpretation of this global movement.
The 100th anniversary of the Art Deco movement, which began with the Exposition Internationale des Art Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes held in Paris in 1925, is being celebrated across many European cities. The Brussels-Capital Region has designated this year as Art Deco Year 2025, hosting various events throughout the year.
The exhibition “Bridging Art Deco: A Hidden Heritage from Istanbul to Brussels” was launched to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Art Deco and to make visible the shared cultural heritage between Europe and Türkiye. Türkiye’s participation in the Exposition Internationale des Art Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris a century ago also shows that the cultural bridge envisioned by the exhibition has roots that go back many decades. The exhibition is also part of Heritage Days 2025, which took place this year on September 20–21 with the theme Art Deco, Roaring Twenties, Crash Years. The exhibition remained open to visitors for two weeks, offering them the opportunity to explore Istanbul’s Art Deco heritage while drawing connections with Brussels’ rich Art Deco legacy.
The exhibition was organized by partnership of Beinsitu Sustainability Institute, DOCOMOMO_Türkiye National Working Party, and Yıldız Technical University and associated with the Brussels 2025 theme of Art Deco. The exhibition took place in Brussels with the support of the Permanent Delegation of Türkiye to the European Union, the Turkish Embassy in Bruxelles, and Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi Company between September 19th and October 3rd 2025.
Although the origins of the Art Deco movement can be traced back to Paris, it was widely adopted and applied in many European cities, especially in Brussels. During the same period, Art Deco influence was also seen in İstanbul with unique examples shaped by local culture and dynamics. In Istanbul, Art Deco appears not only as an imported style, but also as an aesthetic adapted to the local architectural memory, intertwined with modernisation, industrialisation and the search for European identity.
While Istanbul is often associated with Ottoman and Byzantine heritage, the city’s modernist period including Art Deco left a remarkable modern legacy. It made a lasting mark by blending European influences with local aesthetics and materials. The exhibition showed how Istanbul interpreted and embraced Art Deco in a distinctive manner, reflected not only in architecture but also in lifestyle. The buildings, its details and its inventory information conveyed through photographs, drawings, texts, collages and creative interpretations.
The exhibition features various Art Deco buildings in Istanbul, as well as Talimhane district as an Art Deco neighborhood. The research forming the foundation of the exhibition was carried out by a broad team of academics, graduates, and students from the fields of architecture and related disciplines.
A wide selection was presented in the exhibition, ranging from examples of Art Deco apartment buildings to the Talimhane district, from corporate brand examples to iconic structures, and from interior applications to artworks. Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi, one of the significant representatives of Art Deco heritage since the 1930s, is among the exhibition sponsors. In addition, on Saturday, September 20 and Sunday, September 21, visitors enjoyed a holistic experience during the European Heritage Days, accompanied by coffee from Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi.
The exhibition “Bridging Art Deco: A Hidden Heritage from Istanbul to Brussels” was featured on 18 September with a special reception hosted by the Permanent Delegation of Türkiye to the EU and the Turkish Embassy in Brussels.
Speeches were delivered by Ambassador and Permanent Delegate of Türkiye to the EU, Mr. Faruk Kaymakcı, and Ambassador of Türkiye to Belgium, Mr. Görkem Barış Tantekin. Following this, Asli Ingin, Senior Project Director of Beinsitu Sustainability Institute, and Ebru Omay Polat, Faculty Member of Yildiz Technical University and Co-Chair of docomomo_Türkiye National Working Party, shared the story behind the exhibition and the idea of bringing Istanbul’s hidden Art Deco heritage to Brussels.
The opening was warmly welcomed by our distinguished guests. They also enjoyed the Turkish coffee of Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi.
We were honoured to take part in this special event, hosted by H.E. Görkem Barış Tantekin, Ambassador of the Republic of Türkiye to Belgium, and Mrs. Damla Tantekin, together with H.E. Faruk Kaymakcı, Ambassador and Permanent Delegate of Türkiye to the EU, and H.E. Basat Öztürk, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Türkiye to NATO.
The exhibition was presented for the second time, following its first presentation in September during the Heritage Days program, this time at the National Day Reception in Brussels celebrating the Republic of Türkiye.
Its presence at the reception, organised on the occasion of the 29 October Republic Day, created a meaningful connection by bringing together two important milestones: the 102nd anniversary of the Republic and the 100th anniversary of the Art Deco Movement.
