FREEDOM AND URBANITY: ISTANBUL THROUGH PHOTOGRAPHS
A Panel with Ahmet Ersoy, Z. Umut Türem, and Manca Juvan
What is urban freedom? And what is the role of photography in capturing this elusive ideal? The exhibition “Istanbul: Spaces of Freedom” (FOTO WIEN 2025) is comprised of selections from photographer Manca Juvan’s recent work, which seeks to portray a moment in the life of the eponymous metropolis and its changing relationship to the ideal of urban freedom.
Inspired by this exhibition, our interdisciplinary panel will think through the question of urban freedom, and consider the role of photography in capturing both its presence and its absence in modern Istanbul.
October 9, 2025
18:30-20:00
Fabrikraum
Johnstraße 25-27, 1150 Wien
SPEAKERS:
Ahmet Ersoy, Boğaziçi University
Archival Trash: Photojournalism and the Cityscape in Early Republican Istanbul
Z. Umut Türem, University of Vienna
Chasing Freedom in the Streets of Istanbul: Then and Now
Manca Juvan, Photographer
Istanbul: Spaces of Freedom
The exhibition "Istanbul: Spaces of Freedom" has its origins in a book of photography called "Istanbul: Faces of Freedom". Originally conceived as part of a larger project focused on ideas of urban freedom, this work was authored by Ljubljana-based photographer and writer Manca Juvan, and historian Oto Luthar.
This panel is sponsored by “Theatre and Gentrification in the European City”, a five-year research project funded by the European Research Council’s Consolidator Grant Program (THEAGENT [101043740]).
For more information:
https://www.oeaw.ac.at/projects/theagent/events/freedom-and-urbanity-istanbul-through-photographs
https://fotowien.at/ausstellung/istanbul-spaces-of-freedom-foto-wien-2025/