Istanbul's renowned Sakıp Sabancı Museum (SSM) continues to present rich content with a wide selection from earlier exhibitions on its digital channels. The museum has recently moved “A Surrealist in Istanbul: Salvador Dali” exhibition to the digital environment. The exhibit previously took place between Sept. 20, 2008, and February 1, 2009, in collaboration with Akbank.
Regarded as the biggest temporary exhibition held outside the Gala-Salvador Dali Foundation with works belonging to its collection in Spain, "A Surrealist in Istanbul: Salvador Dali" offered a wide selection of artists' paintings, drawings and graphics and hosted around 252,000 visitors while it was open.
“A Surrealist in Istanbul: Salvador Dali” online exhibition, prepared with DigitalSSM archive resources and made accessible via the museum’s social media accounts and YouTube channel, displays manuscripts, photos and various documents, as well as Dali's works carrying the traces of his unique artistic approach.
Within the scope of the online exhibition enriched with a new interview from Montse Aguer Teixidor, director of Gala – Salvador Dali Foundation Centre for Dalinian Studies and curator of Istanbul exhibition, the Dali conference series, previously held at SSM, has been made accessible once again. Dali's life story, versatile artistic production and influence are discussed in the conferences that host formidable figures such as writer Ferit Edgü and art critic, academician and writer Hasan Bülent Kahraman.
The online exhibition includes a selection of Dali, who marks a turning point in 20th-century art, starting from childhood to his last creative days. The artist created the works under the influence of various artistic movements at the beginning of the century. His pieces belonging to the years of surrealism, examples of the wide expansion he brought to this trend and the process that led to his return to classicism are shown with informative texts.
As part of “A Surrealist in Istanbul: Salvador Dali” exhibition catalog, articles analyzing Dali's place, iconography and original stance in 20th-century art history are also available within the scope of the online exhibition. In her article titled "Salvador Dali: A Retrospective" in the catalog, Montse Aguer Teixidor provides a detailed view of the artist's life and artistic development, starting from his childhood. Author Ferit Edgü, in his article titled "Surrealism and Dali," explores the artist's on-and-off relationship with the surrealist group and the expansion he brought into this trend.
An illustrated children's book "I, Dali" prepared for the exhibition is also shared as part of the online exhibition. The book, which can be downloaded from the museum's website, is also accessible with the audio version voiced by the voice actor and writer Yekta Kopan.
