On Istanbul’s Anatolian side, right in the midst of Bağdat Avenue’s never-ending flow, there’s a wonderful stop for those who want to turn inward and listen to silence. I’ve added Türkmen Alkan’s “Silent Resistance”—a confrontational exhibition that will soothe your soul in the final days of the year—to Apartment No: 26’s art route.
The exhibition ends on December 31, 2025—right as the year comes to a close. If you’d like to discover your own “thresholds” before stepping into the new year, this show is perfect for you.
Sometimes the greatest noise erupts in the silence within us. Painter Türkmen Alkan invites us to confront precisely this noise—that is, ourselves—in his new solo exhibition at Evrim Art Gallery in Caddebostan. The show explores the inner threshold of the human being, the struggle with darkness, and the desire for rebirth at the end of that darkness.
The exhibition features 31 works from the artist’s recent period. The texture of oil paint meets the raw lines of charcoal and ink.
In Türkmen Alkan’s world, dry trees, rays of light, and dark paths serve as metaphors. The artist invites us to shed our “urban adult” identity and reconnect with the fragile child inside. He reflects on canvas the painful yet equally transformative power of stepping out of the comfortable zone of the visible world and into the unknown.
Crossing Thresholds
The exhibition’s title, “Silent Resistance,” is not an acceptance but an effort to find a path. Alkan describes this process as: “An attempt to make visible the resistance within silence, the power hidden in fragility, and the search for one’s own way.”
A graduate of Marmara University’s Painting Teaching program and trained in the atelier discipline of masters like Kasım Koçak and Aysu Koçak, Alkan takes the viewer on both a visual and intellectual journey in this exhibition.
In the final days of the year, take a moment to escape Bağdat Avenue’s New Year glitter and crowds, and embark on this inner journey in the peaceful atmosphere of Evrim Art Gallery (Caddebostan). Don’t miss it.
