A metro station doesn’t have to be a shopping mall or a transit point. The -1st floor of Taksim Metro Station is home to Taksim Sanat and this week, 131 works by 44 young artists are on view there. The third edition of “Genç Buluşmalar” (Young Gatherings) opened on 8 July, free to access.
Art in Public Space: The Logic of a Metro Gallery
Taksim Sanat’s location is not an ordinary gallery. A station traversed by tens of thousands of people each day makes possible an immediate, free encounter with art. “Free” in both the financial and cognitive sense: no ticket, no required knowledge, no expectation of familiarity with the art world. This is public art programming’s most valuable promise taking art out of “a space you have to enter” and placing it in the flow of daily life.
“Genç Buluşmalar” fills this logic with particularly meaningful content: students and recent graduates from fine arts faculties across Turkey. This is an energy that comes not from retrospectives of famous names but from the beginning moments of artistic practice.
44 Artists, 131 Works, 3rd Edition
Now in its third edition, “Genç Buluşmalar” has grown in scale: 131 works across different disciplines, an artist profile spanning different cities of Turkey, and the continuity provided by curator Dr. Meriç Aktaş Ateş’s editorial hand.
Painting, sculpture, photography, installation, textiles — there is an interdisciplinary diversity. This confronts the viewer not only with a single form of art but with the opportunity to see how different practices can coexist side by side.
Each edition functions as a memory-carrier for both artists and viewers: “I’m in that exhibition too” or “I was at that show” — the venue’s mass use carries this memory to a social scale.
Curator Dr. Meriç Aktaş Ateş
A sustained curatorial vision across editions is what enables the programme to carry through more than one iteration. Dr. Meriç Aktaş Ateş frames “Genç Buluşmalar” as both a platform for student practices and a meeting space with a broad public audience.
This dual goal — speaking to both the art education world and the public — aligns perfectly with the metro gallery’s logic: art isn’t crammed here, but finds the opportunity to grow precisely from within this space.
Istanbul’s Cultural Infrastructure
Taksim Sanat is part of the İBB (Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality) cultural investments. Public art spaces of this kind, opened in various districts of Istanbul, aim to connect art practice with audience segments that museums and private galleries cannot reach.
In this sense, “Genç Buluşmalar” is not only an exhibition; it is also part of cultural infrastructure policy. Carrying art to different layers of the city — and doing so for free — is an ambitious goal. This exhibition is one concrete example of that ambition.
FAQ: Taksim Sanat “Genç Buluşmalar”
- Where is the exhibition and is it free?
“Genç Buluşmalar” (3rd Edition) is on at Taksim Sanat, Taksim Metro Station -1st floor, Istanbul. Free admission. Opened: 8 July 2026.
- How many artists are there and in what disciplines?
44 young artists, 131 works. Students and recent graduates from fine arts faculties across Turkey. Painting, sculpture, photography, installation and more.
- How does this edition differ from previous ones?
This is the third edition. The format, renewed with different artists each year, continues to grow under curator Dr. Meriç Aktaş Ateş’s continuity. The number of works appears to have increased compared to previous editions.
NO-26 Note
An exhibition worth stopping for when passing through Taksim or in the area. We don’t know the closing date which is reason enough not to wait.
