The Contemporary Istanbul Foundation (CIF) on Wednesday opened its new Cocoon gallery with an exhibition in Fişekhane, a civic center in the city's Zeytinburnu district.

"Spinning a Cocoon," which will run through Sept. 21, has been co-organized with the Art on Istanbul gallery and curated by Göksen Buğra, who said that a vast variety of works of art, including sculptures, installations, new media, ceramics, photography and paintings, were being featured.

Buğra said that the coronavirus had changed people's lives. "Artists often consider such times as an opportunity to take a step back. So, production continues. We wanted to organize an exhibition on this scale so that we could push our borders both in terms of polyphony and this period in which mobility has been decreasing," she added.

The exhibition brings together 50 works from 16 artists – namely Ahmet Çerkez, Ahmet Elhan, Burcu Erden, Eda Soylu, Elif Kahveci, Erman Özbasaran, Evren Sungur, Işıl Kapu, Lutfullah Genc, Mithat Sen, Oddviz, Olcay Kuş, Olgu Ülkenciler, Onur Mansız, Sencer Vardarman and Ülgen Semerci.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency (AA), CIF chair Ali Güreli said that the foundation plans to organize training and various certificate programs at the venue.

Güreli said a new exhibition curated by renowned writer Hasan Bülent Kahraman, with a selection from the foundation's collection, will be held in September.

CIF organizes Contemporary Istanbul (CI), the leading annual art fair in Turkey. "Contemporary Istanbul takes place each September and offers a platform for the city's thriving art scene, growing art market and collector base, as well as an access point to the best contemporary art from the wider region," according to CI's website.