When most people hear the name Istanbul, everything comes to a standstill. This has always been the case throughout history. It is a city that has been the inspiration for thousands of works and has been a meeting point for almost all nations in the world in one way or another.

Reşad Ekrem Koçu, a Turkish historian and writer born in Istanbul, dedicated his life to immortalizing this city by creating an "Istanbul Encyclopedia" that exists somewhere between fantasy and reality.

Celebrating and bringing into the open Koçu's peerless legacy, Salt Galata's latest comprehensive exhibition that spreads across three floors of the iconic Salt's impressive building, "No Further Records: Reşad Ekrem Koçu and Istanbul Encyclopedia Archive" as the name indeed indicates the collection's uniqueness, unfurling how Koçu combined fantastical elements with reality to narrate the city's rich and colorful past, to compile the "grand register" of Istanbul.

Even for this reason, the incomplete encyclopedia that had remained in the design stage of the publishing effort, following the 11 volumes of the encyclopedia printed up to the letter "G" during Koçu’s lifetime, this register is a great portrayal of city memory with drafts for the articles, clippings, collages and drawings.

Eccentrics

Embarking on a journey to immortalize all the aspects of such an ontologically comprehensive city requires a lifetime, and so did Reşad Ekrem Koçu.

As I had the chance to attend the press preview of the exhibition's opening in Salt Galata, I stood in awe as the exquisite fusion of storytelling and archiving unfolded before me, a masterpiece of artistic synergy.

For this, the book covers not only Istanbul's historical and cultural heritage but also delves into life on its streets, architecture, ancient professions, traditions, legends and more.

Eerie and authentic characters pace up and down in the streets such as tomboys who castigate a taxi driver as he made her blood boil or a wannabe vampire who sinks their teeth to random citizens at night as visitors witness the press clippings in the exhibition. "The legal status of the case could not be determined" Koçu named these events that resemble to be popped out of a detective's confidential drawer.

The vivid urban tableau that was meticulously crafted by Koçu is brought to life in the exhibition by cartoonist Cem Dinlenmiş through colorful characters. Koçu's tactless and unknown residents of the city those who have no record elsewhere find life with Dinlenmiş's character drawings.

To get to know these characters and to be part of them, the exhibition offers a workshop area supported by Stabilo, where the visitors can draw different body parts of the characters on a drawn-on light platform that is replicable when placed on paper.

Being an Istanbulite

"Only those who were married in Istanbul would be considered Istanbulities," Koçu noted.

The concept of belonging to a place, formed by customary descriptions, perhaps means carrying the energy of the place entirely, which is why it believes that those who marry in Istanbul are the true Istanbulites: An apt perception of dynamism, breathing out the soul of the city.

As Koçu has ingeniously collected the stories of individuals who have serendipitously converged, Salt Galata intertwines with a carefully curated assemblage through a composition that is intricately shaped by the tapestry of Galata's neighborhood. Spanning the 19th to the mid-20th century, the exhibition illuminates the lives of the "lowlives," both within and beyond Istanbul's conventional social order, who inhabited the very fabric of the surrounding cityscape.

As certain articles conclude with the enigmatic phrase "no further records have been found," the exhibition, aptly titled "No Further Records," delves into the realms beyond sanctioned historiography, delving into the city of those whose stories defy conventional documentation.

Besides this captivating exhibition, the printed volumes of the Istanbul Encyclopedia and a treasury of approximately 40,000 artifacts are undergoing digitization, poised to grant online accessibility in the near future. Illuminating Istanbul's bygone eras, this evocative amalgamation of exhibition and archive shall be accompanied by an e-publication, enriched by the insights of multidisciplinary scholars.

Founded by Garanti BBVA, Salt will host the exhibition that was organized as part of Reşad Ekrem Koçu and Istanbul Encyclopedia Archive, a joint project of Salt and Kadir Has University initiated in 2018 until Oct. 29.

By partnering with museums, galleries, and cultural centers, BBVA has helped bring renowned international artists and exhibitions to Türkiye, exposing the local audience to diverse artistic expressions and fostering cross-cultural exchange.