Istanbul Modern

By its own account, Istanbul Modern was the first museum in Türkiye devoted to modern and contemporary art. Founded on 11 December 2004, it collects, conserves, shows, documents and researches art by artists from Türkiye and other regions. Its programme runs across a Temporary Exhibition Gallery for retrospectives and thematic group shows, a Pop-Up Gallery for projects and commissions by up-and-coming artists, and a Photography Gallery. The museum also runs a library, a cinema and a shop, alongside education and social projects.

The idea came from Dr. Nejat F. Eczacıbaşı and Oya Eczacıbaşı in the wake of the 1st International Istanbul Contemporary Art Exhibition of 1987, which grew into the Istanbul Biennial. Oya Eczacıbaşı kept the project going after Dr. Nejat F. Eczacıbaşı's death in 1993 and today chairs the board. Its first building, Antrepo No. 4, was a dry cargo warehouse of 8,000 square metres by Sedad Hakkı Eldem, built in 1957 to 1958. Tabanlıoğlu Architects turned it into a museum.

From 2018 the museum spent about four years in temporary premises in Beyoğlu. It reopened on its first Karaköy site on 4 May 2023, in a new building by Renzo Piano Building Workshop. The building contains galleries, an auditorium, a library, education spaces and a roof terrace, raised over a shallow pool of water.