Salt

Salt is a cultural institution in Istanbul that Garanti BBVA founded in 2011. It works from two buildings, Salt Beyoğlu on İstiklal Caddesi and Salt Galata on Bankalar Caddesi in Karaköy. Entry to both, and to every programme, is free.

Through exhibitions, publications, talks, film, performance and workshops, the programme looks at art, architecture and design alongside social and economic history. Salt Beyoğlu occupies a six-storey 19th-century block once known as the Siniossoglou Apartment. Its ground-floor Forum and the second and third floors hold exhibitions, and a Walk-in Cinema hosts talks and screenings. Between 2001 and 2010 the building was home to Platform Garanti Contemporary Art Center.

Salt Galata fills the former headquarters of the Imperial Ottoman Bank, designed by Alexandre Vallauri. It contains Salt Research, a library and archive on Turkey, the Eastern Mediterranean and Eastern Europe since the late 19th century. The building also holds the Mastercard Exhibition Hall and the Ottoman Bank Museum. Salt has belonged to the L'Internationale museum confederation since 2013.