STATION: ISTANBUL ENCYCLOPEDIA

Forum, the venue at the entrance of SALT Beyoğlu, reveals the 30-year comprehensive and unparalleled study of the city by historian and novelist Reşad Ekrem Koçu (19051975) within the scope of Station: Istanbul Encyclopedia. The content of the 11 volumes reaching up to the letter “G” that could be printed during Koçu’s life will be interpreted through presentations, talks, and workshops held at Forum and Açık Sinema. Participants will scan the volumes from “Ada” to “Gökçınar” to contribute to the penning of the colophon for entries. "In Station", along with the other works penned by Koçu on Istanbul, certain selected material on the history of the city will be included.

A group of documents consisting of about 20,000 items that were considered for the following volumes of Istanbul Encyclopedia but remained as drafts and 1,460 publications from the personal library of Koçu were acquired by Kadir Has University in 2018. Station is being held as an extension of the three-year project carried out in collaboration with SALT to transfer the printed volumes and the archives to the digital environment in order to be accessible via online software.

In addition to the evaluation and commentary of the specialists and researchers invited to the program, the entries prepared with the contributions of the participants aim to explain the relationship between the latter and the texts and visuals gathered for the encyclopedia, as well as their relationship to the whole archive.

An exclusive example

In his work for Istanbul Encyclopedia, which began in 1944 with the aim of establishing “the vast registry” of Istanbul, Koçu was supported by esteemed historians, literary figures, academics, and artists. The volumes printed in 1944-1948 and 1958-1973 present a detailed documentation of the figures, places, structures, events, customs, expressions, and legends of the city in all its sophistication. Shaped around Koçu’s personal interests, the encyclopedia sets an exclusive example of historiography beyond the narratives Koçu popularized in his writings published in newspapers and magazines of the time.