This blog post was published under the 2015 to 2024 Conservative government

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Leigh Turner

Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Vienna

Part of UK in Turkey

1st June 2016

#Adiosistanbul 5: brilliant museums

A sometimes overlooked #reasonstolikeistanbul is the profusion of quirky museums.

Some famous Istanbul museums reflect the city’s ancient history, such as the Archaeology Museum (housing exhibits from both within and outside what is today Turkey) or the unparalleled Aya Sofya.  These should be on the itinerary of any visitor.

But some of my favourite museums here are modern, quirky or both.  Looking at #reasonstolikeistanbul tweets over the past four years, I’d highlight:

1) Borusan Contemporary: an office building during the week, an art gallery at weekends.  A cool concept brilliantly realised:

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2) The Bilgi University Energy Museum: unexpected and hands-on in a little-visited part of town:

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3) The Sabanci Museum in Emirgan.  Locally known as “The house with the horse” because of the statue outside, it features wonderful gardens; changing exhibitions (including a fine Anish Kapoor show in 2014) and an upmarket restaurant with fine views:

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4) The Photography Museum in Fatih: little publicised but interesting.  I enjoyed my visit there in 2015:

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5) The Museum of Innocence the concept is so high as to be stratospheric.  We surely need more museums which push the boundaries of what exactly a museum is.  I have a visit planned there soon.

I’d welcome readers’ suggestions on other quirky or little known museums which are #reasonstolikeistanbul.

Follow Leigh Turner on Twitter @leighturnerFCO 

About Leigh Turner

I hope you find this blog interesting and, where appropriate, entertaining. My role in Vienna covers the relationship between Austria and the UK as well as the diverse work of…

I hope you find this blog interesting and, where appropriate, entertaining. My role in Vienna covers the relationship between Austria and the UK as well as the diverse work of the UN and other organisations; stories here will reflect that.

About me: I arrived in Vienna in August 2016 for my second posting in this wonderful city, having first served here in the mid-1980s. My previous job was as HM Consul-General and Director-General for Trade and Investment for Turkey, Central Asia and South Caucasus based in Istanbul.

Further back: I grew up in Nigeria, Exeter, Lesotho, Swaziland and Manchester before attending Cambridge University 1976-79. I worked in several government departments before joining the Foreign Office in 1983.

Keen to go to Africa and South America, I’ve had postings in Vienna (twice), Moscow, Bonn, Berlin, Kyiv and Istanbul, plus jobs in London ranging from the EU Budget to the British Overseas Territories.

2002-6 I was lucky enough to spend four years in Berlin running the house, looking after the children (born 1992 and 1994) and doing some writing and journalism.

To return to Vienna as ambassador is a privilege and a pleasure. I hope this blog reflects that.

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