Despite being one of the world’s busiest hubs, iGA Istanbul Airport still believes in the importance of art to enrich the passenger experience: Beyazıt Öztürk, a renowned Turkish television personality known for his long-standing and impactful TV programmes, is now showcasing his intellectual and aesthetic approach to art through sculpture, in an exclusive exhibition located at the İGA ART Gallery in the international departures terminal.
Hosted by İGA ART, the exhibition features the sculpture ‘Thing‘ (Şey) and the collection ‘Things‘ (Şeyler), which focuses on objects left behind by travellers. Its aim is to highlight that airports are more than just transit points; they are spaces where human stories, memories, and emotions intersect. Curated by İGA ART executive board member Marcus Graf, the project focuses on everyday objects that often go unnoticed and the memories they carry, reminding travellers that a journey can be an artistic experience as much as a physical one.
While the public has known Beyazıt Öztürk through his television career for decades, he is now presenting his ‘silent side’ – his work in sculpture and ceramics. A graduate of the Anadolu University Faculty of Fine Arts, Öztürk has now brought his long-standing work in the arts to the public eye at a venue where thousands of people cross paths daily.
At the heart of the exhibition is a sculpture named ‘Thing’. Inspired by the baggage conveyor belt – an often-overlooked feature of airports – the piece transforms the pathways of an airport into a continuous, fluid line. This line twists and turns within the space, evoking a giant version of a ‘reminder knot’ tied around a finger.
Speaking at the opening, Beyazıt Öztürk remarked: “For many years, I’ve been known for television work where I appeared in countless living rooms, but my story actually began with sculpting… this was my ‘silent side’. It is incredibly exciting to break that silence at iGA Istanbul Airport, a place where thousands of stories are made. While creating the ‘Thing’ sculpture and ‘Things’ exhibition, I looked for items that didn’t just pass through the belts but got stuck or forgotten there. I couldn’t accept that these memories were wasted; instead, I made them into art.”
Selahattin Bilgen, CEO of iGA Istanbul Airport, noted that Öztürk’s work invites people to slow down, observe, and remember. He emphasized that the idea that “forgotten objects do not disappear; they simply change places” creates a powerful bond with the spirit of an airport. “At iGA Istanbul Airport, we believe art is a cornerstone of life,” he continued. “We place great importance on bringing Anatolia’s cultural memory and Istanbul’s multi-layered identity to passengers from all over the world. These works offer a brief moment of tranquillity to thousands of passengers passing through this terminal every day.”
“For someone to achieve as much as Beyazıt Öztürk has and then enter the demanding environment of a sculpture studio is the mark of a true artistic soul,” concluded Gülveli Kaya, Chairman of the İGA ART Executive Board. “Beyazıt Öztürk’s turn towards art is a great opportunity for the visibility and popularization of art.”
While the ‘Thing’ sculpture will remain as a permanent installation under İGA ART, the ‘Things’ exhibition will be open to visitors until April 2026.