Istanbul and the arts

I was speaking this morning with someone very knowledgeable about the international arts scene. He stated the not-so-surprising fact that Berlin has really taken a commanding position in the arts in Europe, but added something I wasn’t familiar with, which is that there has been a spillover effect from there to Istanbul (Berlin ironically being the world’s second most populous Turkish city). Along with the apparently excellent museum and gallery scene, he says the musical life of Istanbul is hard to beat.

Hey, I needed no convincing anyway… Istanbul is extremely high on my list of favorite places. In certain moods, it’s #1.