Water moves. Salt stays.

Books of Salt
Presented within Flowing City, Istanbul Modern
19 November 2026–27 June 2027

Books of Salt follows water through Istanbul, tracing encounters between fresh and salt water, bodies and landscapes. Water collected from springs, waterways and sites across the city is brought into relation with tears. As the drops dry, the forms they leave become visible through microscopic photography.

A research table brings together eight glass plates bearing these traces, accompanied by images and short texts. Each station approaches a particular encounter: a source above Ayvat Bendi, a puddle used by water buffalo in Arnavutköy, rainwater gathered on Istanbul Modern’s roof, the Balıklı spring, waters from the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara, and the artists’ tears.

The Bosphorus becomes a starting point for considering how different waters occupy a shared space. Drops from the two seas are placed beside one another on glass. As they dry, their meeting edges become a site of negotiation, leaving a visible trace of contact and difference.

Moving between the scale of a city and that of a single drop, Books of Salt attends to what water carries and what remains when it withdraws. The glass holds the trace in place; the microscope brings it within reach of sight.

The work is presented in Flowing City, a group exhibition exploring Istanbul’s relationship with water and its place in the city’s visual and cultural history.

Exhibition information

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CREDITS

Artists: Lundahl & Seitl
Exhibition curators: Nilay Dursun and Ümit Mesci

Research developed through the IASPIS Istanbul Exchange Program, in collaboration with Istanbul Modern, with hosting at the Swedish Research Institute in Istanbul and support from the Consulate General of Sweden in Istanbul.