‘Mediterranean came to my mind when thinking of human embrace and love. Mediterranean was grand and it was our sea. I wanted to make use of the integrity of a woman when expressing love and embrace.’ İlhan Koman
There are so few sculptures that are identified with İstanbul as most sculptures have either been ignored by the authorities or destroyed by locals throughout the years or they have simply moved from one location to another till they disappeared from public eye.
Famous Turkish architect İlhan Koman’s Akdeniz (Mediterranean) is one of the few sculptures in İstanbul that could stand the test of time.
The sculpture was commissioned in the 1970’s for Halkbank in Levent by its art lover manager who visited İlhan Koman in Sweden where he was in voluntary exile. Koman had imagined and sketched the Mediterranean long before it was commissioned.
The artist says that the sculptures’ 120 pieces symbolise the diverse cultures with different languages and gods around the Mediterranean from antiquity till today.
İlhan Koman working on his sculpture
We owe Mediterranean to a pain staking journey of Koman who spent years creating his masterpiece. The final sculpture has 112 pieces after Koman decided that it is far too large removing eight of the pieces. The sculpture was finalised in 1980 and received the Sedat Simavi visual arts award.
Mediterranean in Zincirlikuyu where it sayed till 2005
The story of Mediterranean takes a strange turn in 2005 where it is taken from Zincirlikuyu to Galatasaray in Beyoğlu for an exhibition. When it was time to move the sculpture back to its original place, İstanbulites circled around the sculpture saying that they want to preserve it in Galatasaray. In spite of the protests, the sculpture was taken to Levent this time where it stayed till 2017.
Mediterranean in Levent
But the story does not end here. Mediterranean is now in its final place after a long restoration inside the newly constructed Yapı Kredi Building in Galatasaray overlooking İstiklal Avenue.
Mediterranean in its final destination till it is moved again. I tie our tendency to move things around and constantly to recreate the city to our nomadic roots which seems to resist being settled!
I am fascinated by the sense of elevation and encompassing beauty of this feminine sculpture that makes me feel at home whenever I see it.
What makes this sculpture so unique is that it has become a fabric of İstanbul and loved by Istanbulites regardless of where ever it goes.
I am sure that İlhan Koman would be proud of seeing his masterpiece that has become an icon of İstanbul unlike hundreds of İstanbul sculptures that have simply vanished throughout time!
İlhan Koman (1921-1986) spent the last years of his life in Sweden. His ashes were spread in the Baltic sea. We owe him a deep gratitude for this icon of İstanbul he left behind.
