Memento Istanbul: Hristoff Family Archive

Yapı Kredi Culture Arts and Publishing is hosting the exhibition “Memento Istanbul: Hristoff Family Archive” based on the photographs, paintings, personal belongings, and objects that a three-generation artist family has collected over the years.

“Memento Istanbul: Hristoff Family Archive,” which focuses on the history of a city as well as a family, can be seen at the Yapı Kredi Art and Culture building from 31 March to 14 August 2022.

The objects we collect, save and hold dear define our tastes and interests, the history of our existence, and our times. These are souvenirs -sentimental, sometimes valuable- that give proof that “we were here.”

The exhibition “Memento Istanbul: Hristoff Family Archive,” based on the photographs, paintings, personal belongings, and objects that a three-generation artist family has collected over the years, sheds light on the history of a city as well as a family.

Curated by Elif Erdoğan, Peter Hristoff, Yeşim Demir Pröhl, the exhibition includes objects collected from the Hristoff Family Archive as well as paintings barrowed from various collections such as Pera Museum, Rahmi Koç Museum, Yapı Kredi, Nur and Selçuk Altun, Ömer M. Koç, Emel and Bülent Korman, Ayşegül and Ömer Özyürek. Works by Aliye Berger, Ali Sami Boyar, İbrahim Çallı, Hayri Çizel, Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu, Zeki Faik İzer, Zeki Kocamemi and Şerif Renkgörür are featured in the section, where the family's ties to the early Republican art scene are referred.

On the first floor of the exhibition, accompanied by archival materials, the story of the Hristoff family is introduced, and there are works from various artists who are also friends of this family. On the second floor of the exhibition, there are works produced by Peter Hristoff inspired by Istanbul.

“Memento Istanbul: The Hristoff Family Archive” was prepared with the support of Raffles Istanbul, Can Carpet, Jotun and the New York School of Visual Arts.

Hristoff Family Archive
The foundations of the Hristoff Family Archive were laid with the photographs of Peter Dimiter Hristoff, who came to Istanbul from Bulgaria in 1923, documenting Istanbul in the 1920s-30s. This “collecting” started by Peter Dimiter, who was at the center of the art scene of the first years of the Turkish Republic, was continued by his son Dimiter and his grandson Peter. Postcards, paintings, ephemera, and photographs in the archive tell the story of a family with the city where it took its roots, blended with nostalgia and sentimentality.

For the Hristoff family’s artist members, aside from painting and engraving, what they have in common is Istanbul. Three generations of artists produced their works with the influence of Istanbul’s history, culture and people.

Exhibition Events and Catalogue
During the exhibition, Yapı Kredi Art and Culture will host various speeches, interviews, workshops, concerts, performances, and activities, including city tours and events on social media platforms.

Yapı Kredi Publications printed a Turkish-English exhibition catalogue. To buy the book, you may click here.