Scent and Sound as Artworks in a Restored Hammam

Temenos: Inner Sea is Margaret R. Thompson's first exhibition in Turkey, installed at Zeyrek Çinili Hamam and supported by scent and sound works. The choice follows the building: a hammam has always been defined by heat, humidity, steam and sound, and the exhibition converts that sensory infrastructure into material, placing the visitor inside an environment rather than in front of objects.

A temenos was the enclosed sacred ground around a temple in the ancient world, and using the term in a bathhouse layers purification onto boundary-making. Scent-based work is difficult to exhibit: it leaves no permanent object, disperses through a room, and no two visits are identical, which tests how far institutions can accommodate senses other than sight. In a protected historic building, ventilation and visitor flow shape those decisions directly. The exhibition opened on 17 April 2026 and closes on 30 August 2026 in Fatih. Check opening times and booking before travelling.