A Century of Corporate Patronage, Put on Display

Traces of a Century approaches the hundredth anniversary of Koç Holding through art rather than industry, at Yapı Kredi Kültür Sanat in Beyoğlu. That choice sets both the material and the limit of the exhibition: it is an institutional history assembled from the institution's own memory, which makes it a document as much as a display.

Anniversary shows slide easily into celebration, but the frame here contains a sharper question. Most art institutions in Turkey were founded and are sustained by corporate capital, and museums, collections and biennials cannot be discussed apart from that arrangement. With limited public funding for contemporary art, private programmes largely decide which exhibitions happen at all, and a century of patronage on display makes the shape of that dependency legible. The exhibition opened on 8 April 2026 and closes on 29 November 2026 on İstiklal Caddesi. Sections lean heavily on archives and print material, so allow time to read.