Pera Museum to open two new exhibitions this month

ISTANBUL

Pera Museum is set to open two major exhibitions on Sept. 15, bringing together international perspectives on art, emotion and materiality.

Titled “Feeling in Common: Works from the British Council Collection” and “A Verse Written with Earth, Fire, Water and Air,” the shows will offer Istanbul audiences thought-provoking encounters with both contemporary British works and the first solo exhibition in Türkiye of Swedish artist Åsa Jungnelius.

Feelings in Common presents 29 works from the British Council Collection, curated by Ulya Soley. Established in the 1930s, the collection encompasses nearly 9,000 works of 20th and 21st-century from the United Kingdom and is often described as a “museum without walls.”

The exhibition examines how collections can move beyond preserving the past to engage dynamically with today’s social and political realities. Divided into three sections — “Preserving Care,” “Familiar Faces” and “Future Perfect” — it invites reflection on institutional policies, community building through art and the future of collections themselves.

By focusing on the contagious and connective qualities of emotions, the show challenges the long-standing Western dichotomy of reason versus feeling, suggesting that shared emotional spaces in museums can foster inclusivity and hope.

Running parallel to this exhibition, Pera Museum will host Jungnelius’s A Verse Written with Earth, Fire, Water and Air, curated by Elif Kamışlı.

The artist explores the dialogue between glass and stone, creating works that examine the fragile yet enduring relationship between humans and materials.

Produced in collaboration with master glassmakers at Şişecam’s Denizli factory, the exhibition includes four new large-scale pieces alongside recent glass and marble sculptures.

The show situates Jungnelius’s works within a broader landscape of history and tradition. Archaeological objects, handwoven textiles and photographs by Swedish artist Pee Olsson documenting her obsidian research in eastern Türkiye accompany the exhibition.

Through blown glass and marble, Jungnelius offers what the museum describes as “an existence-based experience.”