Bozlu Art is hosting Gamze Taşdan’s solo exhibition titled “High Time” from May 8 to July 4. In her third exhibition at Bozlu Art, Taşdan presents new works that explore the construction of modern life during the Early Republican era through the lens of entertainment culture, highlighting women’s visibility in public sphere through her distinctive style.
While the exhibition’s title, “High Time,” may suggest an occasion spent in pleasure or a state of mental relaxation, it does not merely define a moment of mere enjoyment. It carries an underlying narrative of the construction of modern life in Türkiye. The exhibition emphasizes that in the young Republic, entertainment was not merely a pastime but the stage for a new social identity. Women, the leading actors of this stage, are the focal point in Taşdan’s paintings.
The Early Republican period, spanning the years 1923 to 1950, was a vibrant time in which entertainment habits inherited from the Ottoman era rapidly transformed into a modern and Westernized urban culture. Verbal and improvisational forms of entertainment from the Ottoman times began to give way to theater, operetta, and cinema, with Istanbul and Ankara serving as the primary stages for this transformation. A key aspect of this transition was the increasingly visible participation of women in public entertainment life. With the rapid rise in popularity of Western music and dance, mixed gender entertainment places became widespread.
The most characteristic entertainment venues of the early Republican era were the cabarets, bars, and clubs of the time. Grand Maksim, Garden Bar, Taksim Municipal Cabaret, Kristal Cabaret, Club 12, and Rejans were among Istanbul’s most popular spots. In addition to these venues, balls were one of the symbolic events of the period. Places like the Pera Palas Hotel, Park Hotel, and Ankara Palas served as both elite lodging venues and the centers of these balls. While these balls served as a model demonstrating how citizens of the new Republic should live, the very act of women dancing in public was a revolution in itself.
The streets and semi-public spaces were also the places where the entertainment culture of the Early Republican era was most vividly experienced. In particular, Princess islands were the hubs of weekend entertainment. During this period, women became part of public entertainment life for the first time on such a large scale. Attending balls, going on evening walks, and sitting at Lebon or Markiz pastry shops transformed women from mere “companions” into active participants in social life. Dancing, the era’s most popular “modern” pastime, also brought about a striking transformation for women. While dance offered people freedom and social courage, it also imposed boundaries for women within the context of gender norms—such as not crossing the boundaries of propriety and maintaining a constant balance.
Rather than presenting the Early Republican period through a direct historical narrative, Taşdan creates a visual language that reflects the atmosphere and collective sentiment of the era; in her works, she adopts a perspective focused on memory and representation rather than a documentary approach. In this context, “High Time” reveals not merely a leisure activity or moments of entertainment, but the culture of an era under construction and the dilemmas women faced during this process; by reminding us of the pleasant times of the past in a world interwoven with the crises we currently face, it brings the possibility of a feminine resistance to the forefront. The exhibition can be viewed at Bozlu Art until July 4.
