Stop conversion of Haydarpasa Station into hotel-mall complex

Historical Railway Stations : Past, Present and Uncertain Future
(This is a petition to save the collective memory of these historic stations and stop their destruction in the public realm.)

Railways stations throughout history have been romanticised in painting, in the movies and in literature. Yet they also serve an essential function, which is: increasing mobility and linking people and places in an almost seamless fashion. They provide an essential transitory feeling, so relevant in our rapidly changing times.

The railways or train stations naturally, also function as points of arrival and departure. These sites give us a fleeting feeling of “temporary permanence”. Such stationary platforms separate us and re-unite us at the same time, while also linking us all to a common past. They provide us with a much needed reassurance, as humanity crosses over from a fraught present into an unknown period of great uncertainty and instability. Thereby railway stations are a constant symbolic presence on an ever shifting urban landscape. They serve as a bridge between time and space, frontier and metropolis, inwardness and remoteness, foreign and domestic territory. They are a location meant to be there, or where our diverging and diverse destinies can meet and exchange timeless narratives.

The railways and their transportation hubs such as the classic, modern, or post modern railway terminal(s) are inalterable or where temporality is only train timetable. Hence, the railway station is the central locus for exchange; or where we re- invent ourselves in an eternal process of re-newel, mutual discovery and constant mobility.

And this is what makes stations such as Haydarpasa for instance, so vital to our everyday lives and existence, whether we are Turks, or foreign travellers, commuters, day workers, transients or just locals in search of a collective meeting space to re-connect with others in a public place. In this spirit, we would like to announce our upcoming art exhibit, planned for this Fall season (October) as a follow up to our first show (which was held late year) at the Haydarpasa railway station we are planning to organize a show in Vienna this fall.

The thematic of the “art event” is based on the concept of heritage preservation, in the context of rapidly changing urban (and somewhat disfigured) landscapes. It will, as well, focus on the need to defend the usage of public space for the common good. And in this particular case, stress the importance to make sure railways and railroad stations remain in the public realm. After all they belong to us all (and will always be) an integral part of a dynamic and functional urban environment. This international show will feature in addition to Canadian creators, an Austrian artist whose work is both politically provocative and visually striking. Essentially this second show seeks to provide a new perspective on the concept of “urban re-newel” which at times, is devoid of a much needed human dimension when is comes to the notions of progress and urban development.