The new exotic and the new cool!

Brooklyn Funk Essentials one of the many groups that have become regulars of the Istanbul music scene.

In the confusing, yet ever growing cultural maze of Istanbul countless groups and artists emerge in the last decade. For some, Istanbul, "where east meets west" became the new intellectual focus, as the east European cities were, when the grip of Soviets were weakening. For others, it represents a lost illusion of peace and tolerance. Others, who search for the 'safe exotic', found it in the hamams and whirling dervishes of the city. The more daring,went to the underground dens of vice, hidden in Beyoglu. It indeed has been a place for exotic and interesting social norms and histories and we pick and choose among them. Istanbul is becoming the new 'cool.'


I find this amazing and equally confusing. We, the conformist intellectuals of the 21st century, are shaping an illusion of a city for our own use.