BUART Visits the Perili Köşk!

The trip organized by the Bahçeşehir University Art Events Unit (BUART) to the Borusan - Perili Köşk Museum took place on 19 November.

Held as part of BUART's monthly art events, the trip aimed to introduce Bahçeşehir University students to the world of modern art. At the end of the 2-hour guided tour, Bahçeşehir students expressed their satisfaction.

The Yusuf Ziya Pasha mansion in Rumelihisarı, known as the Perili Köşk (Haunted Mansion) and also used as an office by Borusan Holding, opens its doors to visitors at weekends.

In this "office-museum," visited by Bahçeşehir University students on 19 November at BUART's initiative, both the collections of Borusan Chairman of the Board Ahmet Kocabıyık and various exhibitions can be seen. The collection includes nearly 600 works, including oil paintings, sculptures, videos, installations, prints, new media, light art and photography. It features works by artists such as Bedri Baykam, Kemal Önsoy, Abdurrahman Öztoprak, Bülent Evren, Ekrem Yalçındağ, Ardan Özmenoğlu, Erol Akyavaş and Nuri Bilge Ceylan. There are also works by famous international artists Jim Dine, François Morellet and Doug Aitken.

Built a century ago by Yusuf Ziya Pasha, one of the important maritime merchants of the period, the mansion is known for the urban legends surrounding it. The best known of these is a love story... The Pasha, who married a poor and very beautiful girl, wanted his wife, whom he did not want anyone to see, to live in the tower on the top floor of the mansion. Because the girl's beauty became legendary, the young men of the neighborhood began to pass in front of the house constantly. The phrase they used, "the mansion where the girl as beautiful as a fairy lives," over time turned into Perili Köşk (the Fairy Mansion).