Istanbul Alphabet

2012

ISTANBUL ALPHABET: From çokçok to zikzak
An special exhibition and exploration of Turkish objects of everyday material culture.

Project: WALKING CHAIR Design
Disciplines: Grafic Design, type design
Exhibition curators: Max Borka & Anna Pannekoek
Client: Werkbundarchiv – Museum der Dinge, Berlin

Çokçok (very, very) is a Turkish expression that signifies an insatiable hunger for more. The exhibition ISTANBUL ALPHABET — from çokçok to zikzak fully embraces the unique focus of the Museum der Dinge: the exploration of everyday material culture.

At the center is the çokçok collection, which the exhibition’s curators—Max Borka and Anna Pannekoek—assembled during a 100-day stay in Istanbul. This collection developed, on the one hand, from the objects and interventions that designers and artists left behind in the curators’ apartment in Istanbul. On the other hand, it consists of objects, sounds, and images that Anna Pannekoek gathered during her wanderings through the city, in a Situationist, Istanbul-style manner: roaming about, guided by intuition and chance.

A key element of the entire exhibition design: stenciled lettering that can take on the appearance of a textile pattern.