Pera Museum

Opened on 8 June 2005, Pera Museum is a private museum, established by the Suna and İnan Kıraç Foundation, in order to provide high-quality and large-scale culture- and arts-related services to the public.

Pera Museum operates in a building that was renovated to protect the front side of the historical Bristol Hotel in Tepebaşı, while also creating a home for a quality museum.  The project was prepared by restaurateur and architect Mr. Sinan Genim.

The Museum houses collections of “Oriental Paintings,” “Anatolian Weights and Measurements” and “Kütahya Tiles and Ceramics,” all belonging to the Suna and İnan Kıraç Foundation. Through exhibitions, publications, speaking events, trainings and scientific studies, the museum aims to share these collections with the public, in order to transmit their value to the next generations.

In addition, Pera Museum has put forward many important exhibitions in collaboration with the most prominent museums, collections and foundations in the world, including Tate Britain, Victoria and Albert Museum, St. Petersburg Russian State Museum, JP Morgan Chase Collection, New York School of Visual Arts and Maeght Foundation. It has organized period exhibitions and brought to Turkey the works of many great artists such as “Jean Dubuffet”, “Henri Cartier-Bresson”, “Rembrandt”, “Niko Pirosmani”, “Josef Koudelka” “Joan Miró”, “Akira Kurosawa”, “Marc Chagall”, “Pablo Picasso”, “Fernando Botero”, “Frida Kahlo”, “Diego Rivera” and “Goya”. Since the day it opened, the Museum has cooperated with national and international education and art institutions every year to organize exhibitions which help young artists. Moreover, it supports all its exhibitions with books, speaking events and children education programs. Pera Film, which stands out with its period programs and events, gives the public access to the classics, independent movies, animations and documentaries, sometimes in parallel to the Museum’s art exhibitions, for the enjoyment of its visitors and cinema lovers.

Pera Museum became one of the leading and most popular museums of Turkey, thanks to the events it has carried out since the day of its establishment. It continues to serve the people as a contemporary museum and culture center, within one of the liveliest districts of Istanbul.