Cihangir – Beyoğlu, Turkey

Set on a steep hill between the business district of Taksim and the Bosphorus waterway, Cihangir is the beating heart of Istanbul. The neighbourhood is a bohemian enclave of cafes, galleries and creative spaces that have popped up in what remains of the rapidly gentrifying suburbs of the greater Beyoğlu district.

Amid the ramshackle houses and the junk shops selling boat parts we discovered Closet Circuit, a creative project that is equal parts fashion boutique, art gallery and organic cafe, with a design philosophy centred around recycling and sustainability.

It was here we briefly met Ülkü Caglayan, the ‘breath and mind therapist’ behind the shop, and renowned photographer Doruk Seymen, who pointed us in the direction of a host of other underground happenings taking place throughout the city.

Somewhat surprisingly, we found ourselves in a gay pride parade on the main drag of Istiklal Caddesi, something that would never have occurred in Turkey the last time I was here. Eventually we found ourselves in Taksim’s Piramid Sanat, one of very few independent art spaces in Istanbul, where we discovered an exhibition highlighting the Gezi Park protests that had occurred a few months earlier.

Given the authoritarian approach of the government it’s a gutsy move hosting such events, but this is why I love Istanbul… life goes on in much the same way as it did a thousand years ago, yet in areas like Cihangir and Kadakoy this traditional life manages to sit side-by-side with a progressive, forward-thinking new generation, and when there’s creative minds like this re-imagining a new Istanbul it makes the city such an inspiring place to be.