Zeyrek Çinili Hamam, one of Istanbul’s hidden treasures dating back five hundred years, is hosting Anousha Payne’s Murmurations exhibition. The exhibition takes its name from the English word “murmuration,” which refers to both “whispering” and the harmonious movements of flocks of birds. The artist responds poetically to the architecture and deep temporality of the recently uncovered Byzantine Cistern with site-specific works produced as part of the Zeyrek Tiled Bathhouse’s artist-in-residence program.
Curated by Anlam de Coster, the exhibition brings together the layered structure of the cistern with contemporary art, establishing an intuitive connection between collective movements in nature and the narratives stored in the memory of historical structures. Payne creates imaginary figures based on the hollows in the stones, water marks, and worn surfaces. These beings visualize the memory carried by the space, transforming into whispers that quietly wander through the viewer’s mind.
Making the Invisible Visible
The artist’s production progresses like a kind of archaeological excavation. This process, which involves many materials, primarily ceramics, takes shape through actions such as scraping, arranging, constructing, and adding. Just as frescoes emerge in the cold sections of a hamam or a cistern is discovered, Payne strives to make the invisible visible by delving beneath the surface. He completes the missing pieces of history with poetic intuition, weaving new narratives from them.
The use of materials is also part of this narrative construction. Hammered brass, textiles, canvas, found objects, and sculptural forms are transformed by the artist’s hands into mythological or ghostly figures that have emerged from the architecture of the cistern and taken shape over time. Payne breathes new life into the structure’s past by placing these imaginary beings in the depths of the cistern, inviting the viewer to rethink the history of the bathhouse in today’s language.
