French Culture and Art Center is an organization that aims to promote French culture and thought in Turkey. It was opened in Izmir in 1955, after the cultural agreement signed between France and Turkey in 1952. The centre, which plays an important role in Turkish-French relations, operates its facility in a historical building built in the 19th century. In addition to various events, it also hosts exhibition areas and shares French culture with various events. The centre, which has a hall with a capacity of 180 people and an exhibition area of 60 m2, organizes concerts, cinema screenings, conferences, performing arts, literature and music-related events.
As I examined the apartment, I felt like I was in that period. I even watched the sunset in the Gulf of Izmir more times than I can count from the balcony of my apartment. As my eyes fell on the open-air cinema, a different movie played on the screen evert time. Even I fought with my friend sitting next to me because he talked too much and it even rained unexpectedly. When I stopped wandering around the sidewalks of the apartment and came back to reality, I was able to sip my coffee. At that moment Something seemed very strange, I realized that some things do not just pass with time and disappear. Nothing was just disappearing, we were abandoning it. Just like the audience who abandoned this cinema, just like we abandoned Izmir Bay by building huge apartment buildings in front of it. you see, we couldn’t preserve the good things of the past. The apartment building was improved and restored and continued to live in all its glory from past to present. We humans obviously need improvement, but not as if we were restoring a building. We are what gives spirit to buildings and their surroundings. Therefore we shouldn’t just abandon them all alone.
Caner I.