Of this place, Istanbul Modern. Im in turkeys biggest city, istanbul. In many ways, the story of istanbul is the story of the Bosphorus Strait, the waterway that divides the city and has made it a key Meeting Place for centuries. The brand new home of Istanbul Modern acknowledges this with an impressive open plan ground floor that connects the city with the water. And ive been given special access to the museum as the team make final preparations ahead of its opening. Any new museum needs a gifted architect to create it. And in the italian renzo piano, Istanbul Modern has hired one of the best. Because pianos renowned internationally for his elegant structures, such as londons shard, and cultural buildings, from the pompidou in paris to the whitney in new york, are his speciality. Which is why im so excited that hes agreed to guide me, via a video call, around his latest creation. Hello. I would love to get a sense. How do you approach designing a building like this . The first thing i
Theyre becoming much more dynamic and inclusive places, less solemn, less elitist, and less west centric, too. Museums, i believe, are really having a moment, and thats what i want to explore. What i am looking for is something weird, something different. I feel youve succeeded, inci. Shes one of the greatest female artists of the 20th century. So what happened 7 because she kind of, like, drops off the map. She was a woman, and she was a muslim. Its an exciting time to be interested in museums and visual art, because a great shake up of art history is underway, which is why ive come to istanbul, that Mesmerising Megalopolis that straddles two continents, europe and asia. And the interplay between western and turkish art is a fundamental part of the extraordinary collection of this place, Istanbul Modern. Im in turkeys biggest city, istanbul. In many ways, the story of istanbul is the story of the Bosphorus Strait, the waterway that divides the city and has made it a key Meeting Place
Now, id like to invite gleaves whitney, executive director of the gerald dar ford president ial foundation, to the podium to introduce tonights speaker, gleaves. Thanks for. As joel, just said, were back. Look at this. This is great to have all these people in the auditorium after all those months of covid. So i applaud you for being here. You came for a Great Program this evening. As as you all know, weve been bringing bill brands back to grand rapids, west michigan, for many years, almost two decades. And ill introduce him in just a minute. But first, i want to welcome our cspan, our viewing audience. I want to welcome all of you who are here in person. I think we have some trustees from the gerald ford president ial foundation to recognize. I think i see bob hooker and i think j. C. Rising is here. We have one of the ford president fords family members, greg ford, a nephew of president. Mrs. Ford, welcome. Glad youre always glad youre here. So, yeah, go ahead and applaud. Absolutely
Now, id like to invite gleaves whitney, executive director of the gerald dar ford president ial foundation, to the podium to introduce tonights speaker, gleaves. Thanks for. As joel, just said, were back. Look at this. This is great to have all these people in the auditorium after all those months of covid. So i applaud you for being here. You came for a Great Program this evening. As as you all know, weve been bringing bill brands back to grand rapids, west michigan, for many years, almost two decades. And ill introduce him in just a minute. But first, i want to welcome our cspan, our viewing audience. I want to welcome all of you who are here in person. I think we have some trustees from the gerald ford president ial foundation to recognize. I think i see bob hooker and i think j. C. Rising is here. We have one of the ford president fords family members, greg ford, a nephew of president. Mrs. Ford, welcome. Glad youre always glad youre here. So, yeah, go ahead and applaud. Absolutely
Now, id like to invite Gleaves Whitney, executive director of the gerald dar ford president ial foundation, to the podium to introduce tonights speaker, gleaves. Thanks i would like to invite executive director of the president ial foundation to the podium to introduce tonight speaker. As joel just said, we are back. Look at this. It is great to have all these people in the auditorium after months of covid. I applaud you for being here. You came for a great program. For many years, almost two decades. But first, i want to welcome our cspan viewing audience. I want to welcome all of you in person. I think we have trustees we have president fords family members, greg ford, nephew of the president. Always glad you are here. Go ahead and applaud. Absolutely. Those of you who have into the skate for know that i have tried every which way possible, humanly possible to introduce bill in any way. One year, in fact, we used his haiku poetry. He is the author of a lot of haiku poetry that ended