Odunpazarı Modern Müze

Odunpazarı Modern Museum, OMM for short, is a museum showing modern and contemporary art from Türkiye and around the world. It stands among the historic Odunpazarı houses on Atatürk Boulevard. The museum opened to visitors on 7 September 2019. It was brought to life on the initiative of Erol Tabanca, an architect and collector who is himself from Eskişehir. The umbrella organisation of the museum is the Odunpazarı Modern Art Foundation, established in 2019. The foundation aims to bring culture and art together with the public, to develop art education and to pass cultural values on to future generations. The building was designed by the Japanese architecture office Kengo Kuma and Associates. The office is known for using as little concrete as possible and for favouring natural materials such as wood, stone and paper. Before designing, Kuma and his team came to Eskişehir and studied the fabric of the city. Learning that Odunpazarı was once the centre of the firewood trade, the architect made timber the main material of the building. According to the museum's own description, the architecture carries traces of Odunpazarı civil architecture, Ottoman dome architecture and traditional Japanese architecture. Four elements stand out in the design, namely geometry, light, clustering and wood. Simple geometric lines combine into a complex image, and the light filtering inside sets the mood of the exhibition rooms. The masses do not follow a single line; boxes clad in horizontal timber slats slide over one another to form a clustered silhouette. According to Turkish Wikipedia, the pine used in the building was chosen from trees that had completed their life in sustainable industrial forests in Russia. The three-storey building covers an area of about 4,500 square metres. It contains exhibition spaces, workshops, event venues, a cafe and a museum shop. The museum defines its mission as protecting, exhibiting and expanding its collection. Works selected from the collection are shown together with temporary exhibitions by international contemporary artists. The main hall holds an installation designed especially for the museum by the Japanese bamboo artist Tanabe Chikuunsai IV. Since temporary exhibitions change at intervals, you can find out which show is on that day from the museum's programme page. Workshops, seminars and artist talks for children, young people and adults are also part of the education programme. There are exhibition routes prepared by age group for school groups. Guided tours of the current exhibition, joined by reservation, are held on every day except Monday. Flash-free photography is allowed for personal use, but tripods and selfie sticks may not be used. Backpacks, suitcases, large bags and umbrellas are not allowed in the galleries and must be left at the cloakroom. Food and drink may not be taken into the exhibition rooms. All areas of the museum open to visitors are suitable for wheelchair users. Wheelchair users can enter through the cafe section and reach every floor by lift. A section of a mobile app that provides audio guidance has been prepared for visually impaired visitors. Children under twelve may visit the museum accompanied by an adult. For ticket prices, opening hours, student discounts and free visiting days, check the museum's official website. In the museum's own words, the building brings the district to life at night as much as by day, and with the evening lighting the timber slats glow from within. Together with the city museums around it, OMM forms a small museum square. Those coming by tram can get off at the Atatürk Lisesi stop of the EsTram, and those coming by bus at the Odunpazarı stop, and reach the museum after a short walk. According to the museum's directions page, it takes about thirteen minutes on foot from Hamamyolu Avenue. It is easy to see the Contemporary Glass Arts Museum right next door on the same visit.