Since it opened in 2019, Eskişehir’s Odunpazari Modern Museum (OMM) has quickly established itself as one of Turkey’s most innovative hubs for contemporary art and design. Its latest exhibition, Creatures of Comfort, was five years in the making and brings together a roster of international designers and artists working across sculpture, tapestry, furniture, and lighting to explore the question: how can we bring nature into our urban lives?

Putting Eskişehi on the culture map

OMM is the brainchild of Turkish entrepreneur and art collector Erol Tabanca, who commissioned the culture hub as the lynch-pin of his wider regeneration project in Eskişehir’s Old Town, incorporating a boutique hotel, a cafe, a restaurant, and an education centre. Not shy of ambition, Tabanca tapped Japanese ‘starchitect’ Kengo Kuma to design the Anatolian museum, whose design is inspired by the neighbourhood’s rich history as a timber trading market. The building features timber stacked volumes inspired by the traditional Ottoman houses in the area and is a striking, though sensitive addition to the streetscape that has won plaudits and plenty of interest from across the globe.

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Photography: Kayhan Kaygusuz.

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The 38,500 sq ft museum houses Tabanca’s personal art and design collections, amassed over a 30-year period. Creatures of Comfort pulls partly from this rich resource and is curated by Tabanca’s daughter, İdil Tabanca, Chairperson of OMM. The exhibit is the museum’s largest to date and took the younger Tabanca five years to develop from concept to launch, bringing together a deft mix of international and local talents exploring the convergence of furniture design, natural elements and organic forms. It’s a rangey show that reflects the synergy of its subject, with pieces by Max Lamb, Ahmet Doğu İpek, Andrea Branzi, Audrey Large, Barbora Žilinskaitė, Gaetano Pesce, Guido Casaretto, Guillermo Santomà, Karl Monies, Linde Freya Tangelder, Mamali Shafahi, Marc Quinn, Melih Çebi, Mesut Öztürk and Misha Kahn.

Tabanca also designed the staging for the show, with artworks exhibited across the museum’s three storeys and grouped into three themes: Formations, Creatures, and Bloomcore.

The domestic as art

Crafted from natural materials like raw wood, soil, and rock, pieces take the form of everyday household objects—tables, chairs, vases—embracing organic and human-like shapes, turning their domestic nature into an artistic expression.

The show aims to spark conversations about art, design, functionality, and furniture as a form of art and a window into the world. Its focus is on fostering a more authentic connection with nature by moving away from the uniformity and anonymity of mass industrialisation while embracing individuality and uniqueness.

The curator takes us through the genesis of the exhibition and why she seeks to blur the boundary between art and design.

Rosella Degori: How was the exhibition originally conceived?

İdil Tabanca: The original idea was to start a dialogue around functional art and furniture design, an under-discussed, under-funded and under-exhibited art form here in Turkey. We wish to see more museums, galleries, educational programs, and artists focusing on design, and we hope this exhibition becomes one of the steps toward that goal because Creatures of Comfort was designed to inspire and pave the way for future Turkish designers.

The seeds of this design exhibition were sown when we expanded our collection at the museum to include more design pieces. Initially, we were deeply impressed by Misha Kahn’s creations and began following his development. During this process, we were inspired by other artists we encountered at design fairs in various parts of the world and decided to focus on this area, given the lack of institutions in Turkey that exhibit or provide education in the design field.

What was your process of selecting these specific artists and artworks?

Tabanaca: In the postmodern era, rapid urbanisation and technological advancement have led to a disconnection from nature, creating a collective longing for the natural world and its intricate structures, so Creatures of Comfort expresses this yearning.

As we expanded the range of artists we followed, we noticed that many of the works of these predominantly young artists were in dialogue with one another. These designs seemed to respond to contemporary challenges—pandemics, the climate crisis, and the threats posed by technology—by consistently turning toward nature and its raw materials and creating designs that rebelled against the uniformity of mass production exemplified by IKEA designs.

While working with them, I found their creative process particularly striking. Nature was not just a theme but also a material and concept. Integrating natural elements and forms into furniture and objects created a visual and functional dialogue that allowed them to add humanity to their works, offering viewers a deeper and more meaningful experience.

Do you believe art can have a lasting impact on our lives?

Tabanaca: I do because household objects are windows into cultures. Domestic items allow us to understand people who experience different cultures and times, telling the story of the evolving human experience.

Chairs, tables, beds, and cabinets shed light on societies’ traditions, moral values, and technological advancements. They are integral to our existence and provide clues about humanity’s evolution.

What do you hope people will take away from the show?

Tabanaca: Blurring boundaries between art and design leads to a multifaceted shift in perception for both artists and viewers. Artists gain greater freedom in their creative processes, finding opportunities to merge the functionality of design with the emotional and aesthetic dimensions of
art.

Viewers are also drawn from conventional frameworks, encountering works that function as art pieces and design objects that can transform them into an artistic experience.
This integration of art and design reshapes our understanding of aesthetics. It moves beyond the traditional perception of art as solely decorative or conceptual, forging a stronger connection between functionality and beauty.

Creatures of Comfort runs at Odunpazari Modern Museum until 20 July 2025.

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