20/02/2026

LYFE FRIDAY | FEB 20, 2026

23 Novel comes to life in museum

O N a cobbled street in Cukurcuma, a district known for its antiques shops on Istanbul’s European side, the story penned by Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk in his bestselling novel The Museum of Innocence has been brought to life. Inside a red-painted house, visitors are confronted by a wall of 4,213 cigarette butts, many of them lipstick-stained, others angrily stubbed out, all obsessively kept by the book’s protagonist Kemal Basmaci. Just days before Netflix airs a serialised adaptation of the novel, hundreds of curious visitors have

The museum showcases objects that make up the story, but the story also developed as Pamuk acquired new objects.

o TV adaptation draws crowds to Istanbul house

the museum and did not give his surname, said there had been about 500 visitors per day since Netflix began running trailers for the nine part series compared with 200 on a normal day. “And that will likely double after it comes out,” he predicted. Set in the 1970s, the series features a young man from a wealthy Istanbul family who is devastated by the end of his relationship with Fusun, a distant cousin from a working-class background, sending him on an obsessive mission to collect anything that is hers. Hence the wall of cigarette butts mounted on pins, each painstakingly labelled by circumstance, collected over an eight-year period starting from 1976. There are hundreds more items on display, from bits of jewellery to items of clothing, photos, cinema tickets and bottles of Meltem soda, which was popular in the 1970s – a huge collection of mundane mementoes passionately collected to fill the void left by her absence. The collection is laid out in 83 display cases, the same number of chapters in the book. Nobel literature prize-winner Pamuk, who opened the museum in 2012, four years after the novel was published, has admitted to being a similarly compulsive collector. Truth in it The novel emerged as he began writing about the objects he had saved, everything from family keepsakes to trinkets picked up at the bazaars, which gradually brought his characters to life. The museum showcases objects that make up the story, but the story also developed as he acquired new objects, the museum website said. And the whole novel opens a unique window onto a decade of Istanbul history. Songul Tekin, 28, a visitor who loved the book, said she is convinced some of it really happened and came to the museum to “see it in real life”. “There has to be some truth in it because otherwise you would never have so many objects and so much

come to the museum, squeezing past one another on the narrow wooden stairs up to Basmaci’s attic room. At the entrance, Umit, who runs

The collection is laid out in 83 display cases, the same number of chapters in the book.

space of a few hours, an AFP correspondent said. Poring over the display cabinets, Zeng Hu and Zeng Lin An, two young sisters from Hubei province in central China, said they were now intrigued to read the book and watch the series, although Netflix is not available in China. The novel’s adaptation for the small screen by the Istanbul-based production company Ay Yapim is a reflection of the rude health of Turkey’s film industry. Hugely popular, Turkish television dramas and series are now available in 170 countries, with global demand for them rising by 184% between 2020 and 2023, figures from Parrot Analytics show. In 2024, Turkey was the world’s third-largest exporter of television series, after the US and the UK.

detail,” she told AFP. She came with a friend and her copy of the novel – a gesture which lets visitors enter for free, thanks to a ticket on page 485 of the Turkish version of the book. Also visiting is Aydin Deniz Yuce, a psychologist in his 30s who is a huge fan of Pamuk’s works. Although The Museum of Innocence was not his “favourite”, he said he was really keen to see the Netflix series and is convinced the “handsomeness” of main actor Selahattin Pasali will be perfect for creating a credible Kemal. Turkish series, global popularity With the novel translated into more than 60 languages, the museum has drawn international interest, with visitors from Russia, Hungary, Italy, Japan and China turning up over the

A pedestrian walks past the Museum of Innocence in Istanbul. – PICS FROM AFP

Greece aims to cut queues at ancient sites with new online portal GREECE’S culture ministry

The ancient Greek temple ruins of Erechtheion near the Acropolis in Athens, Greece. – 123RFPIC

connection with each monument. “The truth is that the majority of visitors, even today, do not come to our country to experience Greek culture. This is something that must change,” Mitsotakis said. Over 100 archaeological sites and museums will be connected to the system from April 1. A dedicated business-only section will provide real-time availability data to help tour operators to streamline group bookings, organisers said. Culture Minister Lina Mendoni said persons with disabilities and their companions will be able to select the use of an elevator, lift or wheelchair when booking tickets. Travel operators at the presentation raised concerns about being able to harmonise the new tool with their own bookings systems in less than two months. “If everybody tries to log in on April 1, the system will crash,” one operator warned. – AFP

unveiled a new portal to handle bookings to visit more than 100 archaeological sites and museums including the world-renowned Acropolis. The Hellenic Heritage (hh.gr) website will from April aim to reduce queues at major tourist draws as well as offer information on over 350 sites in eight languages. Greece has spent years trying to develop an electronic ticketing system to maximise earnings and cut queues. Some three million electronic tickets were issued just for the Acropolis last year, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said at the official presentation. Greece in 2024 attracted 40.7 million visitors, up 12.8% from 2023. The tourism ministry in December said 2025 also looked like a “record year”. “Our ambition is for the traveller to be able to establish a personal