ISTANBUL.- Pera Museum Istanbul presents a new installation featuring photographic works by Dutch artist Casper Faassen (1975, Leiden). The works are shown alongside Yeni Camii and The Port of Istanbul, 1776 by Jean-Baptiste Hilaire – from the museum’s permanent collection – as part of the artist’s ReCollection series. In this dialogue, Faasen’s work responds to details in Hilaire’s painting depicting marble objects being loaded onto a boat in the Bosphorus, en route to France. The installation will be on view until early 2027.

From his studio in Leiden, Faassen examines how Western museum collections have been formed and how cultural authority has been historically constructed. “It is difficult to make sense of recent geopolitical developments without a broader historical context. In recent years, there has been growing recognition in the West of how colonial, imperial and racist histories continue to shape the present. Visually questioning the origins of cultural objects is one way of engaging with this legacy.”

Through a process he refers to as “ReCollecting”, Faassen retraces dispersed objects and photographs them in a new context, challenging the ways in which collections were gathered.

The transport depicted in the painting is linked to the French ambassador Comte de Choiseul-Gouffier, whom Hilaire accompanied during his travels through the region. The scene reflects a broader 18th-century practice in which cultural artefacts were transported from Ottoman territories to Western Europe, often under conditions shaped by unequal power relations. Faassen succeeded in tracing the marble objects shown in the painting, now largely held in the collection of the Louvre, and has photographically reassembled them in his distinctive visual language. Veiled behind semi-transparent layers and overlaid with craquelé, the sculptures appear as fragile images marked by time, memory, and displacement. Presented as quiet witnesses rather than historical trophies, the works invite reflection on the legacy of cultural extraction and the narratives that continue to shape museum collections today.

ReCollection

The presentation in Istanbul forms part of the longer running ReCollection project, which will also be shown as a solo installation during Art Rotterdam (27 to 29 March). There, Faassen presents objects that have since been restituted to their countries of origin alongside marble sculptures that continue to be prominently displayed in European museums. One example is a ReCollected Ganesha, returned by the Wereldmuseum to the Republic of Indonesia in 2024, shown next to one of the Parthenon Marbles, which remains in the collection of the British Museum.

Casper Faassen

Multi-disciplinary artist Casper Faassen works and lives in The Netherlands where, inspired by the country’s rich painterly history, he developed his love for creation at a young age. Characteristic of Faassen’s works is his continuing innovative use of materials, techniques and disciplines. Although Faassen devotes most of his time to the medium of photography, his background as a painter is visible in how his photographic works are built up from several semi-transparent layers.

His oeuvre can roughly be divided into three main categories: landscapes, portraits or movement, and his ReCollection series. To include and emphasize time, most of his works are finished with a layer of craquelé.

He was awarded Talent of the Year in the Dutch national ‘Artist of the Year’ competition in 2007, and in 2019, Faassen won the ALPA Award at Photo Basel.

In Istanbul, Casper Faassen is represented by Martch Art Project. His work is collected and presented at international art fairs including Paris Photo, AIPAD New York and Contemporary Istanbul. He has exhibited at institutions including Museum De Lakenhal (Leiden), Japanmuseum SieboldHuis (Leiden) and the Hague Historical Museum.