ZEKI MUREN ARTS MUSEUM

With his costumes, hair, make-up, and innovations he brought to the stage, he was the most avant-garde artist of his time; he has been called “Turkey's Sun of Art"…

Years ago, we would sing, “Do not go, I need you”, but he could not hear us. He still lives “with applauses” just as the song expresses!

Being accompanied by the memorials and his magnificent voice, we walked through his cosy house which was opened to visitors as the “Zeki Muren Arts Museum”…

“Zeki Muren Arts Museum” is the house where the artist had lived for almost 16 years. Located on Zeki Muren Street, in the centre of Bodrum, the museum exhibits invaluable memorials and slices of the artist's life…

The seaside house located in Kumbahce, where Zeki Muren lived between 1980 and 1996, was restored by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and opened to visitors on the 8th of July, 2000.

In this house, which bears his traces; plenty of information and documents about the artist's life and works; his photographs, also costumes, and personal belongings are exhibited.

The museum consists of two floors. There is a living room, bedroom, and kitchen on the ground floor of the house where he spent the last days of his life. 

His gramophone, radio, books, sewing machine, cradle, typewriter, and personal belongings welcome the visitors in the white bedroom whose furniture he had brought from his home in Istanbul… Each of the costumes he had worn on stage is on the displays in the corridors.

The living room, on the other hand, is extremely plain in contrast to his colourful and active life. The artist spent most days reading newspapers, writing poetry, and watching television in this room, where he hosted his guests and had artful conversations with them.

An evil eye amulet catches your eye in every corner of the house. It is apparent that the “Sun of Art” believed in the evil eye.

The costumes that Zeki Muren named one by one and the patterns he drew with his own hands furnish every room through the museum.

By taking the wooden stairs, you reach the upper storey. There is a room, which is full of letters, welcomes you; the fans. For years he had saved the posts sent by the fans. The showcases are full of not only costumes that marked the end of an era, but also memories and awards.

The following are in this part of the museum; -the hall- where the crystals, silvers, costumes, and shoes used by the artist are displayed, -the introduction room-, where the patterns made by the artist and the music videos can be seen and -the showroom- where the awards, records, and make-up materials are displayed.

The 1976 Buick, which he had driven for many years, is exhibited next to his bronze sculpture in the garden.

Zeki Muren Arts Museum welcomes its visitors between 09:00-18:30 every day except Mondays.

I asked the songs about you. (They did not answer.)

I begged the memories. (They could not recognise you.)

I searched for the horizons. (They did not appear.)

Where can I find your traces?