January 1st - March 20th The events in winter will be marked by tradition and the transformation in traditional arts. The emphasis will be on artistic events assessing the historical heritage of the past with a totally new perspective.
AIR
March 21st - June 21st The events in spring will mark the air theme with the echo of İstanbul's minarets and bell towers resounding the sky. İstanbul has hosted and continues to host a dialogue between different religions. The cultural interaction arising from this dialogue will be at the heart of the events during this period.
WATER
June 22nd - September 22nd The events in summer will emphasize water and the sea as elements which divide and reunify İstanbul, opening the city up to the outside world throughout history. The Program during this period will concentrate on cultures transported by water and inspired by water. The banks of the Golden Horn the Bosphorus will be the scene of important events.
FIRE
September 23rd - December 31st The main actor during the fall will be fire, the most powerful instrument of charge in the universe, capable of transforming water into steam, sand into glass, wood into ashes. This period will involve events centered around contemporary art and the quest for new artistic terrain.
İstanbul, Focal Point of Artistic and Cultural Activity
The theory of the Four Elements, at the root of so many scientific, philosophical and theological theories from Antiquity to the Renaissance, holds that everything in the universe is made up of the various combinations of Earth, Air, Water and Fire.
It is the theory of the four elements which inspired the calender of events for İstanbul 2010. The 2010 European Capital of Culture events will span 4 different periods. Traces of th theory of the four elements, developed by Thales, Anaximander and Anaximenes, three philosophers who lived in the city of Miletus in Western Anatolia, and later immortalized by Aristotle, will be found in each of these periods.
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