Left: Courtney Love and Michael Stipe. Right: Tilda Swinton and Love. Photography by David Benett.
There’s something dangerous and sexy about Istanbul: the clash and dance between East and West, between hot new scene and ancient culture. It makes it the right place for culturati to collide and let loose in a way you’d never see at, say, a New York Fashion Week party. Hence: Istancool, which is a Liberatum Global festival (in association with Vakko, Istanbul ’74 and AnOther) in its second year, and how I spent my weekend.
Liberatum’s stated aim is “connecting Britain’s finest minds with the world”⎯in addition to Istanbul, they’ve done festivals in Rio, Moscow and Papua New Guinea. But it’s best understood as a travelling circus: the hyper-charming, 27-year-old Liberatum founder Pablo Ganguli plays ringleader, while fashion (and art, and culture) freaks tag along.
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