İşbank that was founded by Atatürk in 1924 has made it its mission to support art and culture in order to promote social development and has been involved in many projects to this end since the first days after its foundation. İşbank carries out its activities in the fields of music, performing arts, plastic arts, history, museum management and archaeology under the brand name of İş Sanat (İş Art).
İş Sanat that has hosted a great number of events from classical music to jazz and world music, from local projects to dance shows and welcomes its visitors in İş Towers Hall since 2000. Every season it presents a rich programme consisting of plays for children combining music and theatre, concert series held under the name The Shining Stars to give young artists an opportunity to get on the stage as well as poetry and story recitations.
Having implemented a digital season with the restrictions brought by the pandemic, İş Sanat continues its performing arts program with a hybrid approach. In addition, it has started to meet music lovers in different cities with a brand new concept called “Friday Happy Hour” in the open area in front of the Cybele Statue at the entrance of the İş Towers Hall.
Inaugurated in 2007 in İstanbul Eminönü, in the historical building of the Yenicami Branch, İşbank Museum tells the economic history of the Republic, the development stages of banking, as well as the history of the institution, with various photographs, documents and objects in the collection of İşbank. The museum consists of an institutional history exhibition, two vaults and a temporary exhibition area. Since its opening, the museum has hosted many temporary exhibitions on the history of our country and the Bank.
İşbank Economic Independence Museum located in İşbank’s third headquarter building in Ulus, Ankara was inaugurated in 2019. In the ground floor of the museum the historical branch preserved in its original condition welcomes the visitors. Here the visitors can also visit a section where they can view the important developments that took place on the path of economic independence of our country since the foundation of the Republic in a representation combined with the history of the bank. The collections exhibited in the permanent exhibition halls in the 2nd floor of the museum under the description “İşbank Proudly Presents” give an account of the communication activities of the bank from past to present and the contributions it has made in social life. Other parts of the museum house a hall for temporary exhibitions, a vault room and a multi-purpose hall used for events.
Guided tours and workshops for different ages of students are held in both of the museums.
Since its inauguration in 2001 with an exhibition titled “Seas, Dreams and Cities” held in memory of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Ivan Aivazovsky, Kibele Art Gallery has been hosting specific thematic retrospective exhibitions of the artists having a prominent place in the history of plastic arts in Turkey.
Ankara Art Gallery which was opened synchronously with the Economic Independence Museum is in the third floor of the museum, hosts the retrospective exhibitions of artists who enjoy a prominent place in Turkish plastic arts.
In addition to its physical activities both on the stage and in the museum, İş Sanat also continues its activities on YouTube and other social media platforms with completely digital private concerts, closet dramas, children’s activities and original content. It reaches a wide audience of art admirers with its activities ranging from online live concert broadcasts to virtual exhibitions, from collections, museums and archeology documentaries to podcasts, from children’s activities to the Metaverse world.