Show of Hands – Doğaçlama Müzik Festivali (Festival Pass)

About this event

Show of Hands is Istanbul's festival dedicated to the art of improvised music — a gathering that takes seriously the proposition that the most interesting sounds are the ones no one planned. Named with characteristic understatement, the festival brings together musicians from jazz, contemporary classical, electroacoustic, and experimental traditions, often crossing those lines deliberately and without apology. The 'Kombine' ticket is a festival pass granting entry across the full run, which typically unfolds over several days and evenings of performances, workshops, and conversations. Arter, the contemporary art museum on Irmak Caddesi in Dolapdere, is an inspired host for this kind of programming. Its spaces — architecturally serious and acoustically attentive — create a frame that neither overwhelms nor underserves music that depends on intimacy and attention. Improvised music listened to in a room designed for looking at art tends to be heard differently, more carefully. For those already embedded in Istanbul's experimental music scene, Show of Hands is a fixture — the kind of event where you run into the same musicians in the audience as on the stage. For visitors or newer listeners, the festival pass is an invitation to follow a thread across multiple evenings rather than dipping in for a single show, which is genuinely the better way to understand what improvisation means as a practice rather than a one-off novelty. Practical note: Dolapdere is easily walkable from Taksim or Şişhane, and Arter is one of those venues where arriving slightly early rewards you — the building itself is worth unhurried time.