Sometimes I write my thoughts down.

Last weekend Bob posted about Küba, an art installation currently on show at the Guildhall. To repeat what he already said, it consists of forty TV sets, each showing a different resident of the eponymous Istanbul ghetto telling their life story and giving an idea of what it's like to live there. This Saturday I decided to go myself. Aside from the fascinating stories, often shocking and all so openly told, what made the installation interesting was the fact that it is located in one of the old courtrooms, and the TV sets sit atop the original furnishings. It was quite a strange feeling to enter an empty room, especially such a formal one, and hear the constant murmurs of conversation all around you.

Anyway, apparently the old courtroom had not been open to the public in some time, and since it was an interesting room, I asked the invigilator if I could take a few pictures. He not only said I could, he also told me that there was a viewing gallery upstairs, and would I like him to ask the security guard to take me up there? The security guard agreed, and it would've been rude to turn him down, so up we went. He was very nice and chatty (glad of someone to talk to, I guess!), and said what a shame it was that the room hardly gets used these days. He also pointed out a rather cool feature, which was that the dock is accessed exclusively by a flight of stairs from the police station, conveniently located directly below!


L-R: The judge's chair; the dock (click pics for Flickr link)