By İrem Naz Duymuş (AMER/III) & Eda Emekoğlu (AMER/III)
nazduymus@ug.bilkent.edu.tr
eda.emekoglu@ug.bilkent.edu.tr
Tutto Passa
This week, my friends and I visited OMM (Odunpazarı Modern Museum), located in Eskişehir. Some of you might have visited OMM before or know of the large site-specific bamboo installation by Japanese artist Tanabe Chikuunsai IV, which has almost become a symbol of the museum itself.
What makes this museum unique for me is that it is in my hometown, and I usually take my friends there whenever there is a new exhibition. I don’t just remember the exhibitions themselves, but the phases of life I’ve experienced inside those walls, shaped by the people I was with at the time. Maybe that is why certain artworks stay with me longer than others.
This time, while we were passing by the artworks, one photograph grabbed our attention. It was taken by Robbie McIntosh and named “Tutto Passa.” This famous Italian saying translates to “everything passes,” capturing the bittersweet reality that nothing in life is permanent—whether challenges, joys or sorrows. Even the version of us who stood in front of that photograph will eventually pass. It was strange how a simple phrase could suddenly feel so relevant.
This simple phrase reminds us of a universal truth we often forget. Whenever you feel overwhelmed, “Tutto Passa” can give you hope to move on, because everything will pass.
And whenever you try to capture a beautiful moment—like a friend’s hangout in a new city—maybe the best you can do is to feel it deeply instead of trying to hold onto it. This phrase became the slogan of our trip. We promised that we would try to remember it and remind each other—not as a rule to live by, or a simple cliché, but as a sentence to return to when things feel heavy.
What makes it even more interesting is that this idea is already everywhere around us. “Tutto Passa” appears on tattoos, notebooks, clothes, social media captions—as if we keep trying to carry this sentence with us. If you had never heard it before, or never really paid attention to it like we did, now is the time. And hopefully, you will carry this idea with you too—in your mind, on your mug, on your sweatshirt or in any way you like.
Still, there is something comforting yet frightening about the idea that everything passes—not only our problems, but also the versions of ourselves we once thought would stay. Lives change, and we change. Even though I am not on campus this semester and will be going to Germany in a few weeks, I still hear the news 🙂 I heard that the annuals are being prepared for those who are about to graduate. Do you remember the days that felt like they would never pass—and yet, they did? Now it is your turn. So, before graduation, try to experience these last days as fully as possible. One day, you will look back and realize that this was also a part of your own “Tutto Passa” —not a dramatic ending, just a gentle transition.
