Travel: Istanbul Salon Discussion, Part 1: 30 September 2010

Hosted by the Contemporary Art Society for the National Network in Istanbul Programmed with independent curator and art critic Fatos Ustek  

The Biennial brings a quickened pace, focus of attention and sense of expectation. These are all reasons why the 11th Istanbul Biennial can expect throngs of visitors this September. Such hiatus often makes invisible the everyday context within which the Biennial sits. The artist's community in Istanbul and in the region is growing ever stronger and increasingly visible. The Biennial has played a vital role, as have other individuals, groups and institutions. 
 
For Everyday to Hiatus and Back, Fatos Ustek has asked a number of artists living in Istanbul to join us. All are active
producers; initiators of art spaces, magazines and events. Leading the discussion, artists, Gulsun Karamustafa and Ahmet Ogut will outline their views and experience. We aim to generate a discussion that will enable us to look back on what has taken place and to look forward to anticipate what the future might hold.
 
Gulsun Karamustafa b.1946  (Turkey) lives and works in Istanbul. Karamustafa is one of the prominent figures of contemporary art in Turkey, she has participated in a number of group exhibitions, including the 2002 Gwangju Biennale, South Korea; Becoming a Place, Proje4L Istanbul Museum of
Contemporary Art, Turkey (2001); and the Istanbul Biennial (1992, 1989). In addition she has shown in galleries and museums throughout Europe including Musée d'Art et Histoire Geneva, 1999, Alberto Peola Gallery Torino 2004, Galerie Immanence Paris 2005, Villa Stuck Munich, Dunkers Kulturhus Helsingborg, Prometeo Gallery Milan, in 2006 among others.  

Ahmet Ogut b. 1981in Diyarbakir, TR, lives and works in Amsterdam, NL.  Ogut studied at Yildiz Teknik University, Istanbul and is currently representing Turkey at the 53rd Venice Biennial. Solo exhibitions have included: Things we count,
Kuenstlerhaus Bremen, 2009; Mutual Issues, Inventive Acts, Kunsthalle Basel, 2008; Across the Slope, Centre d'Art Santa Monica, Barcelona; Softly But Firmly, Galerija Miroslav Kraljevic,
Zagreb, 2007 and Ahmet Ogut Mala Galerija / The Museum of Modern Art of Ljubljana, SI, 2005. He is increasingly visible on the international arena and has shown work in 5th Berlin Biennial for Contemporary Art, 3rd Guangzhou
Triennial; Middle East Channel, Guangzhou, China, 2008 and 9TH International Istanbul Biennial, 2005.

It is significant to stop for a moment and scrutinise exactly what you are being surrounded by. Biennials increase the quest of interest in the local dynamics of art production, but tend only to generate snapshots of perception. In electing to take this moment to stop, I find that I am not interested in a linear, single-sided presentation of a status quo, but in an engagement with ideas and in the production of information that is formed through mutual involvement in discussion. To gather, with the shared intention to interrogate and to produce in depth information is essential to enable the
continuous folding/unfolding of the unfamiliar, common, sensible or the nonsensical. 
Fatos Ustek  is an independent curator and art critic, she currently lives and works in London. 

This will be the first of two events programmed by the Contemporary Art Society that will focus on the 11th Istanbul Biennial and ask questions about how we gather information and develop networks that will be productive in the future. 
The second event will take place at the ICA in London on the 30th
September, 15.00-17.00.


  
For map and directions go to:
http://www.cezayir-istanbul.com/newsite/main_en.html