Site-specific art and fairs

Art in Turkey’s public sphere mostly consists of statues and monuments or take the form of temporary street installations and performances. The installations and performances that take place on the streets are organized by independent initiatives located in Istanbul and are mostly initiated by individual artists. Some initiatives, which tend to integrate and associate with the environment in which they are located, are Oda Projesi, Apartman Projesi, 5533, PIST, Hafriyat Karaköy (the space does no longer exist but the Hafriyat group does), Galata Perform, Kop-Art, Altı Aylık, Atıl Kunst, and MASA . “The Visibility Project” organized by Galata Perform (Dutch Artist Ryanne de Boer attended this project in 2010) and the initiative of MASA (which has the goal of displaying the works of artists in various semi-public spaces) are significant examples of contemporary art’s transformation to a more public format. ‘Contemporary Istanbul’, which is the main fair in terms of contemporary and modern art in Turkey, had its 5th edition in 2010. During the fair exhibitions, panels and art projects are presented in the Lütfü Kırdar Convention and Exhibition Centre. Artspace Witzenhausen from Holland in 2007 and artists Dieter Mammel, Ed Pien, Zeger Reyers and Johan Tahon attended to the Expo in 2008, and were invited by the participating Maurits van de Laar Gallery. The “Contemporary Art Meeting” is carried out in collaboration with the fair in Izmir, Adana and Bursa. Dutch independent groups and art initiatives also participated in Istanbul’s oldest art fair “Istanbul Sanat Fuarı – Artist 2010”. Dutch initiatives such as IRFAK, M4gstatelier, Palatti, 1646, Hup Hup, Noordkaap, KuS and European Exchange Academy (EEA) attended this fair, as part of Art Pie (an effort to set up a fair for independent spaces inside the fair) between 30 October – 7 November 2010.

Istanbul as the European Capital of Culture 2010 arranged the first International Artist Initiatives Istanbul Meeting in October of 2009. In 2010 Kadırga Art Production Center as a parallel activity to 11th International Istanbul Biennial with association of Art Pie in which some Dutch art groups such Satellietgroep attended.