Great festival of creativity

Even if you are the sixth largest economy in the world, you should never give up on publicity. You should “treasure” the image of your country. Even if you had the tradition of an empire, you should renew your image constantly and harmonize with the trends of the time.

This is the most important lesson I drew from the contacts in London on the occasion of “The Great Festival of Creativity” that will be organized at the Sabancı Museum on the coming May 20-22 in Istanbul. The festival in question is the biggest publicity move the United Kingdom has ever held.

In Istanbul, we will be listening to the most effective projects of the Empire on which the sun never sets on sectors such a fashion, textile, design, architecture, luxury, technology, food & drink, education and health, where creativity is priority.

Among the individuals who will come to Istanbul from London are fashion designer Mary Katrantzou, Director of Science Museum Roger Highfield, BBC Global CEO Tim Davie. Prince Charles’ stepson, the son of the Duchess of Cornwall Camilla and Tom Parker Bowles is the face of food & drink of the festival.

Also, famous artist Paul Cocksedge, who I found the opportunity to meet in London a few days ago, is coming. Moreover, the Plexiglas installation Cocksedge created inspired by the Turkish and British flags will remain in Istanbul after being displayed in front of The Seed.

I would have wanted the installation that reminds of the red, blue, purple flying balloons in a place near my home, but as far as I know, Istanbul Mayor Topbaş has already decided where they will go.

The main sponsor of “The Great Festival of Creativity” is HSBC. We talked about commercial relationships of Turkey and England at the bank’s headquarters in London, designed by famous architect Norman Foster.

While Turkey’s exports are $9 billion, while the other way around is nearly $6 billion. There is a trade surplus of $3 billion in favor of Turkey.

A large share of this belongs to the brand Beko that holds more than 20 percent of the appliance market in the U.K.

According to the bank’s Central and East Europe chief economist Murat Ülgen, the bad days for developing countries like Turkey are over. Ülgen said, “Countries like Brazil, India and Turkey are sailing in calmer waters.”

He believes that in order to increase its global competitiveness, Turkey has to invest in R&D and innovation. Innovation is a dominant topic in the festival in Istanbul.

Creative and innovative work in various sectors will be displayed during the festival. The head of the executive committee of the Great Festival of Creativity Guy Salter focuses on the luxury sector. Of course he has reasons. Salter said, “Especially in the east, the middle class is growing. While they were buying only famous brands in the past, now they have learned quality.”

It explains a lot anyway that the festival is organized in the East instead of the West.
The festival will go to Hong Kong and Shanghai after Istanbul.