ArtContact fair in Istanbul aims to promote artworks in public sphere

ISTANBUL

ArtContact Istanbul Contemporary Art Fair that has opened its doors aims to promote artworks in the public sphere and international collaboration.

“We consider bringing together art in public spaces, promoting young people, and intensifying international collaborations as the goal of the fair,” Bilgin Aygül, the board head of the organizer company Atis Fairs, told Anadolu Agency.

Aygül added that the fair also encourages young artists and new projects.

Underlining that art has gained importance especially during the pandemic, Aygül said the fair will meet with art lovers after a year and a half due to the virus.

“We hope that we will have a healthy and successful fair together without any problems by taking all necessary and recommended measures of the relevant authorities due to COVID-19,” he said.

“Health personnel and their spouses, who have had difficult working conditions for the last two years due to the pandemic, will be able to enter the fair without paying a fee,” he added.

Art will help to overcome these difficult days by its “creative, integrative, and developer power,” he noted.

He expressed hope that ArtContact Istanbul will evolve into an event that is recognized and respected by the international art community soon.

“We invite our artists and all art lovers to our fair with the belief that the creative, developer, and the sharing power of art will be a new light source,” he noted.

With the creation of new opportunities for artists to meet with society, art fairs come to the agenda as a method of artistic sharing, he stressed.

This year, the Honorary Award to Art was given to Ibrahim Balaban, Contribution to Art award to Bedri Baykam, and the Institution Honor Award to Asassanat, he added.

‘Fighting COVID-19 can be warning to maintain balance of nature’

The fair, which has opened its doors to exhibitors on June 1-6, will be held at Yenikapı Eurasia Show and Art Center, one of the contemporary venues suitable for art fairs.

It offers an indoor and outdoor area of more than 16,000 square meters (over 172,000 square feet) where the indoor area is without columns and a ceiling height of 16 meters (52 feet).

As there is a restriction on individual participation, more than a hundred exhibitors will exhibit the works of over 1,000 local and international artists. Galleries, museums, educational institutions, and companies that produce art materials participate in the fair.

Conferences, interviews, and concerts will be held in two different halls, and street art and sculpture exhibitions will be held in an outdoor area.

The fair includes the COVID-19-related I-Solated Contact project, curated by Özge Gökbulut Özdemir.

The project, which combines the works from the U.K., India, Australia, and Turkey, focused on re-establishing ties with many things in our isolated and distant times during the pandemic. It also represents the reunion of society in a real art atmosphere.

As part of the fair, the Turkish Ceramics Association will exhibit their works based on the concept of "Antropause-Human Pause." They believe that the fight against COVID-19 can be a warning to maintain the balance of nature.

“The pandemic process causes great human loss and economic losses, forcing us to press a button against the damage we do to the environment. The coronavirus is not the last pandemic if we continue to treat our planet in this way. But if we follow the right path, the pandemic can be the salvation of nature,” the association said.