Bodrum art residency to start for contemporary art

ISTANBUL

The inauguration ceremony of the “Bodrum Contemporary Art Campus” will be held on Aug. 10 with the attendance of artists, collectors, curators, academics and businesspeople.

Contemporary Istanbul, now in its eighth year, continues to dedicate its events and residences to raising awareness of contemporary art. The fair aims to create new projects. One of the new events and projects of Istanbul Contemporary Fair, this year will kick off in August 2012 under the title of Bodrum Contemporary Art Campus.

“Bodrum Contemporary Art Campus” project will train new artists and students as part of the modern art fair of Contemporary Istanbul. Bodrum Contemporary Art Campus is the art residency program by Contemporary Istanbul which will be running as of July 2013 for the first time.

Within a 12-month period in the Turkish southwestern coastal town of Bodrum, the campus will be hosting over 100 emerging artists from all over the world while cooperating with the international art institutions and universities.

World famous artists will give lectures in workshops as well as speak at academic panels and conferences with broad participation.

The inauguration ceremony of the “Bodrum Contemporary Art Campus” will be held on Aug. 10 with the attendance of artists, collectors, curators, academics and businesspeople.

The aim is to create and deliver a highly academic and also suitable program for fine arts students while preparing practical and theoretical programs. BCAC also aims to works with famous and world renowned academics. The program will also enter into many important partnerships with associations from abroad. The program will address the museums, private and public collections with its intellectual and academic content, and will also open exhibitions once a year and start a new collection with the works of artists who attend the residency program each summer. There will be works of foreign and Turkish artists, the written statement sent by the Istanbul Contemporary said.

BCAC will host 16 artists in Bodrum.

The academic coordinator of the program will be Professor Hasan Bülent Kahraman. The ateliers at the BCAC will last for eight to six weeks and the program aims to host more than 100 students.

There will be curators, writers, collectors participating in the program.

The opening will take place on Aug. 10.

The eigth edition of the fair

The 8th edition of Contemporary Istanbul, the leading international art fair in the unique metropolis coincides with the 13th Istanbul Biennial. The cross-over of Contemporary Istanbul, Istanbul Biennial and Art Istanbul Art Week (Nov. 4-10) will make Istanbul the focus of a broad international art audience.

Held at Istanbul Convention and Exhibition Center (ICEC) and the Istanbul Congress Center, the 8th edition of the fair will run from Nov. 7 to 10, 2013. The fair offers a comprehensive range of international and Turkish art including painting, sculpture, video works, installation and limited editions from local and international galleries from different and mutually enriching horizons. Featuring 110 galleries from 21 countries, two thirds of which come from 21 different countries, and approximately 650 artists, Contemporary Istanbul will be the largest event to date. Marlborough Gallery, New York; Galerie Lelong, Paris; Andipa Gallery, London; Opera Gallery, Geneva; Galeria Filomena Soares, Lisbon; Galeria Javier Lopez, Madrid; Senda, Spain; Michael Schultz, Germany; Klaus Steinmetz, Costa Rica; Dirimart, Galerist, Galeri Mana, Galeri Nev, Pi Artworks, Rampa, xist from Turkey are among the expected galleries at the 8th Edition.

Mr. Ali Gureli, chairman of the fair, says, “Since 2006 the aim of CI has been to raise awareness of both local and international artists in Turkey, while increasing interest amongst international audiences in Turkey’s vibrant contemporary artistic scene. Our vision is to be a fair embedded in the culture of Istanbul while being an artistic hub for galleries from across Eastern Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. We believe in the assets of the local culture should not to be effaced by the uniform, homogenous global culture. Aligning ourselves to the values in the last seven years, we gathered not only galleries from across the world but also hosted countries like Gulf Countries, Eastern European Countries and this year Russia. This highlights the unique global idiosyncrasy and the character of Contemporary Istanbul as not only an art fair, but a cultural platform. Previous editions of the fair have been extremely successful with regards to sales and interest, with over 200 international press members and the presence of many decisive and eager Turkish collectors. Several groups of international collectors made large acquisitions for their collections. In light of this success, we are happy to announce the launch of two new satellite fairs coinciding with Contemporary Istanbul in 2014, with a focus on photography, new media and emerging artists and galleries.”

New Horizons

The New Horizons section explores contemporary artistic expressions of surrounding countries in the region. Having previously featured contemporary art from Syria, Iran, the Gulf and Central and Eastern Europe, the 8th edition’s focus is on Russia, with Contemporary Istanbul playing host to galleries, artists, curators, publications, art critics and collectors from Russia. Marina Gisich, St-Petersburg; Anna Nova Gallery, are the galleries which will be hosted.