İKSV celebrates 40th year

ISTANBUL

At a press conference yesterday, İKSV Board of Directors Chair Bülent Eczacıbaşı anounced the projects and events that the foundation will realize throughout the year to celebrate the 40th anniversary.

The Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV) has outlined its plans for a number of special activities this year to celebrate its 40th anniversary.

“With the İKSV’s activities, we want to encourage young people’s development, nurture artistic experts in their fields, strengthen the relations of artists and art lovers with the world, ensure the development of participative and sustainable cultural policies for our country and be able to contribute to the production of contemporary art in Turkey,” Bülent Eczacıbaşı, İKSV’s board of directors chair, said yesterday at a press conference at Salon Istanbul.

In the last 40 years, İKSV has become an institution that organizes four festivals on international levels and two biennials and realizes exclusive events throughout the year, he said.

During the meeting, Eczacıbaşı provided information on the Istanbul film, theater, music and jazz festivals, the Leyla Gencer Voice Competition, Filmekimi and the Istanbul Design Biennial that will be held for the first time this year.

For its 40th Year Anniversary, İKSV is preparing a book where memories of its 40 years will be told by its founders, employees, supporters, artists and spectators. The transformations experienced by the foundation from its starting point until today, the major events and important turning points will be told with testimonies from people involved in this process. The book will be published in June when the foundation’s anniversary is celebrated.

Exclusive events, special projects

İKSV has begun preparing to celebrate its 40th Year Anniversary with many events. The world-famous performance Catalonian company La Fura dels Baus, founded in Barcelona in 1979 and renowned for its magnificent street theater events, as well as for its theater and opera interpretations, will perform on the anniversary of the very first Istanbul festival.

La Fura dels Baus will perform “Istanbul, Istanbul” June 21 and 22.

Another important event in the İKSV in celebrations will be a concert by Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra with its principal conductor, Sir Simon Rattle, on Sept. 27.

This year, İKSV will also realize exclusive events for the 400th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Turkey and the Netherlands.

The Nederlands Dans Theater, which is the most important contemporary dance representative in Europe and one of the best in the world, will be in Istanbul for two exclusive shows on June 14 and 15. The company will perform a program featuring productions of its young and dynamic group NDT 2 and world-renowned choreographers Jiri Kylian, Paul Lightfoot – who is also the group’s art director – Sol Leon and Alexander Ekman. The Dutch company, founded in 1959, performs more than 160 shows per year around the world.

Another event to be held as part of the 400th anniversary celebrations will be a concert by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra with guest conductor Lorin Maazel on Nov. 10. In addition to those special projects, several concerts will be held during the Istanbul Jazz Festival to celebrate the anniversary of the diplomatic relations.

Year of Chinese Culture in Turkey

Throughout Istanbul’s festivals in 2012, İKSV will devote special initiatives to the “2012 Year of Chinese Culture in Turkey.” The 31st Istanbul Film Festival will present Chinese movies in its program.

While the Beijing Opera will present a splendid show at the 18th Istanbul Theater Festival, the Song and Dance Ensemble from Shanghai will reflect the contemporary traits of Chinese culture.

Furthermore, while the Ansai Waist Drummers Company will present traditional street activities, the Kite Workshop and Exhibition will draw attention as an education project for youngsters.

The İKSV Design Shop, located at the entrance floor of the İKSV building and offering exclusive gift alternatives to fans of art and design, has begun preparing a special collection for the 40th year. The exclusive collection consisting of 40 products, prepared exclusively for İKSV by nearly 20 Turkish designers from glass, ceramic and paper, will be offered for sale after a special promotion in the shop in April.

Also, as part of the “BiTamBiÖğrenci” project, held with the support of several NGOs, İKSV invites everyone sensitive to the arts, to bring students who do not have the chance to attend cultural events, together with the arts.

The scope of the project, which started in 2007, will be widened in 2012 with the aim of diversifying the range of the supporting NGOs to enable more students to benefit from this opportunity. Some 10,000 youngsters under the age of 21 will benefit from the “BiTamBiÖğrenci” project.