IKSV wraps up one season, prepares for the next

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

LA Fura Dels Baus

The Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts’ (İKSV) events for the first half of its 40th anniversary year have ended. More than 255,000 viewers participated in İKSV events during this period, and approximately 5,500 young people participated in events as part of the “BitamBiöğrenci” project.

The 31st Istanbul Film Festival, sponsored by Akbank, was attended by 140,000 cinephiles. The festival included 220 films by 232 directors from 52 countries, screened in 522 sessions, grouped under 22 sections, at seven movie theatres, over two weeks. Seventy percent of all of the festival’s screenings were filled to capacity. The festival also included a special concert, a workshop, 12 master classes and panel discussions, giving locals their fill of cinema.

The 18th Istanbul Theater Festival, under the sponsorship of Koç Holding Energy Group companies Aygaz, Opet and Tüpraş, brought more than 100 shows by 40 dance and theater companies from Turkey and 5 companies from abroad to 22 different venues in the city. The festival hosted the special project, “SILSEL, Letters to Turkey,” by celebrated contemporary artist Kutluğ Ataman. The festival also included conferences, exhibitions, panel discussions and workshops with the participation of international theater and dance companies were organized. More than 24,000 people attended the 18th Istanbul Theater Festival.

The 40th Istanbul Music Festival, under the sponsorship of Borusan Holding, hosted more than 750 local and international artists in Istanbul. During the festival, Fazıl Say and Giya Kancheli held world premieres of new works commissioned especially by the festival, which also hosted the Turkish premieres of four other works. For the first time this year, the festival included the “Open Conservatoire” project, which brought young artists together with audiences at the Galata Greek Primary School. Another event that attracted attention was the festivals presentation of a young soloist, violinist Emre Engin, accompanied by the Istanbul University State Conservatory under the baton of conductor Ramiz Malik Aslanov. The festival hosted panel discussions, trainings, and narrations as well as 25 concerts at 8 different venues. It saw a significant increase in audience numbers, with 24,000 people following the festival this year.

The 19th Istanbul Jazz Festival, under the sponsorship of Garanti Bank, brought stars of the jazz world to art lovers during July. More than 50,000 people attended the festival, which included 50 concerts by more than 300 local and international artists. The world premiere of “The Istanbul Project” by celebrated musician Marcus Miller, which was commissioned especially by the Istanbul Jazz Festival, included performances by Turkish artists Hüsnü Şenlendirici, Burhan Öcal, Okay Temiz, İmer Demirer and Bilal Karaman.

The Tünel Feast, organized for the third time this year, hosted 32 events on two main stages at Galata and Tünel squares as well as 26 other venues. The Tünel Feast attracted great attention from Istanbul locals, and 15,000 viewers enjoyed the feast, shuttling between different venues until late at night. The festival brought the stars of jazz to Istanbul once again, hosting concerts by more than 300 domestic and international artists such as Erykah Badu, Antony and the Johnsons, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, Till Brönner, Lars Danielsson, and The Dears in 50 concerts during July. Beginning on July 3, the Istanbul Jazz Festival ended with a concert by living legends of jazz Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette. British alternative music icon Morrissey and singer and oud player Dhafer Youssef, who is now considered a pillar of Tunisian underground music, accompanied by clarinet master Hüsnü Şenlendirici and kanun master Aytaç Doğan, made for an unforgettable finale to the festival, with their concerts held at Cemil Topuzlu Open Air Theater and the Istanbul Archaeology Museum, respectively.

Special projects in 40th anniversary

As part of its 40th anniversary celebrations, İKSV hosted world-renowned performance company La Fura dels Baus in June, for the world premiere of the group’s new project, “Istanbul Istanbul,” commissioned by İKSV and held at the Haliç Camialtı Tersanesi. The show was attended by 9,000 audience members, and was informed by the beauties of Istanbul, in which La Fura dels Baus told the 40-year of journey of İKSV in their own language. İKSV has also started for the first time a project designed to contribute to the artists of the future. The Aydın Gün Prize, honoring Aydın Gün, who made great contributions to the development of opera in Turkey and led many İSKV events between 1974 and 1993 as the general manager of the Istanbul Festival, will be awarded to a young talent under the age of 30 in the field of classical music or opera each year, beginning in 2013. The photography book “Birinci Festival: Ozan Sağdıç’ın Fotoğraflarıyla 1. İstanbul Festivali including rehearsal and concert photos that were taken during the first Istanbul Festival in 1973 by prominent Turkish photographer Ozan Sağdıç but which have never before been distributed, was also published as part of the 40th anniversary celebration.