Performance art ready to take over Istanbul
ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News
Many experienced teachers, as well as performance artists, will be coming to Istanbul for workshops and the festival
This year, the International Performance Association’s festival is returning to Istanbul with more artists for 13 days of workshops and events. The festival, which will be organized with the support of the Koza Visual Culture and Arts Association, aims to attract more young artists to Istanbul and spread the popularity of performance art in Turkey.This year, the workshop teachers and the festival artists will include Agnes Nedregard (Norway), Verena Stenke (Germany), Andrea Pagnes (Italy) and Jürgen Fritz (Germany). The festival will take place between Aug. 22 and 24.
The festival team can offer limited places for 40 participants. Last year, more than 150 young artists applied, and there are expectations that a similar number will apply again this year.
Once again the IPA will bring artists from different countries such as the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
The festival is also being supported this year by Pro Helvetia Swiss Arts Council and the Dutch Consulate in Istanbul. The productions of Turkish artists will be supported, while the venue sponsors are Mixer, maumau, MSGSÜ Tophane-i Amire KSM and Siemens Art venue.
Many experienced teachers, as well as performance artists, will be at the festival to teach participants. The workshops start Aug. 11 and will continue until the end of the festival on Aug. 22.
There will be three workshop groups with 10 to 15 participants per group. The participants will stay in one group for the whole duration of the workshop. Workshop applications can be obtained at http://www.i-pa.org.
More performances in Istanbul
Jürgen Fritz is the artistic director of the IPA Summer, this year the performances will be spread to different venues. According to Fritz, IPA is an expanding network of process-oriented artists, devoted to cultural awareness through the professional practice of performance art. IPA strives to provide a platform for such artists from all over the globe to exchange ideas and initiate progress in the world of performance art. Founded as IPAH e.V. in 2006, we have formed a series of workshops, performance festivals and meetings that encourage the development of participants‘ artistic endeavors.
Burçak Konukman, IPA Istanbul director and performance artist, said, “This year IPA will focus more on teaching and learning performance art and the theme is ‘The next step’.”
About Jürgen Fritz
Since the founding of IPAH e.V., Jürgen Fritz has been instrumental in the design and implementation of all events. From 1982 to 1990 he worked as a theater director, curator and actor, and since 1984 as performance artist. He is co-founder of Black Market International, since the beginning of this international Cooperation of Performance Artists with whom he works since 1985. His performances have taken him to many countries in Europe, Asia and elsewhere, such as the USA, Canada, Mexico, and Australia. Since 2012 he lives as freelance artist in Hanau, Germany. He is co-founder of the International Performance Association (IPAH, registered association) and artistic director of the festival of performance art ZOOM!, co-founder and co-organizer of the Platform for Young Performance Artists and the IPA.