Project brings together youth of many countries

by Müge Akgün - Referans

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Soon, it will no longer be a dream for the youth of European cities to live together without borders while still maintaining their traditional cultures and nurturing an understanding of each other’s cultural heritage.

Nilgün Mirze, a member of the Istanbul 2010 European Capital of Culture team and one of the names behind the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts, or IKSV, has prepared a youth project, "Center for Young Art and Design." The project received the European Culture Award and Mirze will accept the award in 2010 on behalf of the Istanbul European Capital of Culture.

Mirze hopes to bring together the young people of Vienna, Brussels, Sophia, Nicosia, Prague, Lyon, Marseilles, Weimar, Amsterdam, Athens, Istanbul, Cologne, Geneva and many more and is very pleased with the interest her project has received in Europe.

The only problem currently facing the project is finding a space to host it, but once this is achieved, Istanbul will welcome 2010 with this significant project.

’We did not have a youth project’
Mirze said the idea for the project arose in 2005 when traveling to Brussels to attend a press conference about the Istanbul 2010 European Capital of Culture. "We realized that we did not have a youth project. Then I remembered my conversation with a young Austrian artist and at this stage decided to create a project, ’Moya Istanbul: Museum of Young Art,’" she said. "This young artist wanted to open an exhibition in Turkey a few years ago and I met him when I was in Vienna.

He told me that he would open a museum if he was given permission by municipal officials. I advised him to say it was a social responsibility project and asked him to call me when he received an answer."

Mirze said sometime later the artist called her and said the municipality had donated a building for the museum to be opened in. "I thought that a 23-year-old person who wanted to do something for art was trusted by everyone, including the president of the country. I then hoped that a way for young Turkish talent would be paved one day," she said.

Cultural integration problem
Mirze said one of the biggest problems of the European Union was the lack of cultural integration caused by immigration and that Istanbul suffered from the same problem. "When I compared Istanbul to Vienna, there was a lot of cultural centers in the very small city of Vienna," she said, adding that obtaining visas was a significant problem for young people. "Not just Turkey but the former Eastern European and Balkan countries have the same problem. Last year was the year of intercultural dialogue. But this impossible with such handicaps and bans. The young population need to get to know one other. To tackle this ban was the starting point of our project," she said.

Mirze said to find contacts to help her realize the project, she spoke to Harrison Parrot Executive Board Chairman Jasper Parret, whom she met during a festival in Istanbul, about the project. "He was here with the European Youth Orchestra Conductor Vladimir Ashkenazy. He gave us unbelievable support. Later I received a letter from the former chairman of the World Bank, James D. Wolfensohn."

Mirze said she sent the project to the Kultur Forum Europe, which presents the European Culture Award, and received a letter one month later. "They highlighted the importance of my project for world peace, the development of art and culture and intercultural dialogue and they told me I had won the award. I will be presented with the award in 2010 and this will be first time that the European Culture Award has been given to a city that will also that year become the capital of culture."

It is not easy to find a sponsor before having a space
Mirze said an international committee of curators being formed in Istanbul would decide on the events to be organized. "The curators will meet in the city once a year and be introduced to young artists. An exhibition will be opened and will travel to other cities in the network. Important artists will organize workshops."

Under the auspices of the project, young volunteer artists and those studying in art departments of universities will work in neighborhoods of the city. Mirze said their aim was to make neighborhoods compete against each other in various fields of art, such as drama, hip-hop, graffiti and more.

As to financing, Mirze said it was not easy to find a sponsor without having a space to host the project, "But I have signed a contract with an international funding institute. When a space is found, we will start searching for international funds," she said.