‘Respiro’ comes to a close with video screening

ISTANBUL

‘Respiro’ was Turkey’s entry at the International Art Exhibition in Venice.

The curtain has come down on the Turkish pavilion at the 56th Venice biennale following a six-month festival of art.

Turkey’s entry at the 56th International Art Exhibition, an installation titled “Respiro” by influential conceptual artist Sarkis, received great interest from local and international media as well as the art world. 

The event, which featured 89 country pavilions, attracted over 500,000 visitors in nearly seven months. 

Six “messenger” installations in addition to “Respiro” were on view in France, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Turkey simultaneously to create a continuous dialogue with the works at the Pavilion of Turkey. As a prelude to “Respiro,” Sarkis gifted a site-specific work titled Altın Ikona (Golden Icon) to the exhibition hall of the Hrant Dink Foundation in Istanbul, which has been on view since March 2015. 

On the occasion of the closing of “Respiro,” two videos by Ali Kazma will be screened at Salon İKSV in Istanbul on Dec. 2.

The five-minute new video “Breath” and the seven-minute “Atelier Sarkis” will be shown for the first time with the participation of Sarkis and Kazma.