Sarkis to present poetic art exhibition at Rotterdam wharf

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Sarkis’ exhibition will be at the invitation of Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen and the Port of Rotterdam.

Turkish artist of Armenian origin Sarkis will present a solo exhibition, curated by Nicolette Gast, this summer at the Submarine Wharf in Rotterdam, the Netherlands starting June 2.

Sarkis’ exhibition will be in Rotterdam at the invitation of Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen and the Port of Rotterdam. He is expected to create a vivid installation measuring almost 5,000 square meters on the converted campus of Rotterdamsche Droogdok Maatschappij shipbuilding company.

‘Ballads,’ a poetic art installation

Sarkis will be displaying a poetic installation titled ‘Ballads.’ Inspired by the church interiors of 17th century Dutch painter Pieter Saenredam, Sarkis will transform the wharf into a sacred meeting place. The format of the space, the special lighting and the sound of a carillon with 43 bells is expected to create a hallowed atmosphere.

Sarkis’ oeuvre comprises installations in which he combines the atmosphere of Oriental mysticism with Western conceptual art. Time and memory play an important part in his work, which has been exhibited since the early 1970s at the Venice Biennale, documenta in Kassel and the Istanbul Biennial. He recently had a solo exhibition at the Centre Pompidou in Paris. To coincide with the installation in the Submarine Wharf, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen will present a satellite exhibition of a new work by Sarkis: an interpretation in watercolor on 96 sheets of the score of ‘Ryoanji’ by American composer John Cage (1912-1992). 


Synthesis of various branches of art
‘Ballads’ is a gesamtkunstwerk combining light, music, video, sculptures, a carillon and a library. Cage’s composition ‘Litany for the Whale’ forms a permanent backdrop to the installation, evoking the form of the submarines once built here. All the elements in Sarkis’ work support the musical narrative, in which the visitor plays a leading role. The exhibition is a total experience of color and music, which begins the second the visitor enters the Submarine Wharf. 
The Submarine Wharf is a partnership between the Port of Rotterdam and Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen. Every summer for five years a leading contemporary artist will make a large installation specially for the space. The wharf, built in 1937, is comparable in size to the Turbine Hall at Tate Modern in London. k HDN