Art project aims to illuminate Istanbul

ISTANBUL - Anadolu Agency

A major new art installation project in Turkey’s largest city will “draw attention to Istanbul from all around the world,” organizers have claimed.

Istanbul’s streets will host a number of modern art projects, running from November until February 2016.

The projects by four Turkish and four foreign artists will be located in eight different parts of Istanbul’s upmarket Şişli district to mark the tenth anniversary of the city’s modern art fair, Contemporary Istanbul (CI).
Open-air light installation projects by French artists Noel Dolla and Daniel Firman, South Korean Jeongmoon Choi and Russian-origin American artist Marina Zurkow, as well as Turkish artists, DECOL & Can Büyükberber, Büşra Tunç, Deniz Kader and Ozan Türkkan, will be on display.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, CI chair Ali Güreli said the outdoors project will be organized for the first time this year, and will continue in the years ahead. “We have one Turkish [Ebru Yetişkin] and one foreign [German-born Paris-based Susanne van Hagen] curator,” he said.

Stating the Istanbul and Turkish art scene had witnessed important developments in recent years, he added: “Our aim is to draw attention to Istanbul from all around the world.”

Contemporary Istanbul will be held from Nov. 12 to Nov. 15 this year, and the light-installation projects will start on Nov. 9.

The CI art fair was visited by almost 80,000 people last year and hosted more than 100 galleries from 23 countries.