results
No results
Please enter a long search term
Human Conditions
Istanbul Modern, the first private museum devoted to
modern and contemporary art in Turkey, was founded in
2004. Located beside the Bosporus, the museum brings
together the Istanbul cityscape with the production of arts
ranging from painting, sculpture, and photography to video
and new media, functioning as a cultural and social
platform.
The seeds for Istanbul Modern were sown in 1987 with the
First International Contemporary Art Exhibits, known today
as the International Istanbul Biennial. Inspired by the
dynamism and interest the exhibit brought to the Istanbul
art scene, the founder of the Istanbul Foundation for
Culture and Arts, Dr. Nejat F. Eczacibasi, set out to
establish a permanent modern art museum in Istanbul.
After a long search, the nineteenth century industrial site
of Feshane, located on the Golden Horn, was chosen and
one of the buildings, formerly a dry goods warehouse
serving the needs of the Turkish Shipping Administration,
was transformed into Istanbul Modern, a fully-equipped
modern museum designed by Tabanlioglu Architecture.
Istanbul Modern’s exhibition spaces are divided into two
main areas. In the upstairs galleries, visitors can explore
the museum’s permanent collection. The large, downstairs
gallery houses three to four temporary exhibitions
annually.
“Human Conditions” is one of the photography current
temporary exhibitions. The works by Ergün Turan and
Süreyya Yilmaz Dernek and those by Sitki Kösemen have
been displayed in the same hall, on opposite walls.
For four years Ergün Turan and Süreyya Yilmaz Dernek
have photographed people passing through the streets in
various districts of Istanbul in a style similar to that of
street photographers who use clothes with “Souvenir of
Istanbul” written on them, in front of a black background
stretched on a wooden tambour.
In Sitki Kösemen’s photographs, people protest wars,
deaths and the pains the world is in by playing possum.
“When confronting the enemy at the most helpless
moment, ‘playing possum’ can save a life – this is an
inctinct that many animals in nature have. Since you can’t
photograph your real dead body, you can shoot a bogus
one – and I’m thus able to see it...”
According to curator Engin Özendes, the “Human
Conditions” exhibition gives the impression of being two
different ones, but she emphasizes the fact that the
contents of the photographs are tightly linked to each
other: “The difference is only in the styles of the artists”.
The exhibition (a total of 52 photographs) will last until 25
January 2009.
Photos
The Istanbul Modern beside the Bosporus, on the Golden
Horn.
The nineteenth century industrial site of Feshane has been
transformed into a museum of contemporary art.
Photo by Ergün Turan and Süreyya Yilmaz Dernek.
Photo by Sitki Kösemen.
View of the exhibition The photographs by Ergün
Turan and Süreyya Yilmaz Dernek are displayed on the left
wall and those by Sitki Kösemen on the right.
_UPD.jpg.foto.rmedium.jpg)
_UPD.jpg.foto.rmedium.jpg)
