Berlin’s Academy of Arts presents Contemporary Art from Istanbul
Berlin – In a series of exhibitions entitled ”Istanbul Next Wave. Simultaneity – Parallels – Opposites” Berlin’s Academy of Arts presents contemporary art from Istanbul. This joint project organised by the city of Istanbul and the Academy of Arts is dedicated to the Istanbul art scene, currently one of the most innovative in the world, and is composed of three exhibitions mounted in the Martin-Gropius-Bau and on the Academy’s Hanseatenweg and Pariser Platz premises. Encompassing over 250 works by 88 artists, the exhibitions present the development of Istanbul as a centre of modern art and focus on a current art scene that includes media works and installations. “Istanbul Next Wave” is not only the culmination of a programme of events held in Berlin to mark the 20th anniversary of the twinning of the two cities; it also ushers in the programme with which Istanbul, in cooperation with Kültür A.Ş., will be presenting itself as European Capital of Culture in 2010.
The exhibition in the Martin-Gropius-Bau is composed almost entirely of works from the Istanbul Modern Museum and traces the evolution of contemporary Turkish art from the beginning of the 20th century to the present day. The display at Pariser Platz takes as its theme the crucial role of women artists in the development of Istanbul art. Common to all 17 artists, whose work covers three decades and generations, are their political engagement and the urge to provoke. The exhibition in the Academy’s building in Hanseatenweg focuses on six Turkish artists who have taken up critical positions, especially with respect to social and political power structures and violence.
Contemporary artist Sükran Moral has long been an outspoken critic of women’s place in Turkish society. And she has often feared for her safety as a result. Her work is now on display in Berlin and she insists her themes are universal. “This is about violence against women,” she says.
Moral was in Berlin in mid-November to help kick-off “Istanbul Next Wave,” the largest exhibition of contemporary Turkish art ever held outside of Turkey. The exhibition, held at three venues in the German capital, features six of her works, all of which provide clues as to the origins of her trepidation. She is daring in her art, taking steady aim at the shackles into which women have been placed in Turkish society and elsewhere.
At the Berlin Academy of Arts building next to the Brandenburg Gate in the heart of the German capital, there are video installations of her 1997 works “Bordello” and “Hamam,” both of which involve women invading traditionally male Turkish environments. In the first, she poses as a prostitute and holds a “For Sale” sign before a crowd of gawking men. In the latter, she sneaks into a Turkish bathhouse disguised as an attendant and strips before a shocked clientele.
But the line between provocation and illegality is a fine one. “Some people who are very liberal about what they say in Turkey can still be thrown in jail,” she says. “But, when it comes to what we do, officials haven’t really understood contemporary art very well. If they ever understood what we were doing,” she says with an uncomfortable laugh, “it’d all be over.”
Sükran Moral insists that her work is not first and foremost about Turkey. “This is about violence against women,” she says. “My themes are universal. It doesn’t matter where you are — Turkey, Italy, Germany, France. There is violence against women everywhere.”
It is, however, in Turkey where the battle lines are most often drawn. Her 2009 photograph “Found Guilty,” which is not part of the exhibition, depicts a naked woman with legs spread, her groin covered in blood. When she first displayed the work in Istanbul, Moral says her friends told her she needed to disguise herself and “get out of town fast or they’ll kill you.”
Moral’s work, whether photographs, sculptures, videos or performance pieces, cover a broad thematic range. She focuses on memory, otherness, taboos, migration, prostitution and mental illness. Her art covers birth, death and burial.
Akademie der Künste
Pariser Platz 4, 10117 Berlin-Mitte, Phone 0049 (0)30 200 57-1000
Hanseatenweg 10, 10557 Berlin-Tiergarten, Phone 0049 (0)30 200 57-2000
Tue – Sun 11am – 8 pm, admission: Euro 6, concessions Euro 4
Admission free every 1st Sunday of the month and for under 18’s
Martin-Gropius-Bau
Niederkirchnerstraße 7 | Ecke Stresemannstr. 110, 10963 Berlin, Phone 0049 (0)30 254 86-0
Wed – Mon 10 am – 8 pm, admission: Euro 6, concessions Euro 4
Admission free for under 16’s
Concerts, conferences and tours will be organised to coincide with the exhibitions. A comprehensive catalogue is also being published by Steidl Verlag.
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