Istanbul Modern

In the context of 400 years trade (diplomatic) relations between the Netherlands and Turkey, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen and İstanbul Museum of Modern Art are exchanging a selection from the Collections. On 10 March, the exhibition ‘İstanbul Modern’ will open in Rotterdam and on 16 February, the exhibition ‘La La La Human Steps’ opened in Istanbul.

Head curator Levent Çalıkoğlu has selected fourteen different artists from various periods from the seventies until now. Work is on show by artists such as İnci Eviner, Taner Ceylan and the Turkish Armenian artist Sarkis. The latter is also responsible this summer for the installation in the Submarine Wharf in Rotterdam Harbour.

In ‘New Citizen I-II-III’ (2009), İnci Eviner combines a mural in which traditional European wallpaper contrasts with decorative Ottoman tiles and incorporates in this 3 videos with moving images about traditional sign language. The political overtones in her work provide food for thought. For his works, Sarkis uses a broad range of materials and techniques. The ten-part stained glass series that can be seen during the exhibition features figures from the film The Lord of the Rings. Normally speaking, the colours in a stained glass window glow because natural light (sunlight) shines through it, but for this work, the windows are placed in a darkened room. In her work, Hale Tenger mainly concentrates on discovering her own identity and is critical about the attitude of the East towards the West, and vice versa. Her video ‘Beiroet’ (2005-2007) is a loop and shows the front of a hotel. While explosions and sirens sound in the background, the curtains in the hotel gently blow in the wind. Nezaket Ekici grew up in Germany, where she still lives and works. In her performance ‘Emotion in Motion’ dating from 2002, she kisses for three full days the room in which she finds herself and everything it contains. In this way, Ekici turns the space and her body into a work of art.

Istanbul the cultural hotspot

Istanbul is a cultural hotspot, which, thanks to its unique location in both Europe and Asia, is imbued with different influences. Both European and Arab culture can be found in the works selected for the exhibition. The diverse art works in the exhibition İstanbul Modern, which include painting, videos and installations, cover themes such as imagination, identity, recent political tensions and visual culture. Boijmans in Istanbul

Until 6 February the exhibition ‘La La La Human Steps’ will be on view in İstanbul Modern. The exhibition shows works by twenty-eight Dutch and foreign artists embracing the theme Human Encounters.

Istanbul Modern - Rotterdam
Kurator: Levent Calikoglu

Künstler: Taner Ceylan, Sarkis , Ramazan Bayrakoglu, Nilbar Güres, Nil Yalter, Nezaket Ekici, :mentalKlinik , Irfan Önürmen, Inci Eviner, Hale Tenger, Fatma Tülin, Canan Tolon, Balkan Naci Islimyeli, Ayse Erkmen