centri/fugacions

www.bcn.cat/lacapella2009

Organizer:
centri/fugacions

Can Xalant, Mataró / Platform Garanti, Istanbul. 2007/2008
As part of the Roundabout Encounter Programme 6
Participants: Mery Cuesta, Cevdet Erek, Erkan Özgen i Montse Romaní
Can Xalant, an equipment of:
Sponsored by:
The exhibition Centri/fugations presents the projects generated by the exchange between Can Xalant, Mataró’s Centre for Contemporary Creation and Thought, and Platform Garanti of Istanbul. The show is organised as part of the Roundabout Encounter Programme, an initiative set up to promote exchanges between La Capella and other exhibition centres around the world.
Over the last two years, Can Xalant and Platform Garanti have established a cooperation process that enabled Mery Cuesta and Montse Romaní to reside for a period of time in Istanbul, and Cevdet Erek and Erkan Özgen to do the same in Mataró.
We now showcase the results of these residencies at La Capella. Mery Cuesta presents her work Istambul Zombi 2066, a graphic novel that is the fruit of research and collaboration with several illustrators on the Turkish scene. The resulting graphic novel paints a futuristic and critical picture of Turkey today.
Montse Romaní presents a prototype for a chronological table covering the 1987-2010 period, the starting point for a brief history of contemporary art in Turkey. The table begins with the First Istanbul Biennial and stretches as far as the year 2010, when the city will be proclaimed the European cultural capital. This piece is complemented by a selection of documentaries and video essays by Turkish filmmakers, forming a kind of audiovisual landscape.
Turning now to the Turkish artists involved in this project, Cevdet Erek presents a selection of drawings and photographs of different works, as well as a sculptural and architectural construction designed during his residency for installation at Can Xalant.
Finally, the Kurdish artist Erkan Özgen presents Origin, a video that embodies a metaphor about the feeling of being foreign. This piece is accompanied by a selection of video and photographic works that complement the project produced in Mataró.
Supported:
Opening: 21 September at 7.30 pm
Capella de l’Antic Hospital de la Santa Creu. Hospital, 56, 08001 Barcelona, tel. 93 442 71 71
Times: Tuesday to Saturday, from 12 to 2 pm and from 4 to 9 pm; Sundays, from 11 am to 2 pm; Mondays, closed
Seminar on Turkish Comic Art at La Capella
23/09/2009
At 7 pm. Length 2 h.
Guests: Göksu Gül, Cem Dinlenmiş, Tan Cemal Genç and Emir Yardımcı
Moderated by: Mery Cuesta
On comic art in Istanbul
Turkey has a long and rich tradition of satirical draughtsmen and caricaturists being very critical of the current political scene. The way this satirical art is printed and distributed is very peculiar due to the way the draughtsmen’s groups are organised and the political risks they assume, as well as to the economy of production and dizzying regularity with which they print. Istanbul Zombi 2066 is an experiment taken up by six draughtsmen (five of whom are Turkish) who imagine the future of Istanbul in their works.
Participants
The Seminar on Turkish Comic Art at La Capella will be attended by the four artists who worked on the comic book Istanbul Zombi 2066, which is exhibited in the hall:
- Göksü Gul (Lombak magazine)
- Cem Dinlenmiş (Penguen magazine)
- Tan Cemal Genç (Radical newspaper)
- Emir Yardımcı (independent draughtsman)
Schedule
Part One – Presentation of the comic book Istanbul Zombi 2066. The way fanzines and comic strips are produced and distributed in Istanbul. How the work is organised. Commentary on the script.
Part Two – Graphic humour in Turkey and how magazines are edited today. Exhibition of works and each guest’s explanation of their experience and way of working.
Part Three – Commentary on Turkish publications and conversation with the audience.
DIALOGUES Istanbul / Barcelona
Round table and public debate at La Capella
30/09/2009
At 7 pm. Length 2 h.
Guests: Ulus Atayurt and Pelin Tan
Moderated by: Montse Romaní
Participants
- Ulus Atayurt: Co-editor of the magazines Istanbul, Express and Bant. He regularly publishes articles on urban problems in the city of Istanbul and their impact mainly on minorities and workers. He also participates in a range of independent initiatives that generate tools for cultural and social action.
- Pelin Tan: Co-editor of the contemporary art magazine Muhtelif and of the publication Public Space Discussion in Contemporary Art (Bilgi University Press, 2008). She is also editor of a special edition of the magazine Arch+ on architecture and urban development in Istanbul (Berlin, 2009), and of the art and economics section in the journal Rethinking Marxism (2010). Since 2001, she has been a professor in the Art History graduate programme at the Institute of Social Sciences in Istanbul. http://tanpelin.blogspot.com/
Presentation
Atayurt will analyse the roots and discourses of urban activism in Istanbul and the way in which the reality of events is exaggerated and/or distorted. What marks these events is a minimal level of mobilisation, bearing in mind the size of the city and the diverse nature of the different dissident movements. He will show past and present-day images of opposition movements to illustrate the specific and local nature of problems in Istanbul. And he will do so in relation to the nature of the property market and its evolution, marked by the effects of capitalist financial globalisation, while taking account of the influence of the "Spanish model" that is being applied to the city.
Pelin Tan. Title: The Question of Autonomy and Dissemination: The Social Production of Contemporary Art in Istanbul
There is a dilemma over trying to find a "form" of art that is basically developed from the reproduction of social relations, but is also about finding a practice that searches for "autonomy". I think the dilemma has several conceptual layers that are interrelated, such as territory, surplus value and discursive institutionalism. On the other hand, there is a problem about the conflict of political and social opinions, which is related to "representation". In the conflict of the radical aesthetic, must the artist represent society by assuming the role of social engineer, or can he/she find a unique practice to reveal a reality that is able to shift the means of production, which does not create an economical exchange of the surplus value of the artistic product?