istanbul 10b

Istanbul 10B

"The very idea of the international survey exhibition is now

questioned at its most fundamental level. However progressive the

political or economic intentions behind them, international survey

exhibitions still invite a presumption that the curators have access

to an illusionary world view, and that spectators may follow in their

wake. But a more specific and sustained engagement with communities

and audiences, creating meanings beyond the spectacular and mere

festivalizing of such occasions, may produce a new genre of

exhibition. It seems that in order to accommodate both artists' needs

and audience demands, the new exhibition must have reciprocity and

dialogue built into its structure. How successfully this is

accomplished will determine international exhibition maps of the

future."

Bruce W. Ferguson, Reesa Greenberg, and Sandy Nairne, "On Taking a

Normal Situation and Retranslating It into Overlapping and Multiple

Readings of Conditions Past and Present" (Antwerp: E. Antonis, 1993)

In the light of this remark, what does the 10th International Biennial

suggest? Although I have heard many negative comments from a number of

art professionals, I always tend to underline that I liked the

dialogue between the works and the venues in which they are exhibited.

Instead of creating a local exoticism, the 10B leads to an uncanny

interaction through the spaces that Hou Hanru has chosen, especially

Ataturk Cultural Centre and Istanbul Textile Traders'

Market--significant examples of 'modern' Turkish urban architecture,

which share the fate to be torn down in the near future-- as well as

santralistanbul that has been transformed from the first electric

thermal plant of the Republic of Turkey into a culture and arts

center. With a focus of an inquiry of modernization in developing

countries, I believe the 10B offers a new expansion in Turkey where

the art production is predominantly understood as a part of the

national identity. As the art merges with urbanism and architecture,

the artworks encounter an innovative reception and offer social

intervention in a 'peripheral' city, suggesting a negotiation and

reciprocity between the global and local. Thus, the 10B eventually

fosters an intellectual debate, which is proved to be quite

controversial in regards to Kemalism and republican ideals. Therefore,