Category Archives: Artistic Protests

Firat News: Barcelona – Taksim

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As part of the project Inside Out initiated last year by the Festival The Influencers, one of the “reclaimed” walls of Barcelona has been pasted with the photos of people supporting the Gezi Park resistance in Istanbul. Inspired by JR’s large-format street “pastings”, INSIDE OUT gives everyone the opportunity to share their portrait and make a statement for what they [...] → Read the full article…

The Guardian: Istanbul Biennial under fire for tactical withdrawal from contested sites

Istanbul biennial: Halil Altindere’s film, Wonderland

A crackdown on anti-government protests forced the art show to abandon its more edgy ideas. But the spirit of Taksim Square is not entirely absent For the time being, the days of “art for art’s sake” are over in Turkey. A police crackdown on a fresh protest in Taksim Square threatened to overshadow the opening of the Istanbul Biennial, the country’s most important [...] → Read the full article…

The New York Times: A Canvas of Turmoil During Istanbul Biennial

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Now in its 13th edition, this year’s Istanbul Biennial, which runs through Oct. 20, is called “Mom, Am I a Barbarian?” taking its title from a book by the Turkish poet Lale Muldur. It fills five venues in Istanbul’s bustling downtown, bringing together 88 artists from around the world: 15 of them are Turkish, others are from Latin America, the [...] → Read the full article…

Artleaks: Another World Is Possible – What about an Anonymous Istanbul Biennial? – Ahmet Öğüt

On May 25, 2013, just before the beginning of the Gezi Park protests in Istanbul, I co-signed a letter by more than 100 arts and cultural practitioners that invited the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV) and 13th Istanbul Biennial curatorial team to change their authoritarian reflex and judgmental attitude to the protest staged on March 10th at a [...] → Read the full article…