Club Dystopia / The Gallipolli Project
Laboratory for criticism and foresight
On the recent situation in Turkey
26 October 2016, 7 - 9 pm
For several years now, and at the latest with and after Gezi, the long-standing upheaval in Turkey under the AKP government has become increasingly clear. After the assassinations and the failed coup d'état this summer, the question of the country's future is becoming ever more urgent. The results are bitter. In the meantime, 70,000 people have been investigated, around 32,000 suspects have been imprisoned, many have been dispensed with and dismissed, and many have had their property confiscated.
The recent cancellation of various exhibitions, two biennials and the small art fair "ArtInternational" are signs that the situation is also getting worse in the more independent art world. Indirect censorship and open hostility characterise the current "culture of discourse", according to numerous reports. There is a lot at stake for a cultural scene that has been able to emerge in Turkey over the last 15 years.
The Turkish artist Yesim Akdeniz (born 1978) studied in Düsseldorf, has been internationally networked for many years and lives in Istanbul, where she organised her solo exhibition "Club Dystopia" in early summer. Claus Föttinger (born 1960), currently present in Düsseldorf with his solo exhibition "Bars and Coconuts", has had a residence not only in the Rhine metropolis but also in Gallipoli since 2005. From there, he has been observing shipping traffic, the refugee crisis, as well as the miraculous changes in historical monuments and their reinterpretation.
"Laboratory for Criticism and Foresight" is a series of events that focuses on the foreground, background and abysses of artistic projects.
How do artists, curators and authors react to the strong social changes that have been negotiated for years under the catchwords "capitalism, crisis, consumption and control"? What positions do they take? And how are they negotiated? In addition, the event format focuses on questions about the currently strongly changing framework conditions of artistic production and its reception.
Yesim Akdeniz: Love, 2011, oil on canvas, 200 x 230 cm. Courtesy the artist and Pi Artworks Istanbul.
Claus Föttinger, photos from the series: "The Gallipolii Project", 2005/2015, courtesy: the artist and Van Horn Gallery, Düsseldorf
Claus Föttinger, photos from the series: "The Gallipolii Project", 2005/2015, courtesy: the artist and Van Horn Gallery, Düsseldorf
Yesim Akdeniz and Claus Föttinger in conversation with Sabine Maria Schmidt
© Wolfgang Schäfer
Club Dystopia / The Gallipolli Project
Laboratory for criticism and foresight
On the recent situation in Turkey
26 October 2016, 7 - 9 pm
Yesim Akdeniz: Love, 2011, oil on canvas, 200 x 230 cm. Courtesy the artist and Pi Artworks Istanbul.
Claus Föttinger, photos from the series: "The Gallipolii Project", 2005/2015, courtesy: the artist and Van Horn Gallery, Düsseldorf
Claus Föttinger, photos from the series: "The Gallipolii Project", 2005/2015, courtesy: the artist and Van Horn Gallery, Düsseldorf
For several years now, and at the latest with and after Gezi, the long-standing upheaval in Turkey under the AKP government has become increasingly clear. After the assassinations and the failed coup d'état this summer, the question of the country's future is becoming ever more urgent. The results are bitter. In the meantime, 70,000 people have been investigated, around 32,000 suspects have been imprisoned, many have been dispensed with and dismissed, and many have had their property confiscated.
The recent cancellation of various exhibitions, two biennials and the small art fair "ArtInternational" are signs that the situation is also getting worse in the more independent art world. Indirect censorship and open hostility characterise the current "culture of discourse", according to numerous reports. There is a lot at stake for a cultural scene that has been able to emerge in Turkey over the last 15 years.
The Turkish artist Yesim Akdeniz (born 1978) studied in Düsseldorf, has been internationally networked for many years and lives in Istanbul, where she organised her solo exhibition "Club Dystopia" in early summer. Claus Föttinger (born 1960), currently present in Düsseldorf with his solo exhibition "Bars and Coconuts", has had a residence not only in the Rhine metropolis but also in Gallipoli since 2005. From there, he has been observing shipping traffic, the refugee crisis, as well as the miraculous changes in historical monuments and their reinterpretation.
"Laboratory for Criticism and Foresight" is a series of events that focuses on the foreground, background and abysses of artistic projects.
How do artists, curators and authors react to the strong social changes that have been negotiated for years under the catchwords "capitalism, crisis, consumption and control"? What positions do they take? And how are they negotiated? In addition, the event format focuses on questions about the currently strongly changing framework conditions of artistic production and its reception.
Yesim Akdeniz and Claus Föttinger in conversation with Sabine Maria Schmidt © Wolfgang Schäfer