Discovering İstanbul’s indedependent Art Spaces

However, support still remains an issue for emerging artists who are not yet connected to acclaimed galleries and curators as well as for those who, for political reasons, search for possibilities to exhibit outside the commercial or state-funded art world.

Thus, it was only a few years ago that İstanbul’s alternative artists started creating important niches for themselves in what they call “independent” art spaces, beyond the established art scene. Unlike well-known private and state-funded museums and galleries, İstanbul’s alternative project spaces are not primarily set up to launch artists’ careers. The new projects are a reaction by artists and curators to the often restricted conditions of the institutionalized art world. They are spaces for action and platforms for political content and discourse.

Today’s Zaman has put together a short list of some of them for you. One of the first, and surely still one of the most important, non-commercial projects in terms of independent art is the “Hafriyat” project (www.hafriyatkarakoy.com). Founded a good 10 years ago, it is located in a multipurpose, three-story store in İstanbul’s workers’ quarter of Karaköy. With its repair shops and brothels, Karaköy has been regarded a “no-go” area for a long time. The initiative engages in activities such as workshops, interviews, film screenings and panel discussions, most of them devoted to political issues.

Shifting from the ‘I think’ mode to the ‘It is being thought’ mode

Hafriyat’s independent artist initiative “Extramücadele” (www.extramucadele.com) attracted special attention a few years ago by creating stickers and posters with pictures exploring contemporary issues: The veiled girl not allowed into university, the man who is frowned upon for speaking Kurdish in public, the Islamist who is opposed to the movement toward Europeanization, the army disturbed by the anti-revolutionary desires of the Islamist and is also disturbed by the leftist intellectual. Thus, the project aimed to shift from the “I think” mode to the “It is being thought” mode.

Another pioneer of the independent art movement was surely the xurban_collective (www.xurban.net), which has been functioning as an international network of artists since 2000. The collective has members in İzmir, İstanbul, Linz and New York City -- all following the mission “to instigate the questioning, examination and discussion of contemporary politics, theory and ideology.” With this mission they amaze with their huge variety of new media projects and installations, often combined with documentary photography, video and text.

Indeed, in recent years, there have been more and more of these initiatives in İstanbul, a city that once had virtually no independent market for art. The artists’ groups are engaging in intense dialogue and probably the most important aspect of their activity is to bring artists in İstanbul together so they can learn from one another.

Important platforms have emerged from this movement in recent years, such as the initiative “5533” (www.imc5533.blogspot.com), which was established in February 2008 as an independent space for research, discussion and the exhibition of contemporary art. Talks, workshops, public roundtable discussions and readings take place in this former shop located in the İstanbul Textile Traders’ Market (İMÇ) Block No. 5 in Unkapanı. The idea here is to turn -- using video screenings, performances and exhibitions -- a former business environment into a “contact zone” where visitors from different backgrounds, professions and communities interact with the people at the İMÇ to experience various artistic forms in a non-exclusive and non-elitist atmosphere.

And in fact it’s not that difficult to produce these types of exhibitions or events. Any kind of “space,” an interested audience and somebody to oversee the exhibition or project is all that is needed. This simple idea has been mirrored by the names of projects, such as the “Apartment Projesi” (Apartment Project) and the “Oda Projesi” (Room Project).

The members of the Oda Projesi, Özge Açıkkol, Güneş Savaş and Seçil Yersel, met in 1997 and decided to rent and share an apartment as a private studio in Galata. Three years later, when their flat was sold and they had to leave, their neighbors told them about an empty flat in the courtyard. They moved there in 2000. Although it was not their original intention, the new apartment started to evolve into a multipurpose public space. Açıkkol was the first to relinquish the privacy of the apartment to the public with her project “About a Useless Space.” Hence the Oda Projesi’s 45-square-meter space in Galata functioned -- with only most basic means -- as a nonprofit space with no budget. It hosted nearly 30 projects before 2005, when it was evicted from the apartment. Its members, however, continue trying to “produce space.” Keep updated via their Web page (www.odaprojesi.org).

The ongoing “Apartment Project” (www.apartmentproject.com), founded by the video artist Selda Asal in 1999, is located at Tünel Square in Beyoğlu. In a space of just 24 square meters, exhibitions and events are held with a focus on interaction with daily life on the street.

Indeed, İstanbul’s alternative art scene covers virtually every medium. From fine arts (www.lesartsturcs.org), photography (www.galatafotografhanesi.com), video art (www.kuryevideo.org) and theater (www.galataperform.com) to design, digital and multi-media art (www.nomad-tv.net, www.outlet-istanbul.org, www.pist.org.tr), there is nothing which can’t be found in İstanbul today. Keep yourself updated with the help of the projects’ Web sites. These types of events are not usually announced in their respective districts’ magazines.

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The “Milk” gallery, founded by young art collectors Elif Çevik and Can Başyiğit, exhibits works influenced by street art. Starting the project nearly year ago, on Feb. 5, 2009, they are probably among the first to give this type of artwork a broader audience. On the first Thursday of every month, Milk (Check it out at: www.whatismilk.com) shows a new exhibition, thereby giving space to about a dozen Turkish and international artists so far. With its current exhibition “Milk Gone Mad! Paper Toy Show,” which runs from Jan. 21 to Feb. 11, Milk is hosting the first custom toy show in Turkey. The “print-cut-build generation” is invading the gallery with some unique characters made out of paper! You can also keep tabs on past happenings at this hip gallery through their Flickr site (http://www.flickr.com/photos/milkgallery). Pictured below are hand-painted shoes by Ndeur and a painting by Ayşe Küçük, which represent just two pieces from the diverse offerings that have been hosted at Milk.