The İKSV, a leading cultural foundation which organizes İstanbul’s trademark film, theater, classical music and jazz festivals and the prestigious İstanbul Biennial, will be run by a board that also features Deputy Chairman Ahmet Kocabıyık and members Hamit Belli, Nuri Çolakoğlu, Suzan Sabancı Dinçer, Ahmet Misbah Demircan, Oya Eczacıbaşı, Münir Ekonomi, Gencay Gürün, Tayfun İndirkaş, Yekta Kara, Ergun Özen, Ethem Sancak and Kadir Topbaş.Making a statement after being elected chairman, Bülent Eczacıbaşı said the İKSV has been working for 37 years to bring the most distinguished examples of culture and artwork from around the world to a Turkish audience and to introduce Turkey’s cultural and artistic value to the world. “Playing an essential role in our country’s cultural life, İKSV will maintain its creative, constructive, innovative and pioneering role without compromising on its principles,” he said.
The İKSV was established in 1973 by Nejat Eczacıbaşı, who was also the foundation’s first chairman, as a nongovernmental organization to hold international art festivals in İstanbul. Taking over the chair following his brother Nejat Eczacıbaşı’s death in 1993, Şakir Eczacıbaşı held the chair until his own death last month.
