Halil Altındere, brings together 48 contemporary artists in new show

“This is not a conceptual exhibition, though,” Altındere says in an interview with Today’s Zaman. “I do not give a ‘concept’ to the artists and expect them to produce some work in line with that. I am an artist at the same time and I approach the pieces as an art producer, as well. I start from the art pieces and put them together and use the energy they have together,” the 39-year-old artist explains.

Since there’s no restriction in theme, not all of the works in the show deal with crime as their main subject. “This is not a concept, just a title,” Altındere emphasizes.

Yet, in exhibitions Altındere has curated to date, there is a continuity of themes. “‘I am Bad and I am Proud” (2002), “I am Too Sad to Kill You” (2003), “Free Kick” (2005) and “Be A Realist, Demand the Impossible” (2007) represent a similar approach to contemporary artistic production.

“I choose the works of independent artists who combine different visual mediums. I believe in the energy of artists who have authentic approaches to the issues they deal with and produce works that are different from mainstream art. I support the ones who are open to new things and transform these new things,” he says, adding that he considers his exhibitions art works in themselves and that this is why he is not showcasing any of his works in the current show. “Curating a show is just like speaking a sentence. If you put the right works together, you have a nice sentence,” he notes.

The location of the show is also extremely important, according to Altındere. “This is an independent exhibition and generally the art institutions only let the curators act in the specific way they want. Galleries, on the other hand, always consider the situation in the market and display works accordingly,” he says, pointing out that the location of the show is as important as the artists and the content of their work in an exhibition. “The position of the exhibition hall, the other exhibitions that have been held there before and the memory of the building are all in a way highly significant. All these elements should support the show and be taken into consideration, as well,” he continues, emphasizing that Tütün Deposu is in line with him in terms of social, cultural and political positions. “It has a clean memory and it is not a financially oriented space. This is why I wanted this place specifically for the show,” he adds.

Apart from the general message of the show, there is a thematic continuity among the buildings, floors and parts of the floors, Altındere explains. “When a visitor first enters the exhibition hall, he encounters Ahmet Öğüt’s ‘Swinging Door,’ which is made out of riot shields, and unless he passes through these shields, he cannot see the rest. After this, on the right-hand side, there are works focusing on militarism and, on the left side, works on individual challenges to authority. When one goes directly onto the floor, he can see works about current political issues and activism, and further on the left are works questioning identity,” he says, adding that on the upper floor the works are more interactive and on the left part of the floor the effects of immigration are the main focus. Hierarchy, nationalism, collective memory, power structures, borders and gender politics are also among the issues taken up in the exhibition.

Among the 48 artists and artist groups featured are Nevin Aladağ, Hüseyin Alptekin, Bashir Borlakov, Nilbar Güreş, Hakan Gürsoytrak, Ali Kazma, Ahmet Öğüt, Serkan Özkaya and Nasan Tur.

With this show, Altındere brought together artists from different generations and diverse locations, including cities such as İstanbul, İzmir, Diyarbakır, Mardin, Berlin, Frankfurt, Amsterdam and New York. Such a gathering underlines similar approaches and also enables a dialog among the works, the curator says. “By bringing together works by Altan Gürman, Gülsün Karamustafa and Hüseyin Alptekin with generations who started their work in the 1990s and 2000s, relationships between generations are constructed.”

This is a large show because Altındere included the works of both artists he has worked with frequently in the past and artists he has just encountered. “Some of them do not need to be artists, even. For example, İç Mihrak is a group in which the number of participants always changes and their identities are kept a secret. Their main objective is to make propaganda designs. I put the artistic works and posters of this group in the show. The visitors can take these posters, if they like,” he says.