Yet the biennial and all its surrounding hype and publicity would never have come to pass were it not for sponsors, one of these being the newly established organization “SAHA,” a Turkish version of the London-based contemporary art fund “Outset,” founded in 2003 with the aim of supporting new art.
The establishment of SAHA was brought about by Berna Tuğlular, a Turkish art collector based in England, who along with eight other founding members and reputable names in Turkish art, Selman Bilal, Saruhan Doğan, Ayda Elgiz, Füsun Eczacıbaşı, Ebru Özdemir, Atilla Tacir, İpek Cem Taha and Agâh Uğur, will endeavor to support contemporary art in Turkey. Similar to Outset, SAHA -- which was officially set up in August -- will focus on bringing private funding from its supporters and trustees to public museums, galleries and also to individual artists.
With the Biennial serving as the association’s first official project, the group will be using the duration of the international event to promote and introduce themselves to a global audience in the first step of what they hope will be a long-lasting relationship with the international artistic community. The support of the organization will not only extend to young artists but to curators, art critics and the wider art community.
