In one corner is a bag filled with kitchen utensils, in a room surrounded by stars stands a model of the globe, and walls are lined with photographs of young break dancers… Each is an independent installation in the exhibition entitled 'Modernity? Perspectives from France and Turkey' which opened yesterday at the Istanbul Modern and will run until May 16th.
The 'Modernity? Perspectives from France and Turkey' exhibition, organized with the joint efforts of France and Turkey, aims to question the influence of modernism in the 21st century and modern society's expectations for the future.
The exhibition, curated by Çelenk Bafra and Levent Çalıkoğlu, brings 17 pieces from 11 artists together, each dealing with the subject of modernism. The artists, all significant in their own right, are Nevin Aladağ, Fikret Atay, Kader Attia, Ayşe Erkmen, Cyprien Gaillard, Thomas Hirschhorn, Pierre Huyghe, Chris Marker, Sarkis, Hale Tenger and Nasan Tur.
THE INFLUENCE OF MODERNISM
According to Sarkis, one of the artists showing in the exhibition, the modern style of life in France and Turkey are both similar as well as extremely variant. Sarkis says that it is impossible to give a precise date for when modernism, the start of which in France spans back to the end of the 19th century, first began in Turkey. However, according to Sarkis, France offers a model of modernism for Turkey.
Istanbul Modern Executive Board Chairman Oya Eczacıbaşı expresses that with this exhibition they aim to transport the rooted histories and shared past of these two nations into the modern day. Istanbul Modern Chief Curator Levent Çalıkoğlu says, "This exhibition questions how modernism has infiltrated and transformed our lives."
The catalog for the exhibition sponsored by Comite Colbert includes essays by Istanbul Modern Curator and one of the curators for the exhibition Çelenk Bafra, Istanbul Modern Chief Curator and exhibition curator Levent Çalıkoğlu, Prof. Dr. Nilüfer Göle, Prof. Dr. Hasan Bülent Kahraman and Emma Lavigne, a curator for the Centre Pompidou.
For those who want to further examine the topic of modernism, there will also be Modern Time Workshops available as well as a film screening program.
This is a translation of an article originally written by Fisun Yalçınkaya.
