The art fair 'Contemporary Istanbul', which will be held on Sep. 14 to 17 in Istanbul, was introduced at one of the most important galleries in New York City and thus was able to generate future interest from a high-profile public.

A reception held at the prestigious Leila Heller Gallery in New York City Tuesday aimed to further promote the art fair among an international expert community. The event was attended by a range of public figures such as Feridun Sinirlioğlu, Permanent Representation of Turkey to the United Nations and Turkish Consul General to New York, Ertan Yalçın, who attended with his wife Başak Yalçın. It also attracted the attention of prominent collectors, art professionals and press members.

Ali Güreli, chairman of the executive board of Contemporary Istanbul, will also be attending the notably Frieze Art Fair in New York during his visit to the U.S., said, during the reception that he wanted to invite America's foremost collectors and galleries to Istanbul. He celebrated the dynamism displayed by the art fair over the course of the last 11 years and stated that Istanbul should be celebrated as a hub for culture and arts on a global scale.

Contemporary Istanbul, first held in 2005 and initially focusing only on Turkish art, is now held in high esteem among international art fairs, bringing together artwork from not only Turkey, but the Caucasus, the Black Sea region, the Middle East and Europe in Istanbul's enterprising atmosphere. In previous years, Contemporary Istanbul hosted 70 art galleries and 520 artists from 20 countries and welcomed nearly 90,000 visitors during the five daylong event.

Leila Heller Gallery is to participate in Contemporary Istanbul for the first time this year and Leila Heller herself stated during the reception in New York that she felt proud of hosting the preliminary opening. She said that the Contemporary Istanbul fair was one of the best examples for linking Western and Eastern art.