This October, the Istanbul Biennale will take again place again. In its 12th year, the official name of this biennale is Untitled (12th Istanbul Biennial), 2011. It will take place between September 13th to November 17th.
Every two years since 1987, the Istanbul Biennale, a contemporary art exhibition has occurred. Like the other international biennals held in Sydney, Venice and Sao Paulo, the purpose of the Istanbul Biennale is to establish a meeting place between artists, both local and international, art critics and curators to bring to the forefront new trends in the contemporary art world. This is the place, this October in Istanbul to open up the dialogue between the artist and the audience. Curatorship is shared this year by Adriano Pedrosa and Jens Hoffmann. This year’s 12th Istanbul Biennial will feature the works of Cuban American artist Felix Gonzalez-Torres and Ben Marzouk from Brazil.
Istanbul’s unique location at the cross-roads between cultures and civilizations makes it one of the best places to hold such a unique exhibition aiming to form a bridge between international audiences and artists. Organized by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture & Arts, it has added to the lack of space that once existed for the display of art in Istanbul.
The internationally appointed curators of the Untitled (12th Istanbul Biennial), 2011, are responsible for developing a conceptual theme and then inviting artists from all over the world to contribute their works to the current theme. This year’s theme will examine the relationship between politics, social issues and art, presenting works that are both politically and artistically outspoken.
Alongside the Istanbul Biennale, artists will be conducting workshops with young, local Turkish artists.
The 12th Istanbul Biennial will take place this year in central Istanbul at the Fulya Convention and Congress Center in a 5,000 square meter space. Opening night will be a spectacular event shared by the audience, artists and their art. It is hoped that the Untitled (12th Istanbul Biennial), 2011, will be a meeting of diverse people, diverse ethnicities, religions and cultures in an attempt to develop both empathy and understanding of diversity that exists in every nation throughout the world.
Since 1982, the Istanbul Film Festival has played to audiences as a venue of filmmakers, film producers, directors, actors and other celebrities as a market place for both Turkish and international films. The Istanbul Film Festival opened yesterday with high expectations.
Although there are too many movies to mention here, for a complete list of films to be screened, please visit the official website of the Istanbul Film Festival at www.ilm.iksv.org/en/filmlist. There are over 230 films which will be featured at the festival which began on April 2nd. The prize winners of each category will be awarded the Grand Prix Golden Tulip by the jury. April 17th will be the final date of the Festival.
The programme of the Istanbul Film Festival this year includes Human Rights films, new Turkish cinema, documentary film, and international films. Some of the featured films at the Festival include:
The Killer
Last Night
Never Let Me Go
The Conspirator
Potiche
Rabbit Hole
Another Year
The Whistle Blower
Little White Lies
The Meetings on the Bridge Platform (MoB), now in its sixth year will take place at the Festival bringing together people involved in the film industry both in Turkey and abroad. The Meetings on the Bridge Platform gives Turkish filmmakers the change to premiere their film projects and create unique opportunities for co-productions.
This is the 30th year of the Istanbul Film Festival and to celebrate this anniversary, the French auteur Claire Denis and the British rock group Tindersticks will collaborate together in a concert featuring the music of Tindersticks, set against images from five films by Claire Denis that have inspired their music.
Below you’ll find a wonderful short film clip from YouTube presenting the Istanbul Film Festival with music by Edith Piaf. Surely to get you in the mood for the smorgasbord of films that all movie buffs won’t want to miss.
Many people have asked where is the Museum of Innocence in Istanbul? Many people have searched for the Museum of Innocence, the museum Orhan Pamuk speaks of in his novel of the same name. Such a great body of literature must have a home – a museum where that which is collected can be placed for the future collective memory of people.
In my search for the Museum, I found only one thing. A Facebook page for fans who love and are obsessed with the novel by Pamuk. The Museum of Innocence details the obsession, passion and other great questions of love. Orhan Pamuk is establishing a museum in Istanbul based on the novel to exhibit the objects mentioned in the book.
The Museum of Innocence was published in August 2008. Pamuk said in an interview with Der Spiegel that,
The famous quinze grater
“The Museum of Innocence ” chronicles the love story of Kemal, an upper-class person, a person who is occasionally described as high-society. He is 30 years old in 1975 and chronicles his infatuation with a distant relative, a twice removed cousin, Fusun, an 18 year-old shop girl, but very beautiful. As sort of a compensation for his failure to get her hand, he collects everything he can get that Fusun touches, and in the end he makes a museum of the objects that their story is associated with.
The latest news of the Museum of Innocence is that it is expected the Museum will open in the Spring 2011,which, of course is now. We will update when further news is available.
Ümit Yigit began a fan page in Facebook for the Museum of Innocence and is organizing a tour in Istanbul of the places Pamuk mentions in the story of the love of Kemal and Fusun. Visit his page in Facebook to find out more.
This October, the Istanbul Biennale will take again place again. In its 12th year, the official name of this biennale is Untitled (12th Istanbul Biennial), 2011. It will take place between September 13th to November 17th.
