EMAA’s Series of Causeries Have Started
Among the association’s targeted activities for the new year, enriching the cultural structure by ensuring flow of information, and trying to catch up with what is happening in the world comes first. Thus, with series of causeries it was considered to invite people who are carrying out important performances, expert on their fields, people who undersigned creative and fruitful projects to Cyprus to share their knowledge or experiences. 11 quests will be invited with total of 11 titles during the series of causeries which is planned to be expanded within 2007-2008 period, and presentations will be made. The series of causeries realised within the context of Regulation for Aiding Associations Related with Art, of Directorate of the Culture Department of the Ministry of Education and Culture, and supported by the Chrest Foundation. In addition we want to thank to the Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Engineers and Architects for hosting our causeries without any financial demands.
Museums
During the causerie that took place at the ACC on the evening of February 22nd presentation of Associate Prof. Dr. Gül Pulhan titled “MUSEUMS FROM PAST TO THE FUTURE: MEASURES OF ART, TIME AND REALITY” was realised.
The issue of “museums” which is a very sensitive and current issue in our country, was studied under the subheadings as; historic shaping from past to our time, changing and/or unchanging basic identities and functions, their contribution to art, and reflecting past of communities by challenging the time.
As it can be remembered, series of protest actions, in which EMAA has also participated, was realised regarding the issue of museums which became the current issue when the newly founded Ministry of Environment and Natural Sources moved into the historical building of Mental Hospital, which was considered to be used as a Archaeological Museum. The problem of museums, which still is a case-sensitive made this causerie more meaningful. We will continue to be followers of the Archaeological Museum.
Santralistanbul Project and Art Centres
The causerie that was held at the Turkish Cypriot Union of Chambers of Engineers and Architects on Thursday evening, March 22nd during 18.00 to 20.00 was titled: “SANTRALISTANBUL AS A PUBLIC FIELD PROJECT”. During the night, where the Santralistanbul project was examined as a contemporary art centre model, examples from different art centres were presented.
Asu Aksoy, Santralistanbul projects coordinator of Istanbul Bilgi University delivered the speech. Aksoy, who has executed many research projects on immigration, urban transformation, cultural policies, has articles published on these issues. Dr. Aksoy is a member of ‘Advisory Board of Istanbul 2010 Europe Cultural Capital” and is active within the Istanbul 2010 project.
Santralistanbul, which is being prepared for launching in September 2007, is a project for re-evaluating the first urban measured power plant of Istanbul, which was closed and left to decay after being operated from 1910 till 1980s, by the Istanbul Bilgi University as an international field of art, culture, and education by preserving the present industrial heritage. With the Santralistanbul, Silahtarağa Power Plant which has supplied Istanbul with electricity for years is getting ready to become the centre of attraction of the cultural life of the city and of the entire region. With its exhibition areas, the Energy Museum, artist accommodations houses, library and information centres, education-training units, Santralistanbul will become an important artistic infrastructure for Istanbul and for all places where Istanbul reaches, and will become an open platform where the geography it take place in acts as a source for art and where the different build-ups and approaches will be expressed. Santralistanbul aims to create a new capacity which increases and expands the creative energies of the familiar geographies within the global world of art which is gradually becoming a multi-lingual and multi-cantered. What makes Santralistanbul interesting is that the targeted capacity will function as a public field. That is, an open filed where participation of actors of art, culture, education, academy and field of thought, with their projects will be encouraged and where grounds will be prepared for enabling these projects to get together with different spectators and audiences.
Centre- Peripheral Relations and Artists from Diyarbakır
The centre- peripheral relations got together through causerie titled “Longsuffering East of Welcome to the Desert of the Reality” realises by Şener Özmen, an artist from Diyarbakır. The causerie was held at the Conference Hall of the Turkish Cypriot Union of Chambers of Engineers and Architects in Çağlayan, on Friday, May 11th during 19:00-21:00 hours.
Şener Özmen, who has participated in numerous international exhibitions and biennales, fulfilled his causerie within the framework of clusters of art- artist who feed the centre or are anti-centred and who are at the by-regions which are described out of centre (Diyarbakır-Izmir-Ankara) of the current art in Turkey of 90s. Alongside his own works, also by introducing international current artists who live within the peripheral, The young artist based his speech on examples. Alongside video art works, there were also works of Cengiz Tekin, Berat Işık and Erkan Özgen within these examples. While publishing the text on the subject in this issue, our readers can find the file regarding the “Museums and Art Centres” in our 8th issue.
The series of causeries will continue in October with Beral Marda, with Ayşe Gül Altınay and Mehmet Ergüven in November and with Başak Şenova in December.