Napló, Törökország, Isztambul, 2008. november 1.

TÜYAP (Isztambuli Rendezvény- és Vásár-központ) Majd egy órás taxizás a nagy forgalomban, hogy elérjük az Artist 2008, és az 27. Isztambuli Könyvvásár színhelyét.

Nyitás előtt érkezünk, így a kiállítás-rendezés kulisszatitkait is megleshettük. Japán művészbarátom, ISHL L Jun’ ichiro, akivel Taskentben ismerkedtem meg, teáit építette be éppen, amint az a baloldali képen látható. (Eifert János felvételei)

ARTIST / ISTANBUL ART FAIR IS NOW 18 YEARS OLDThe ARTIST / Istanbul Art Fair, which opened its doors to art lovers for the first time in 1991, is preparing to celebrate its 18th anniversary. This year, the Art Fair, staged 18 years ago with 39 exhibitors in a single hall of 1,250 square meters, will welcome art lovers and collectors with over 100 exhibitors, in four large halls of 15,000 square meters. We would like to express our gratitude to our exhibitors, art workers, faculties of fine arts of our universities, and precious art critics who showed us the path with their proposals and comments during this process, as well as to the media which supported us at all fairs and to our dear visitors.

THE MEETING OF ART AND LITERATURE IN THE LARGEST FAIR CENTER OF TURKEY

Last year, the ARTIST / Istanbul Art Fair and the Istanbul Book Fair staged together in the TUYAP Fair, Convention and Congress Center of Beylikdüzü, at the same time and under the same roof since 2002, were visited by nearly 343.000 people. Within the scope of ARTIST / Istanbul Art Fair works by 6000 artists, of which 1000 were from abroad, had the opportunity to meet two million art lovers. This intense interest shows that our determination to keep staging the Art and Book fairs simultaneously but as independent events was correct. From the very beginning, we considered the Art Fair as an initiative aiming to bring about the meeting of plastic arts and people who were not interested therein, seeking to make them love art, rather than a commercial activity where art works were purchased and sold. We always insisted on this approach against those who wanted to consider the Art Fair as a “Closed Medium” reserved for art loving elites. We wanted to enable the young, starting from the elementary school, and adults of all ages and from all professions to profit from this opportunity. As we have acquired wide installation and developed exhibiting means by moving to Beylikdüzü, we could reach the universe of literature in terms of accommodation. We give importance to this unique meeting in this scale realized in Turkey. We believe that over the following years, we will increasingly witness the positive reflections of this togetherness of art and literature and the synergy created by such an interaction. This synergy enables the ARTIST / Istanbul Art Fair to be a center of attraction of an important mass expressed by hundreds of thousands rather than being a restricted milieu consisting of collectors.

HONORING ART – BEING HONORED BY ART

As is the case every year, the ARTIST 2008 / Istanbul Art Fair which will be staged in the TUYAP Fair, Convention and Congress Center in Beylikdüzü between the 1st and the 9th of November, simultaneously with the 27th Istanbul Book Fair and will host many exhibitions and events.

This year, as in previous years, the relevant boards of the Fair enabling a global outlook on the art in our country and in the world will undertake assessments aiming to establish a contemporary arts related criteria, motivate our private and public institutions as well as individuals to invest in arts, and to express our recognition to the seniors of this field through “Artists Honor Awards”, “Critics Honor Awards”, “Art Loving Institutions Honor Awards”, and the “Collectors Honor Awards”.

During the ARTIST 2008/ Istanbul Art Fair, gallery owners shall have the opportunity to enjoy sharing their solidarity with the artists they represent and the work they think having discovered.

This year Tüyap continues the tradition launched a few years ago allowing students of faculties of fine arts to participate in the Fair with their works. Students of faculties of fine arts will exhibit their works within the scope ARTIST 2008 and have the opportunity to meet the art sector as well as the art lovers.

This year like every year, a precious selection consisting of the works kept in the collection of a Turkish collector, out of which some belong to important names of Turkish painting will be presented to art lovers.

During the ARTIST 2008/ Istanbul Art Fair, exhibitions by independent artists from Turkey and from abroad will also be presented for the appreciation of visitors. The “Koridoor Contemporary Art Programs” established in London and administrated by well known art authorities and organizers of England will stage an exhibition aiming to achieve the east-west dialogue through Turkey. Works of many artists from Turkey and from abroad will be included in this exhibition..

Discussions, panels, seminars and other activities of interest to the world or arts and in which different approaches on many matters will be tackled will be organized during the Fair.

We aim to spread the “Contemporary Turkish Art” in our country through the contribution of this medium created in solidarity with galleries from all over Turkey and the world and to achieve an opening to the external world. We believe that with the contribution of our gallery owners, artists, art lover and collector institutions as well as critics, we will reach these objectives.