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Esra Sarıgedik Öktem, who was chosen to curate the Turkish pavilion on the upcoming sixtieth Venice Biennale, has resigned from the publish in protest of the Istanbul Biennial’s rejection of Defne Ayas because the curator of that occasion’s upcoming version. In an announcement posted on Instagram at present, August 14, Öktem wrote concerning the Istanbul Basis for Tradition and Arts’s (IKSV) “want for a extra clear choice course of” relating to the appointment of now-former advisory board member Iwona Blazwick because the Istanbul Biennial curator as an alternative of Ayas, who had been unanimously chosen by members of the board — together with Blazwick herself.
The information that Ayas had been handed up for the curatorial function was met with dismay and anger by Turkish and worldwide cultural figures, who criticized the opaque decision-making means of the IKSV in addition to the battle of curiosity of Blazwick’s choice. The Art Newspaper reported that three advisory board members resigned upon studying that Blazwick was chosen: Spanish impartial curator Agustín Pérez Rubio; Turkish curator and artwork historian Selen Ansen; and Turkish-Armenian artist Sarkis, who exhibited on the 2015 Turkish pavilion curated by Ayas.
Blazwick, who instantly resigned from the board upon accepting the curatorial function, has not but responded to Hyperallergic‘s request for remark. She just lately started her new function because the chair of the Public Artwork Consultants panel throughout the Royal Fee of AlUla in Saudi Arabia after 21 years because the director of Whitechapel Gallery in London.
It has been steered that IKSV selected to not appoint Ayas as curator due to her acknowledgment of the Armenian Genocide — which Turkey continues to disclaim — throughout her work on the Turkish pavilion on the 56th Venice Biennale in 2015. For the pavilion exhibition’s catalogue, Ayas included an essay by Rakel Dink, widow of the assassinated Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, that included a quick acknowledgment of the Armenian Genocide; the textual content was censored by the Turkish authorities, and Ayas and Sarkis positioned the remaining print copies of {the catalogue} essay in a coffin overlaid with pink glass and displayed it within the pavilion.
Final week, Hyperallergic‘s Editor-in-Chief Hrag Vartanian penned an opinion highlighting how the IKSV’s choice to move on Ayas in favor of Blazwick is a testomony to Turkey’s decided efforts to expunge any affiliation with and deny the existence of the Armenian Genocide. The opinion by Vartanian additionally drew consideration to the truth that Koç Holding, the principle sponsor of the Istanbul Biennial, is run by the Koç household, which capitalized on the Armenian Genocide by allegedly buying confiscated Armenian property on a budget.
The controversy has reignited a debate about censorship and “artwashing” within the nation and the duty of arts and tradition establishments like IKSV to create areas totally free expression, as argued within the impartial Turkish media outlet Politikyol.
Öktem described the rejection of Ayas, who she notes is a buddy and colleague of hers, as “deeply distressing” and stated the information led her to rethink her skilled and particular person choices and their impacts on the next generations.
“I’ve determined that I must be much more vigilant about avoiding conflicts that will come up in ways in which I can not foresee in the meanwhile,” she wrote, underscoring that she had labored all through her profession towards this chance on the Venice Biennale, however felt empowered by the chosen pavilion artist Gülsün Karamustafa to take a stand for Ayas. The curator declined to remark additional.
The IKSV has not addressed its choice to forgo Ayas or another shortlisted candidate in favor of Blazwick and has not but responded to Hyperallergic‘s request for touch upon the potential for reconsidering the choice in gentle of the backlash.
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