Esra Sarıgedik Öktem stepped down after the Istanbul Biennial appointed a member of its own board as curator in place of Defne Ayas, the agreed-upon candidate.
Defne Ayas
Posted inOpinion
You Can Never Be Complicit Enough for the Turkish Art World
As we consider the rejection of Defne Ayas as the curator of the next Istanbul Biennial, it’s time to examine how genocide denial has long been a staple of the art world in Turkey.
Posted inNews
Resistance to Turkey’s Protest Violence Reaches the Venice Biennale [UPDATED]
In the last few days, the world is watching Turkey erupt in protest after Turkish authorities responded with shocking violence to peaceful protesters trying to save a small park in central Istanbul. A solidarity protest took place on the opening day of the Venice Biennale, and another arose at New York’s Zuccotti Park.
Posted inArt
Museum as Tool: Directors on How They Run Their Art Institutions
SAVANNAH, Georgia — Curators organize groups of art objects into exhibitions. Might it be said that museum directors organize groups of exhibitions into an identity or an institution? The highlight of Savannah College of Art and Design’s deFINE Art conference last week came for me in the form of a panel gathering some of the most interesting art museums directors working today discussing how they thought about their jobs and responsibilities.
Posted inNews
Ritual Blessing Launches Rotterdam Art Center’s New Program
It’s just another day in the life of the art world and we just learned that New York-based Canadian art legend AA Bronson will be ritually blessing New York/Shanghai/Rotterdam-based Defne Ayas’ new program at the Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art in Rotterdam.
Posted inNews
Exploring the Ruptures, Gaps & Erasures of the Ottoman Empire
This November, a new exhibition that hopes to explore the artistic boundaries and terrain of the Ottoman Empire will open at Pratt Manhattan Gallery. Titled Blind Dates, the show is the brainchild of curators Defne Ayas and Neery Melkonian, and their goals are lofty as they set out to trace: “… ‘what remains’ of the peoples, places and cultures that once constituted the diverse geography of the Ottoman Empire (1299-1922).”
Posted inArt
MoMA’s Abramović Ends With a Bang
The last day of the Marina Abramović’s “The Artist Is Present” at MoMA was marked by a frenzy of activity both IRL and online. The veteran performance artist has proven that her art form has come of age and it can hypnotize a whole city — and art world — into believing or “unbelieving” that she’s the biggest game in town.
