Photo: Eduard Pedrocchi


Can Xalant, Mataró/Platform Garanti, Istambul. 07/08
Participants: Mery Cuesta, Cevdet Erek, Erkan Özgen and Montse Romaní

On comic art in Istanbul | Turkey has a long and rich tradition of satirical draughtsmen and caricaturists being very critical of the current political scene. The way this satirical art is printed and distributed is very peculiar due to the way the draughtsmen’s groups are organised and the political risks they assume, as well as to the economy of production and dizzying regularity with which they print. Istanbul Zombi 2066 is an experiment taken up by six draughtsmen (five of whom are Turkish) who imagine the future of Istanbul in their works

Participants | The Seminar on Turkish Comic Art at La Capella will be attended by the four artists who worked on the comic book Istanbul Zombi 2066, which is exhibited in the hall: Göksü Gul (Lombak magazine), Cem Dinlenmiş (Penguen magazine), Tan Cemal Genç (Radical newspaper) and Emir Yardımcı (independent draughtsman).

Schedule | Part One – Presentation of the comic book Istanbul Zombi 2066. The way fanzines and comic strips are produced and distributed in Istanbul. How the work is organised. Commentary on the script. Part Two – Graphic humour in Turkey and how magazines are edited today. Exhibition of works and each guest’s explanation of their experience and way of working. Part Three – Commentary on Turkish publications and conversation with the audience.

Ulus Atayurt will analyse the roots and discourses of urban activism in Istanbul and the way in which the reality of events is exaggerated and/or distorted. What marks these events is a minimal level of mobilisation, bearing in mind the size of the city and the diverse nature of the different dissident movements. He will show past and present-day images of opposition movements to illustrate the specific and local nature of problems in Istanbul. And he will do so in relation to the nature of the property market and its evolution, marked by the effects of capitalist financial globalisation, while taking account of the influence of the “Spanish model” that is being applied to the city.

Ulus Atayurt is co-editor of the magazines Istanbul, Express and Bant. He regularly publishes articles on urban problems in the city of Istanbul and their impact mainly on minorities and workers. He also participates in a range of independent initiatives that generate tools for cultural and social action..

Pelin Tan. The Question of Autonomy and Dissemination: The Social Production of Contemporary Art in Istanbul. There is a dilemma over trying to find a “form” of art that is basically developed from the reproduction of social relations, but is also about finding a practice that searches for “autonomy”. I think the dilemma has several conceptual layers that are interrelated, such as territory, surplus value and discursive institutionalism. On the other hand, there is a problem about the conflict of political and social opinions, which is related to “representation”. In the conflict of the radical aesthetic, must the artist represent society by assuming the role of social engineer, or can he/she find a unique practice to reveal a reality that is able to shift the means of production, which does not create an economical exchange of the surplus value of the artistic product?

Pelin Tan is co-editor of the contemporary art magazine Muhtelif and of the publication Public Space Discussion in Contemporary Art (Bilgi University Press, 2008). She is also editor of a special edition of the magazine Arch+ on architecture and urban development in Istanbul (Berlin, 2009), and of the art and economics section in the journal Rethinking Marxism (2010). Since 2001, she has work at the Art History Graduate Programme at the Institute of Social Sciences in Istanbul. http://tanpelin.blogspot.com