The Artreview 2013 Power 100. 68: From the outside, last year, Istanbul seemed just another ‘hyperambitious’ (Kortun’s word) art scene. And then the Gezi Park protests happened. Even before this, Kortun, as the director of research and programmes at multivenue nonprofit gallery SALT, was Turkish art’s de facto spokesperson to the rest of the world and prime instigator of this burgeoning contemporary art capital. A 2012 New York Times article quoted an unnamed artist as noting that ‘there was before and after Vasıf’. As unrest on Istanbul’s streets blew up, the former CSS Bard director gave commentary and insider analysis from the thick of it. He’s navigated the aftermath well too. SALT recently stepped in to help stage an Istanbul Biennial undermined by the city’s volatile political situation, a reminder that if anyone can mediate between Turkey’s politics and the need to sustain its progressive artworld, it’s Kortun.
Posted on: Thu, 24 Oct 2013 22:39:24 +0000
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