Traditions and influences, whats up with Turkish art?

Traditions and influences, whats up with Turkish art?

Originally posted: 240423

Ever heard of turkish art?

The things that pop-up in MY mind when I hear “Turkish art” is beautiful patterned rugs and mosaics. Besides that the brain is almost suspiciously quiet and empty. I´m not super invested in any art-scene in any specific country but I must admit that I know absolutely nothing about Turkish art, especially when it comes to contemporary Turkish art.

According to The new arab Turkey’s art scene is experiencing a revival.
New art galleries are popping up and the neighborhood of Karaköy in Istanbul is becoming the go-to place for an art lover in Istanbul.
I have never visited Istanbul but it is on top of my to-do list and I´m hoping to get to go there soon.

But before delving into contemporary Turkish art lets look at its traditions – where did it all come from?

 

Ottoman miniature painting

Traditional Turkish Art

Turkey has long traditions and many different cultures have contributed to shape the art that we today know as traditional Turkish art. Beside the influences from Hittite, Urartian, Lydian, Roman, and Byzantine cultures the art has been heavily affected by The Seljuc dynasty, the Ottoman empire and the Islamic traditions.

The Seljuc dynasty 1037–1194 brought with it the craftsmanship of tiles and ceramics often resulting in beautifully ornamented glazed bricks that, still today, are used to create intricate patterns on buildings and walls. The Iznic pottery traditions are also from this time.

The 16th and 17th centuries are said to be the highlight of the arts of the Ottoman empire. Ottoman pictorial art was very much committed to the visual traditions of Islamic art and the tradition of Turkish miniature painting has its origins here. The miniature painting refers to a style of illustration that have been found in preserved books and manuscripts from this time. There are also preserved calligraphies and books made by masters of bookbinding from this time. The books them selves were considered artworks and were therefore treated with a lot of respect.

Islamic art is known of its way of using beautiful geometrical patterns, often used when tiling houses or objects. Some sources say that the concentration on non figurative art in Islam is to minimize pictures from becoming objects of worship. Some sources also say that it is forbidden to depict human faces because that can be seen as imitating the creation of Allah.

Turkish rugs are often colorful and contain patterns with embedded stories

Turkish Carpets often tell stories and are full of patterns with different meanings. The shapes, sizes, motives, stories and colors can differ from region to region but there seems to be a set of symbols that have the same meaning everywhere. Many mats contain depictions of animals or other dangerous things, such as the evil eye, that the weaver wanted to protect their family from.

This tree is very well protected from the evil eye

Contemporary Turkish Art

A major milestone for contemporary Turkish art was the founding of the first School of Fine arts in 1882. The school, that is located in Istanbul was founded by artist Osman Hamdi Bey and has since then changed it´s name to Mimar Sinan university.
The art has, since then, gotten more and more western influences. The bringing in of western influences were encouraged a lot during the reign of Turkeys founding father – Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

Today contemporary Turkish Art is becoming more and more international and many Turkish galleries are represented in the many art fairs and biennales arranged across the globe. Turkey it self has also start to produce their own fairs and biennales. Here is a very uncompleted list of art fairs in Turkey. Do you have a fair that should be on the list? Post it in the comments plz!

Art fairs and biennales in Turkey

Art Ankara – 20-23 feb 2025
Art Ankara is an international contemporary art fair and this years edition will be the 12th time it´s arranged. The Art Ankara fair is usually visited by 70 000+ visitors during it´s 5 days and 150 galleries display works from around 1500 artists on the fair annually.

Art Contact Istanbul – 23-26 may 2024
The fourth edition of Art Contact Istanbul is coming up this May. The Art Fair is created by the same company, Atis, that also is the creator of the Art Ankara fair. Besides the 16 000 m2 of exhibition space they also have an area outdoor where they display sculpture and street art exhibitions. The Art Fair wants to make art accessible for everyone and is expecting 50 000+ visitors.

BAAF Bodrum Art Fair 3-7 july and 21-25 aug
Bodrum Art and Antiques fair is held twice every year. Looking at their website, the fair is presented more like a commercial fair than a fair that celebrates art, but I might be wrong! Any way, I´m finding it hard to find good information about the fair in english.

CI:Bloom – 26-28 april 2024 Istanbul
CI:Bloom is a relatively new concept by the Contemporary Istanbul Foundation.
The Art Fairs goal is to highlight contemporary turkish art. This years edition is held at LK Rumeli Hall in Istanbul. Almost 30 galleries and institutions will be represented at the fair that promises to be vibrant and innovative.

Digital Art Fest Istanbul – 2-3 may
The Digital Art Fest in Istanbul is also on its fourth year and this years theme is about how our identities in the virtual world influence our identities IRL.
Besides the exhibition there will be panel discussions and workshops.
The aim of the fair is to “explore how digital art and virtual worlds interact with the concept of reality and how this interaction transforms the human experience”.
The fair is curated by Rahim Ünlü, Julie Walsh, Niyazi Erdoğan, Samed Karagöz and Turkeys first AI curator Avind!

Istanbul Biennial
The Istanbul Biennial is arranged by iKSV the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts. It´s 18th edition will be curated by Iwona Blazwick the former director of Whitechapel Art Gallery in London. The biennal was to take place 14sept-17nov 2024 but has been postponed due to “the emergence of undesired divisions in art circles that are adversely affecting artists who had already agreed or might have agreed to participate in the biennial as well as collaborations and partnerships ” and will not be opening until 2025.

Art is happening

So art is happening it seems, and especially in Istanbul. So if you are interested in arts and want to know more about contemporary Turkish art – Istanbul is the place where you should go.

xoxo/Salla V

Originally posted: 240423