Mardin Biennial
The preliminary exhibition “I Received Your Invitation, Thank you!” held in October 2009 was an international show and the forerunner to the actual large exhibition to be held in Mardin from the 4th of June until the 5th of July, 2010. The continuation of intensive work towards this big show and with the participation of experienced and well-known national and international artists, the format of a biennial is being taken. It will also be the largest contemporary arts exhibition of its kind ever held in the city of Mardin. In this sense the biennial will not only provide Mardin with a new avenue of cultural growth but also will be an important contributor and platform for contemporary arts with in Turkey. The Mardin Bienal which is sponsored by
Governorship of Mardin and The Southeastern Anatolia Project Regional Development Administration (GAP), Curated by Döne Otyam, consulted with Ferhat Özgür and Ayşegül Sönmez. The exhibition (as can be discerned from its title) has been inspired by the historic architectural structures ‘abbaras’ found in Mardin, which are both public and private spaces. ‘AbbaraKadabra’ as the biennial title indicated a fusion between this architectural feature unique to Mardin and the magic that is contemporary art. As every abbara in Mardin is a important sociological, architectural and philosophic proposition – The city’s previous historical lack of awareness of its dialectic argument between public and private space is highlighted by the project’s use of the term abbara within its title.
The work to be exhibited within ‘AbbaraKadabra’ will be showed in historical venues as Kasımiye Madrasa, Zinciriye Madasa, Cumhuriyet Sqaure, Tokmakçılar Konak as well as public spaces and some abbaras. Aiming to document the spatial installation of the biennial, the catalogue will provide detailed information in both Turkish and English and will be published during the show. The catalogue texts include: Murathan Mungan’s story ‘Money Djinns’, Esra Aliçavuşoğlu’s commentary on the phenomena of biennials within Turkey, a joint essay-dialogue prepared by Ayşegül Sönmez, Ferhat Özgür and Döne Otyam titled ‘Internal Readings’ with regards to the process of producing a biennial. This primary biennial event will bring together several voices from all over Turkey and aims for a sense of trust and solidarity. Among some of the 63 participating artists of ‘AbbaraKadabra’ are Ben Rivers, Margaret Salmon, Lawrence Weiner, Shaun Gladwell, Heike Weber, Matthias Schamp, Oliver Musovik, Hussein Chalayan, Ferhat Özgür, Selim Birsel, Ursula Mayer, Adrian Paci, Fatih Tan, Tomur Atagök, Maurizio Pellegrin, Serhat Kiraz, Mithat Şen, Erdağ Aksel, Kezban Arca Batıbeki, Gülay Semercioğlu, Ali Kazma, Mehmet Çeper, Nurullah Görhan, Çınar Eslek, Serkan Demir, Erdal Duman, Arzu Başaran, Hakan Irmak and Gülay Semercioğlu. There will be two very special performances by artists Nezaket Ekici and Funda Karakuş in Kasımiye Madarsa and Tokmakçı Konak respectively as well as works from many artistic disciplines will produce a dynamic and strong biennial.
