ISTANBUL.- Contemporary art gallery Siemens Sanat, Istanbul welcomes the new year with a striking exhibition, “The Real Challenge Is Elsewhere”. The exhibition, which displays the works of three artists from Turkey, India and Netherlands, is going to be held through 28th of February.

Curated by T. Melih Gorgun and Murteza Fidan, ‘The Real Challenge Is Elsewhere’ presents the cultural differences between Eastern and the Western cultures as reflected in the works of Gozde Ilkin, Javed Mulani and Wafae Ahalouch el Keriasti.

Expressing that the exhibition presents the contrast between Easterner’s spiritual-based perceptions of reality with Westerner’s visual-based perception, T. Melih Gorgun adds, “This exhibit presents the liability for the evil created by the cultural-clash and the increasingly banal thoughts about human evolution which stem from the clash between these two cultures.”

Despite their cultural differences, the works of the artists in the exhibition, reconcile with each other through drawing, without any bias. T. Melih Gorgun clarifies how this reconciliation takes place by stating, “The human being in its natural state is wild. It is sociability that changes human nature, and forces him to live with his undeterred passion and insatiable desires and turns him into an alienated being of consciousness.

Artist Gozde Ilkin (Turkey) describes her works as short stories about the transformation of the body in the face of man shaped by modes of consumption, areas of living and experienced relationships.

Artist Javed Mulani (India) expresses that his drawings, by releasing energy in a positive way, reflect his belief that the future will bring more than what is expected of it.

Wafae Ahalouch el Keriasti (Netherlands) explains that history; religion, politics, films, media, families and fairy tales are the greatest sources of inspiration for her in the past five years. The artist frequently uses the themes of weakness versus power, male-female relations and guilt versus innocence in her works.

The exhibition ‘The Real Challenge Is Elsewhere’ is open to visitors at the Siemens Sanat art gallery every day between 10:00-19:00 through February 28th.