ISTANBUL.- Contemporary Istanbul opens its doors to the contemporary art in Europe, the Balkans, the Middle East and this year in China. It is a rendez-vous not to be missed, as in what it offers to discover Istanbul and the future of contemporary art alongside with its Plugin media section.
The varied nature of Contemporary Istanbul will give you a unique view of the city:
CI EDITIONS – a platform for the production, mediation and sale of art editions
CI Editions is CI’s new initiative and business to share and promote various formats and conceptual dimensions of art editions and multiples. Through a greater distribution of limited editions, it reflects an alternative to a wider audience and new groups of art lovers. Besides this, CI once again distinguishes itself by consequently creating a valuable asset for new collectors.
CI-Editions goes beyond the traditional idea of printed editions. It understands editions as limited works of art in the field of printing (etching, lithography, silk screen print, digital print etc.), artist books, photography, video, sculpture/ object, neon, and sound on vinyl or other media.
The 4th and final day of CI Dialogues will put a spotlight on the art of editions by analyzing them from artists and a collector’s point of view.
PLUGIN – the awaited second edition of the media section
For the second year running, the New Media Section of CI, Plugin will be showcasing the best in digital art and design in the 1,000 m2 area. It focuses on vas many examples as possible of the wide array of genres that make up the digital art and design scene: sound and light installations, video art, interactive and generative design, indoor mapping projects, robotic designs and more. With the Plugin section, CI takes an avant-garde position by fast-forwarding visitors to the future. Plugin will return this year with an even more varied content with galleries such as AKINCI, DAM GALLERY, Karima Celestin, URAStudio, Yellow Peril Gallery,institutions; Sedition and Kasa and artists;Zimoun, Simon Heijdens.
NEW HORIZONS section will be hosting China as the guest country of 2014
New Horizons is a section of CI that focuses on the contemporary art from a selected geographic region. In 2014, the 9th edition of Contemporary Istanbul will put a spotlight on China. In recent decades, China has participated with expanding and growing success in the contemporary art scene worldwide. The 9th edition will focus on hosting galleries, artists and collectors from China and will be presented at the Istanbul Congress Centre part of the fair. “Now You See” exhibition through the eyes of the collector Dr. Michael I. Jacobs, who has been collecting Chinese video art in depth since 2010, will be shown at CI 2014.
CI DIALOGUES - discovering the essence of The Other Art
Contemporary Istanbul’s talk series CI Dialogues will create a platform for constructive debates around today’s and tomorrow’s art world. CI Dialogues will gather international art professionals, artists and collectors at the fair. The program will complement the second year of Plug-In IstanbulandNew Horizonssection.
Linked to the main theme: “The Other Art: Alternatives. Choices. Options”, the program will develop matters such as “How to collect the Future?”, “The Power of Non-Profit Organizations and Associations”, “The Fair of Tomorrow” and many others.
CI UNSTAGED & CI 90 MINUTE SHOWS – the latest curated exhibitions of CI
Curated both by Dr. Marcus Graf, CI will have two new exciting side exhibitions.
CI Unstaged will invite Turkish and foreign performance artists to enact works in various spots of the fair ground. In the absence of rooms or stages, the artists will merge with the fair and actively contribute to its dynamic atmosphere.
CI 90 Minute Shows is CI’s new ambitious site-specific exhibition project, whereby every 90 minutes a solo show by a visual artists will be assembled, opened, celebrated, mediated, discussed, recorded and again dismantled in order to clear the space for the next artist. This project constitutes an experimental platform for alternative artistic and curatorial practices. In a shipping container-like space of 50 m2, 20 artists will primarily present time and site specific installations, as well as process-oriented works during the four days of the fair.
ART ISTANBUL ART WEEK – art immersion from the 10th to the 16th of November 2014
Running alongside CI, Art Istanbul Art Week will be a week-long celebration of contemporary art bringing a thrilling vibe across the city with participating institutions, cultural centers, museum and galleries. Accompanying CI, the Istanbul Design Biennial and Art Istanbul Week will make this city the focus for a broad international art audience. Participants will be more than 40 cultural organizations including SALT,Borusan Contemporary, SakıpSabancı Museum, The Museum of Innocence,Arter, Istanbul Modern, Istanbul Foundation for Arts and Culture, Istanbul galleriesand many others.
GLASSTRESS – the world known exhibition coming to Istanbul in 2015 for CI’s 10th edition
Glasstress is the unprecedented exhibition of the best contemporary art works in glass. It was first opened in 2009 as an official event of the 53rd International Art Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia. Turkish contemporary artists chosen by the jury of CI will participate to Glasstress Istanbul in 2015. They will be welcomed at Berengo Studio in Murano, where they will produce their works. Among the participating artists are ErdağAksel, Jean Arp, Tracey Emin, Jan Fabre, Murat Morova, Vik Muniz, Orlan, ArdanÖzmenoğlu, Javier Pérez, SeçkinPirim, JaumePlensa, KoenVanmechelen, and many others.
