A LOOK AT TURKEY’S CONTEMPORARY ART SCENE IN ARLES

On view at Maison des Peintres in Arles from 2 July until 23 September 2018 and curated by Ilgın Deniz Akseloğlu and Yann Perreau, ‘A Pillar of Smoke’ features work by artists and photographers who, from Diyarbakır to an Istanbul slum, from Trabzon (Trebizond) to central Anatolia, document today’s Turkey, a multi-faceted nation of obvious contradictions. According to the curators, the project began as a reflection on the creation, dissemination and reception of various kinds of images and art works in the context of what Turkey is presently going through. There is also a dialogue about those issues, ongoing for over a year now, with those whose work is on display here. When the official discourse tries to mask or distort reality, a new relationship to facts and the truth emerges. Today, Turkey’s artists, journalists and intellectuals take risks just by doing their jobs. This show pays tribute to those who continue expressing themselves despite conditions of extreme adversity.

Participating Artists:
140 Journos, Halil Altındere (1971), Volkan Aslan (1982), Kürşad Bayhan (1980), Cihan Demiral (1986), Sinem Dişli (1982), Mathias Depardon (1980), Çağdaş Erdoğan (1992), Nilbar Güreş (1977), Korhan Karaoysal (1981), Ali Kazma (1971), Nar Photos, Desislava Şenay Martinova (1987), Ali Taptık (1983), Cengiz Tekin (1977), Furkan Temir (1995), Mehmet Ali Uysal (1976).

A Pillar of Smoke will be presented at the Jimei x Arles International Photo Festival (Xiamen, China), from 23 November 2018 to 3 January 2019.

Çağdaş Erdoğan, Control Series, 2015-2016
Sinem Dişli, Pognon’s cave remains, 2015