The Artsy Guide to Moving Image Istanbul
Debuting for the first time in Turkey, Moving Image Istanbul offers an impressive lineup of video and moving image-based works by established and emerging artists from across the world. The fair includes a selection of 30 artists represented by galleries based in Turkey, the United States, the United Kingdom, and various other countries around the globe. With a diverse presentation of screenings, artist talks, and collector discussions, Moving Image Istanbul will be sure to provide a comprehensive overview of the best of the contemporary video art scene.
1. When? Where? How?
Moving Image Istanbul will be held alongside ArtInternational from September 25th to the 28th, in the Kuleli Building at the Haliç Congress Center in Beyoglu, Istanbul. Admission is free.
2. Why visit?
This is the first edition of the fair in Istanbul after occurring previously in New York and London. The fair centers around film, video art, and image-based artworks and offers a unique curatorial advisory committee as well as artists and galleries dedicated to film and video-based artworks.
3. What kinds of work will be included?
The uniting characteristic of every work in the fair is that they are ‘moving image-based,’ though this can take many forms and be presented in a variety of different ways. By the nature of the medium, all of the video works featured are by contemporary artists. Several works will be premiering at the fair, including videos by Shaun Gladwell, Jonathan Monaghan, and Nancy Atakan.
4. Who decides on the works included in the fair?
The Curatorial Advisory Committee, appointed by fair co-founders Murat Orozobekov and Edward Winkleman, is made up of a panel of internationally renowned curators who together select the artists for each edition of the fair. This year’s committee for Moving Image Istanbul includes:
Paula Alzugaray, Independent Curator from São Paulo, Brazil
Sabine Brunckhorst, Collector from Hamburg, Germany
Dan Cameron, Chief Curator at the Orange County Museum of Art from Newport Beach, California
Kathleen Forde, Artistic Director at the Borusan Contemporary Istanbul, from New York, U.S., and Istanbul, Turkey
Kenichi Kondo, Curator at the Mori Art Museum, from Tokyo, Japan
Azra Tüzünoglu, Founder and Director at PILOT Gallery, from Istanbul, Turkey
5. What do they offer as far as programming?
Along with screenings of the video works, the fair includes a series of artist talks and round table discussions. The schedule is as follows:
Friday, September 26, 4:00-5:30pm:
Collectors roundtable moderated by fair co-founder Edward Winkleman will feature Hamburg-based collector Sabine Brunckhorst, video art collector Robert Bielecki, and Turkish collector Saruhan Dogan.
Saturday, September 27, 4:00-5:30 pm:
There will be an artist screening and Q&A between Mari Spirito, founding director of
Protocinema, art historian and writer Nicole O’Rourke, and emerging artist Atalay Yavuz.
Sunday, September 28, 2:00-3:30pm:
A round table discussion organized by Sanatatak, featuring Ege Berensel, Derya Yücel, Yasemin Özcan, Ulya Soley, and Melis Tezkan.
6. Are there any awards or prizes?
This year, Moving Image created the Borusan Contemporary Art Collection Prize that will award $10,000 toward the acquisition of an artwork exhibited at Moving Image Istanbul for the Borusan Contemporary Art Collection. Borusan Contemporary is a platform for media arts in Turkey consisting of two gallery spaces for temporary exhibitions and new commissions with a collection of almost 600 artworks.
7. Is there anything new at this year’s fair?
This is the fair’s first time in Istanbul and so many of the Istanbul-based galleries included are new to Moving Image. Video works by Nancy Atakan and Volkan Aslan, Shaun Gladwell, Rollin Leonard, Jonathan Monaghan, and Şener Özmen will also be premiering at the fair.
8. Are there any special screenings?
“Bring Your Own Beamer” at Pera Museum will be showcasing work by emerging video artists from 7:00-10:30pm on Saturday, September 27th. The program is curated by Fatma Çolakoğlu and Ulya Soley.
9. Are there any events going on elsewhere in tandem with the fair?
ArtInternational occurs alongside the fair and much of the programming overlaps. As a larger fair, ArtInternational offers most of the auxiliary programming that occurs during Moving Image. The second edition of ArtInternational Istanbul takes place from September 26th to the 28th at the Haliç Congress Center.
Istanbul also has a diverse offering of cultural centers and museums including Akbank Art Center, ARTER—Space for Art, SALT Beyoğlu, and the Yapi Kredi Cultural Centre, that will be showcasing events and exhibitions during the fair.
