TATİANA FERAHİAN
ZEHRA ŞONYA
Contemporary Art from North and South Cyprus
The Little Black Fish
June 19-July 19, 2010
CURATORS
ZEYNEP YASA YAMAN, Associate Professor, Faculty of Letters, Art History Dept., Haccettepe University, Ankara
DR. ANTONIS DANOS, Lecturer in Art History and Theory, Dept. of Multimedia and Graphic Arts, Cyprus University of Technology, Limassol
ORGANIZERS
EMAA, European-Mediterrenean Art Association
EKATE, Cyprus Chamber of Fine Arts
ARTISTS
SERHAT SELIŞIK- DOĞUŞ BOZKURT, MUSTAFA ERKAN, ZEHRA ŞONYA, ÖZGÜL EZGİN, GRUP 102, KLİTSA ANTONİOU, VİCKY PERİCLEOUS, TATİANA FERAHİAN, KATARİNA ATTALİDOU, MELİTA COUTA, YİANNOS ECOKOMOU, ADİ ATASSİ, ANDREAS SAVVA, YİOULA XATZİGEORGİOU, NİKOS KOUROUSSİS, LİA LAPİTHİ
Organized by European-Mediterian Art Association and Cyprus Chamber of Fine Arts, supported by Istanbul 2010 European Capital of Culture Agency, The Little Land Fish exhibition presents artists from North and South Cyprus. This exhibition is conceived and funded within the scope of “Portable Art” project. Seventeen artists from the island will be hosted in İstanbul with the cooperation of Cypriote non-governmental organizations. The exhibition is open to visit between June19 –July 19 2010.
“My dear child, are you crazy? World!... What is this other world! The world is right here where we are. Life is just as we have it… Samad Behrengi, The Little Black Fish.
Penned by Samad Behrangi, The Little Black Fish is the story of an old fish telling his 12,000 children and grandchildren a tale themed around justice, equality, questioning dogma, and swimming against the tide. The tale concerns the efforts of the little black fish in his troublesome voyage to the sea and eventual freedom. Swimming against the tide, breaching the oppressive barriers, going beyond our limits, leading the society and shedding light on the unimaginable horizons, are the major themes of the book.
The Little Land Fish art exhibition project, inspired by the book, is centred on multi-perspective interpretations and discussions of several concepts and problems, thereby fostering new artistic creativity. Our time is marked by a tension between the historical and the contemporary, which could be relieved by adopting an intermediary position that makes the past subservient to the present. This position, alongside new perspectives, is grounded in the creative domain of art. The relations, the oscillation, the strata between the past and the present, the historical/geographical/cultural fractures, and the connections and disconnections, call for a politicisation of art, and a re-reading and re-interpretation of the role of political power.
The history of civilisation is marked by a tension between various ethnic groups and communities, islanders and continentals, the settled and the nomad. The cultural phenomena of a world that is getting smaller have precipitated discussions around “local culture” and “global culture,” and around individual and collective “cultural identity.” In this framework, little individual stories are often important in revealing and materialising these notions. The exhibition aims at offering artists living in Cyprus, a discursive platform for interpreting and expressing via art, the relation, the dialogue and the tension between the island of Cyprus (a “Little Land Fish”) and the continent (be it Turkey, Greece, Europe, etc.). It also aims – using as starting point the story of the Little Black Fish and its adventures to reach the great seas – at discussing the theoretical transformations of a common identity, of reciprocal becoming, of borders and of transformations.
Opening Programme:
Date : June 19, 2010
Hour : 19.00
Exhibiton Panel : June 20, 2010, 16.00-18.00
Information: Saliha Kasap
SANAT LİMANI
Meclis-i Mebusan Caddesi, Liman İşletmeleri Sahası
Antrepo No:5, Tophane
Tel: 0212 243 90 74 / 0212 516 07 12-13
Contact: sanatlimani@istanbul2010.org
http://www.en.istanbul2010.org/HABER/GP_709122
