Contemporary ıstanbul art fair unrolls seventh year

Contemporary Istanbul (CI), the city's annual international gathering platform for contemporary art galleries from Turkey and abroad, is unrolling its seventh edition today in two convention centers in the Harbiye quarter. The seventh CI is running from Nov. 22-25 at Lutfi Kırdar International Convention and Exhibition Center and the Istanbul Congress Center, which combined offer 16,000 square meters of showcase space, where some 3,000 works of art by 600 artists from around the world are displayed. The 600 artists showcased at the fair are represented by 100 galleries, 55 of which are from Turkey and the remaining 45 from overseas -- ranging from the Mideast to Europe and the US. Art galleries from Central and Eastern European countries are the focus of the fair's "New Horizons" section this year. Another highlight is contemporary art from the Netherlands, with a particular focus on new media and video art. The Dutch showcase, coming to Turkey with support from the Mondriaan Fund and the Dutch Consulate General in Istanbul, is part of a series of cultural events marking the 400th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Turkey and the Netherlands. Also exhibiting at this year's fair are such prestigious galleries as the New York-based Marlborough Gallery, the London-based international Haunch of Venison and Austria's MaM -- Mario Mauroner Contemporary Art. Speaking at a news conference held in Istanbul on Tuesday, Ali Gureli, chairman of the board of Contemporary Istanbul, said the most important goal of the fair was to "attract the 5,000 people who make up the foremost ring that steers the global art market to Istanbul," the Anatolia news agency reported. Launched in 2006 with the aim of making contemporary art more widespread in Turkey, Contemporary Istanbul has become the most comprehensive international showcase arena in that field in Turkey in its six-year history. Gureli said they expected this year's fair to draw 70,000 visitors, ranging from ordinary exhibition-goers to art collectors and art experts to gallery owners. The total value of the works exhibited in this year's CI amounts to $120 million, Gureli said, adding that some 900 collectors holding CI VIP cards, whose majority are from the UK, Holland and Spain, were expected to attend the fair. Contemporary Istanbul is an "important exhibition regarding the internationalization of contemporary art," said Hasan Bulent Kahraman, the fair's general coordinator, who also spoke at Tuesday's news conference. "There have been major economic and sociological transformations in Turkey in the past decade; a new group of art collectors emerged. We now have countless galleries that focus on contemporary art. And looking at the momentum in the past 10 years, the most important factor [that helped contemporary art gain widespread recognition in Turkey] is Contemporary Istanbul," Kahraman added.