1. International Istanbul Triennial

Apart from the exhibitions, The event was completed by holding panels and activities related to the subject. The same exhibition was held in 2011 as a portable art event  and was presented to the audience at Taksim Metro, Eminönü Hunkar Pavilion and Zeytinburnu Municipality Cennet Cultural Center.

 Istanbul is a city where different cultural encounters and clashes are experienced and in this city, problems of modern life such as getting isolated, alienation, losing identity or getting muted can be a reason for separations or even a cause for a union. In The Secret Language Of The City, pictures, photos, sculptures and many other works of art that are produced around these concepts were displayed.

From different disciplines, and with various works of art, the artists of the Independent Art Association proposed to create a space where the audience could try to eliminate prejudices and remember the co-existence in Istanbul’s deeply buried multi-cultural, urban memory. In this regard, The Secret Language Of The City sought to suggest an alternative to our seemingly insoluble social problems.

The ‘1^st  Istanbul Triennial was initiated by a group of artists, on the basis of sustainability.  An NGO, namely “Association of Independent Art” presented  the Triennial through the theme of  “Secret Language of the City”. The term “secret” refers both to the still undiscovered spaces waiting to come in light within the society’s complex  cultural texture in Istanbul and to the artists, who are not visible enough within this texture due to different economical- social- cultural reasons. At the  first exhibition, 25 artists presented their drawings, photographs, videos and installations to the public at Sanat Limanı (Art Harbor), which has been prepared as an exhibition space by Istanbul 2010 ECOC Agency.’

In the Triennial, the content of the art works introduced new options and possibilities through which an individual could try to build a more free and independent life for himself or herself while the world have been in a constant crisis induced by global politics and economy. In this perspective, The “Secret Language of the City” invited the audience to interpret the world with non-stereotypical perceptions. 

Beral MADRA