The non-profit art and interaction space YUNT, under the curation of Emre Zeytinoğlu, is opening its doors with its first exhibition “Where is the City?” from November 4, 2023, to February 4, 2024.
Founded by Muratcan Sabuncu, YUNT, located in Sultanbeyli, is a place designed to increase the public’s access to artistic activities, with the guidance of art consultant Sergen Şehitoğlu. In addition to exhibitions and events, it aims to contribute to artistic production through educational programs and supported publications. Prioritizing the expansion of the potential for societal change through the experiences and interaction opportunities the space offers. It also supports art production and intellectual thought through an event program and incentive policy organized under the academic consultancy of Prof. Dr. Eva Şarlak.
The first exhibition, “Where is the City?”
The exhibition “Where is the City?” moves beyond nostalgic views of Istanbul or hopeful thoughts about the future, instead focusing on the present reality of the city. In a city where the distinction between “center” and “periphery” is becoming blurred, it’s no longer possible to talk about an ideal “Istanbulite,” the division between those who are native to the city and those who are considered “foreign” to its culture, or the singularity of “old Istanbul images.”
The artists featured in the exhibition argue that we need to rethink a new “Istanbul reality” through their works. Rather than the familiar symbols of the city, we encounter images of new structures, squares, neighborhoods, and different groups in the city that have gained functionality in the contemporary system. The exhibition highlights situations where the existing cultural structures intersect with the new ones and where they diverge in Istanbul.
Ultimately, this art space finds itself in a “place” that encompasses these very situations. Therefore, beginning with an exhibition like this will not only establish a connection with the audience of that “place” and eliminate the center-periphery division but also initiate a reflection on the existing “metropolitan logic.”
Curator: Emre Zeytinoğlu
Artists featured in the exhibition: M. Cevahir Akbaş, Setenay Alpsoy, Sercan Apaydın, Can Aytekin, Antonio Cosentino, Mustafa Duymaz, Ahmet Elhan, Murat Germen, Sinan Logie, Mustafa Pancar, Rüçhan Şahinoğlu.
Be First to Comment