Speaker: Dr. Kumru Eren
The Borusan Contemporary Art Collection
As part of the 'Contemporary Art and Curatorship' Seminar Program, we believe that getting to know the institutions that shape the cultural and artistic life in Istanbul is important. In this seminar, the Borusan Contemporary Director Dr. Kumru Eren will give information about the Borusan Contemporary, its Art Collection.
About Borusan Contemporary
Founded in 2011, Borusan Contemporary has based its institutional programs at Perili Köşk, which serves as the headquarters of Borusan Holding, thus has brought the first office-museum model into being in Turkey. As a member of the IACCCA (International Association of Corporate Collections of Contemporary Art) and the ICOM (International Council of Museums), Borusan Contemporary’s program focuses on the New Media art, which draws on the lens-based artistic practices, data, light and time as an element, utilizing software, coding and internet technologies, and predicating on the interaction with viewers. Conceiving exhibitions, events and publications in order to introduce the audience in Turkey to this ground-breaking genre of art that keeps evolving with technology in the 21st century, Borusan Contemporary also sustains the production of New Media art through commissions of artworks and projects, that are given to an international roster of artists including Ola Kolehmainen, Boomoon, Edward Burtynsky, Axel Hütte, Philip Frank and John Gerard. During the pandemic period, which has taken the world by storm since the second quarter of 2020, Borusan Contemporary has relayed its exhibition and event programs on its website, the Google Arts & Culture page as well as social media accounts with the advantage of New Media art’s advantegous disposition, presenting these contents to tens of thousands of art audience, thus acquiring the quality of a cultural institution that reaches beyond the physical confines of exhibition spaces. Within the very scope, Borusan Contemporary Blog, pursued since 2018 to contribute to the cultivation n contemporary art has reached 100.000 readers as of today. Borusan Contemporary continues its endeavors under the Borusan Kocabıyık Foundation.
About The Borusan Contemporary Art Collection
Founded in the 1990’s, on the axis of Modern and Contemporary Turkish Art, the Borusan Contemporary Art Collection gained a comprehensive and sound character in the 2000’s, with the inclusion of works by international artists. In 2011, Borusan Contemporary began utilizing the spaces of the historical “Perili Köşk”. The focus of the collection, which provides a source for the exhibitions and programs of Borusan Contemporary, has shifted around the same time towards New Media art, which investigates novel ways of artistic expression. Today, with a history that spans over three decennia, Borusan Contemporary Art Collection contains roughly 800 works, most of which are conceived in the last ten years, by 250 artists and continues to grow in a sustainable way.
About Dr. Kumru Eren
Subsequent to her education at Istanbul Kabatas High School, Kumru Eren graduated from Mimar Sinan University, Faculty of Fine Arts with a BA degree in Ceramics and Glass Design. She completed her MA degree in Hüsamettin Koçan Atelier, Department of Painting at Marmara University, Faculty of Fine Arts and obtained her PhD degree from the same department with her dissertation titled “Globalization in Contemporary Art in Turkey”, which she defended on the basis of Jean-Luc Nancy’s framework. Focused on the development of the cultural heritage field and collection management, Kumru Eren worked as director and publishing coordinator, and consulted for national and international collections and institutions, including Contemporary Istanbul, Baksı Platform for the Baksı Culture and Art Foundation in addition to Açıkekran New Media Arts Gallery of which she was the Founding Director. Eren taught the course, “Critical Art Theories” at the Marmara University for a while, and contributed to exhibition catalogues and artist monographs. Her articles, critical texts and impressions have appeared in a number of culture and arts magazines among which are ICE, Istanbul Art News, Artam, Varlık, Hürriyet Kitap Sanat and Hürriyet Seyahat. A member of AICA (International Association of Art Critics) Turkey, Friends of Ulay Foundation and Baksı Platform for Baksı Culture and Art Foundation, Eren is currently the Director of Borusan Contemporary.