Exhibition

Contemporary Istanbul
The Actual and Transcendence

Exhibition
Contemporary Istanbul The Actual and Transcendence

The Actual and Transcendence

Artists: Suat Akdemir, Deniz Aktaş, Ansen, Sırma Doruk, Genco Gülan, Seydi Murat Koç, Sıtkı Kösemen, Onur Mansız, Seçkin Pirim, Gülin Hayat Topdemir, Hande Varsat

Curator: Hasan Bülent Kahraman

This exhibition was going to be opened on another date, under different conditions, and with other works: we were there and that was yesterday. Now it opens with new works, a new set of circumstances, and a different configuration: here it is. The difference between these two periods of time, and the respective conditions they present, also determines the reality of the exhibition.

The difference between the two phenomena is related to time and the subjectivity of the human being. There can be no subjectivity that defies time. Consciousness and memory are registered in relation to time. But this record does not make the human being a prisoner of the past and of memory. The human being travels through time — together with the whole universe — and he knows where he is heading, he knows his end. The only thing he lacks any knowledge of is the time of that end. And he creates. Through creating he resists the end, his end. To create is to make a mark in time, it is to ascend into the future. The human being is the one who says, de capo — to use Nietzsche’s words — and starts over from the beginning.

In the past year and a half, we made our way through pain, death and destruction. This great plague did not just come with deaths. It also brought the “Great Closure”. And that period still continues.

The human being can always start all over again, and the only thing he needs to be able to do this is his inner peace. In the midst of all the devastation, all the pain, the sorrow, and the blazing infernos, the human being manages to find inner balance, and even though this balance blows like a storm sometimes, he starts again. He resists and starts over: starts over and resists. The most magnificent case of starting over and resisting is the work of art. Art is not just a rebellion against the tragic. It is to challenge the endlessness of time. It is to stand up to death. The work of art is transcendence. Death, which is another transcendence, is only defeated in the face of the work of art. Furthermore, there is not much that can go beyond death. The work of art is always destined beyond itself. It transforms beyond itself and is re/produced again in an endless cycle.

Actuality is real. Transcendence is not a secret. It is a mystery. The work of art is both actuality, that is to say, real, and beyond: transcendence. The artwork even resists itself. Its transcendence also defies itself, awaiting its place and time. There, in those days of devastation brought about by the coronavirus, presented in a state of actuality, the transcendence of the works of art right here, resurrected within/from that havoc, produced by the artists who were resisting through the act of creating, is proof of this. The actual is the passing of time. Transcendence, however, is what lies beyond: beyond everything.


Entrance to the fair is paid.

In order for you, to have a safer exhibition experience, HES code will be applied at the entrance to the fair. 

During HES code checks, we kindly ask you to prepare your HES code in advance in order to speed up the entrance and prevent queues.

Entrance to the fair will be closed on Sunday, June 6 due to lockdown. 

Follow Us
TR EN
Filter events by label
22 MAY MON
-
23 MAY TUE
2

17:00

Film Invisible to the Eye

Akbank Sanat

18:30

Conversation Talk: Zeynep Dadak + Çiçek Kahraman

Akbank Sanat

24 MAY WED
2

18:30

Seminar “Postgraduate Students Represent: Our Stage Music from the Tanzimat to the 1990s”

Akbank Sanat

19:00

Conversation Jazz Listening Club“Creative Guitar in Jazz from Past to Present!”

Akbank Sanat

25 MAY THU
1

20:30

Dance Contemporary Dance Performance: "Meeting"

Akbank Sanat

26 MAY FRI
1

20:30

Dance Contemporary Dance Performance: "Moment"

Akbank Sanat

27 MAY SAT
2

15:00

Workshop From Text to Stage

Akbank Sanat

18:30

Film Video Essay: Absorbing Ignorance: Experiential Illusions (41’44’’)

Akbank Sanat

28 MAY SUN
-
29 MAY MON
-
30 MAY TUE
2

16:30

Film Big Big World

Akbank Sanat

18:30

Conversation Talk: Reha Erdem + Florent Herry

Akbank Sanat

31 MAY WED
3

11:00

Kid Out There - Dance Theatre for Babies

Akbank Sanat

12:30

Kid Out There - Dance Theatre for Babies

Akbank Sanat

14:00

Kid Out There - Dance Theatre for Babies

Akbank Sanat

01 JUN THU
1

20:00

Seminar An Alternative View on Art, Children and Creativity

Online Platform – Zoom

02 JUN FRI
4

13:00

Film Big Big World

Akbank Sanat

15:00

Film Video Essay: Absorbing Ignorance: Experiential Illusions (41’44’’)

Akbank Sanat

16:00

Conversation Talk + Curatorial Tour: Lara Kamhi

Akbank Sanat

20:00

Seminar An Alternative View on Art, Children and Creativity

Online Platform – Zoom

03 JUN SAT
7

11:00

Kid Out There - Dance Theatre for Babies

Akbank Sanat

12:30

Kid Out There - Dance Theatre for Babies

Akbank Sanat

13:00

Workshop Objects, Needs and Tricks (Workshop for Adults)

Akbank Sanat

14:00

Kid Out There - Dance Theatre for Babies

Akbank Sanat

15:00

Workshop Stanislavsky Theory of Acting

Akbank Sanat

19:00

Conversation Talk: “Synesthesia” by Ali Mahmut Demirel

Akbank Sanat

20:00

Seminar An Alternative View on Art, Children and Creativity

Online Platform – Zoom

04 JUN SUN
1

20:00

Seminar An Alternative View on Art, Children and Creativity

Online Platform – Zoom

05 JUN MON
-
06 JUN TUE
3

10:00

Workshop Emrecan Tanış Masterclass

Akbank Sanat

17:00

Film Phases of Matter

Akbank Sanat

18:30

Conversation Talk: Deniz Tortum + Alican Çamcı

Akbank Sanat

07 JUN WED
1

18:30

Seminar Is İstanbul A Design Capital?

Akbank Sanat

08 JUN THU
1

18:30

Seminar Getting Out of the Anthropocene: Bernard Stiegler's Analysis of Contemporary Crisis - Emre Şan

Akbank Sanat

09 JUN FRI
2

13:00

Film Big Big World

Akbank Sanat

15:00

Film Video Essay: Absorbing Ignorance: Experiential Illusions (41’44’’)

Akbank Sanat

10 JUN SAT
2

15:00

Workshop Movement of Sound

Akbank Sanat

18:30

Film Phases of Matter

Akbank Sanat

11 JUN SUN
-

Add event to your calendar

Subscribe to Newsletter