Mariam Nihal Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — “Istanbul Modern – Bahrain” is a selection from the contemporary art and photography collections of Istanbul Museum of Modern Art, being held at Bahrain's National Museum in Manama. “A country without culture can't aspire to promote tourism,” said Culture Minister Shaikha Mai bint Mohammed Al-Khalifa. She inaugurated the exhibition in March and emphasized on Bahrain's success in building a modern cultural infrastructure as part of Manama Capital of Arab Culture. “Istanbul Modern- Bahrain” concentrates on the transformation of art and way of life in Turkey. The exhibition serves as a platform that looks into the transitional world of art created in different periods, starting from the 1950's. Istanbul Museum of Modern Art is Turkey's first private museum to facilitate modern and contemporary art exhibitions. The collaborative collaboration between the gulf's art scenes is an enriching experiencing showcasing 188 works by 79 artists. The exhibition supports modern art paintings and artworks displaying Istanbul Modern's photography collection. Levent Çalikoglu, the Istanbul Modern Chief Curator said: “The exhibition focuses on contemporary themes such as imagination, identity, the body and the social-political discourses surrounding it, promises of a happy future, present-day political tensions, the interdisciplinary nature of visual culture, and the sanctification of life. “‘Istanbul Modern – Bahrain' is the latest in a series of shows that Istanbul Modern has held in major cities since 2009. While describing Istanbul as a ‘new continent' at the center of the contemporary art world, the exhibition scrutinizes the dynamics of transformation and change that have taken place in contemporary Turkish art from the 1970s to the present day.” He said the transformation in Turkey did not begin in 2000s but in the second half of the 1970s, emerging alongside the culture of excessive consumption created by the free market economy which came into being after the military coup of 1980; a coup, by the way, which the transformation in question treated critically and indeed rejected. “This transformation was affected by the shock waves that formed with the fall of the Berlin Wall, that symbol of the cultural and political contradictions between East and West. The pluralistic and democratic nature of the exhibitions: “New Trends (1977),” “Today's Artists” (1980),” “A Cross-Section of Avant-Garde Turkish Art (1984),” and “ABCD (1989-1992),” plus the Istanbul Biennials, the first of which was held in 1987, nourished this transformation.” The exhibition is open to public till June 8.
