Recent Waterways Press from Istanbul

Link to the Istanbul Biennial Website

Waterways at The Istanbul Biennial

Two Continents and Beyond: Waterways Istanbul

Two Continents and Beyond: Waterways
Lead Curators & Producers: Renée Vara and Asli Sumer 

Curatorial Advisors: Ethan Cohen, Paul Middendorf and Mary Mattingly 

Artists:  Nicole Amore, Theo Angell, Art Hijack, John Breiner, Donna Clovis, Orly Cogan, Aaron Day, Christoph Draeger, David Eckard, Tamar Hirschl, Ryan Jeffery, Erin Letterman, Michelle Livsey, Miranda Lloyd, Eva Mantell, Mary Mattingly, Jason Middlebrook, Zhu Ming, Naoto Nakagawa, Lindsey Nobel, Dina Noto, Agata Oleksiak, Rune Olsen, Jim Peters, Paige Saez, Avelino Sala, Lisa Schilling, Dana Shea, Raphaele Shirley, Shinique Smith, Stephanie Snyder, Amy Steel, Vicky Tomayko, Lauren Was, Jeannie Weissglass and Bernard Williams

Two Continents and Beyond: Waterways, led by Renée Vara and Asli Sumer, is the second statement in a series of interventions. Recontextualized around the specific concerns of Turkey, the show repeats guerilla practices on the Bosphorus and investigates the iconic role of the Vapur (the local public ferries) as the nexus of the politics surrounding trade, commerce and environmental resources.

Waterways: what began as a collective happening during the 2005 Venice Biennale now returns as an Official Independent Project of the 9th Istanbul Biennale. This collaborative group of over 30 artists and 7 curators initiated a critical dialogue regarding the relationship between the environment, natural resources and its role in systems of transportation.

The show, installed on one of Istanbul’s largest vapurs, the Aykut Barka, will sail between the historic ports of Besiktas on the European coast and Uskudar on the Asian.  The ride provides a conscious pause to actively engage and explore the complex dynamic inherent in the systems of politics and international exchange as it relates to environmental conservation and global warming.

This collaboration of artists and curators represent a collective commentary on such issues and wrestles with the utopian ideal embodied in closed systems and international exchanges of divergent viewpoints. 

Press & Opening Reception: October 18th, 6PM at Kabatash Port                                                                    

Opening VIP and Press Party: October 18th @ 9PM

artSumer Gallery
1.cadde No:62 Arnavutkoy 34345 Istanbul
Tel : 90-212-263-5623, www.artsumer.com

RSVP:  rsvp@varaart.com

Further information and press images:

Renée Vara, T (001-921-1708), info@varaart.com
Asli Sumer, T (001-90-212-263-5623), info@artsumer.com


Further information regarding Waterways collective:
http://www.varaart.com/main.asp?page=waterways  and  www.waterways2005.blogspot.com

This project was realized in cooperation with Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and I.D.O.

We had been up for SO MANY DAYS here

For the love of art and the love of love...

Virtually, a forest of links

Tonight, I am using firefox instead of explorer (yes, that was last night, I am much more sophistocated tonight) because of its slightly more sophistocated interface - it has more built-in blog options (like linking, wow!), but also - and more of the essence - tonight Renee left for Venice. Emails are coming in with lightning speed from across the world. Libia and Olafur just sent everything via web from the aftermath of the Reykjavik art festival. Jason Middlebrook, who is over in CA, has his gallery bombarding my voicemail to pick up a drawing (no, it's really sweet) but he will also send his project via the web, to be materialized in Venice. Suzanne Kreiman's work from Holland just arrived - in NY. Unfortunately, we had not heard any postive feedback on the Venice Postal System (VPS? G77?), and Robert Mann Gallery is being more than wonderful about the packages that are coming in (my doorman quit at least fifty years ago.) Douglas Kelly went to court this morning because of landlord problems, but prior to that he still managed to post all of the Waterways developments. Like everyone here, we are very fond of him because we have so many similar motivations, and he does an amazing job at everything he does.
I have just returned from Miranda Lloyd's studio.

The Beginning

For me, the seed of this project began in Miami with the "Lifeboat". Paul Middendorf, a curator from Portland OR, and I went to Miami in December during Art Basel, snuck our way into the Positions (the Basel galleries containers turned into exhibition-spaces), and used the space to build a boat. We organized artists - over 60 artists worldwide sent work to us that had to do with the environment, trade/borders, utopian concepts, and micronations.

In Miami, we met and engaged in a dialogue with many people, from beachgoers who were curious about the work, to refugees who shared stories of their personal experiences with us, as well as people attending the art fairs.

At one point we met and discussed with Renee Vara, a curator who runs varaart.com, about some of our many convening ideas. We came to learn quickly that we both felt that we wanted to do whatever we could to provide a platform for socially conscious art, that would activate communities with new ideas, take chances, be subversive, and grow as an alternative, a long-tail to the mainstream.

Renee became increasingly interested in doing something in Venice because of the current conditions there with rising tides (that are literally proof of global warming), and causing the entire city to sink. As she and I learned more about each other, we came together with the following concerns - our own government’s overriding ignorant position on the environment; global warming and its ramifications, as well as many other current issues surrounding water, like privatization in less-powerful countries and pollution from industry. More to come…