When two ships meet yesterday

Förnödenheter till Gaza lämnar Aten (Interview med Feiler på hamnen)

Mankell och Feiler om årets Ship to Gaza (TV4)

"Over troubled water..." (Vernissage/Opening/Açılış)

"Over troubled water..." (Vernissage) TEGEN 2 from hakan akcura on Vimeo.

Prof. Mattias Gardell och poeten Tobias Berggren deltog i öppnandet av utställningen. Vi kunde höra Dror Feilers tal från "Sofia" (ett fartyg av nio stycken) också.

Eng:
Prof. Mattias Gardell and poet Tobias Berggren participated in the opening of the exhibition. We could listen Dror Feiler's message from "Sofia" (a ship of nine) too.

Türkçe:
Prof. Mattias Gardell ve şair Tobias Berggren sergi açılışına katıldılar. Ayrıca Dror Feiler'in Sofia'dan (dokuz gemiden biri) yaptığı konuşmayı dinledik.



Photo: Tülay Gürgün

About my work / Om mitt verk / Benim işim üzerine
Ship to Gaza: I have eyes only for you! (eng.)
Ship to Gaza: I have eyes only for you! (svenska)
Belalı sularda: Ship to Gaza, sizi gözüm gibi sakınırım.

Ship to Gaza: I have eyes only for you!

About our exhibition:
Over Troubled Water

Hakan Akçura, Malou Bergman, Nils Claesson, Dror Feiler & Gunilla Sköld Feiler, Kent Klich, Damir Niksic, Linn Reinius, Fia-Stina Sandlund, Martin Wickström , Maria Heimer Åkerlund

Date: 21/5-10 till ?/6-10
Opening: Friday 21 may 17 – 20
Tegen 2, Bjurholmsgatan 9 B, Stockholm

Where are the limits of freedom of speech?
Where are the limits of commitment to human rights?
Where are the limits of art?

An exhibition that discusses issues related to the universal right to basic human freedoms. Right next to Sofia - one of eight ships, sailing from Greece / Turkey against Gaza to break Israel's illegal blockade.

The load web service features 1000 tons of cement, desalination equipment, welding equipment, prefabricated houses and dialysis machines.

With the direct link from the cargo ship is Dror Feiler, as medutställare / promoters / spokesperson for the Ship to Gaza. With the vessels are also SVT, Sveriges Radio, Al Jazeera, TeleSUR Others

We put out - when all the beauty of post-colonial perspectives on the peripheral and marginalized, and the perception of 'the other' buried under an increasingly thicker layer bourgeois veneer.

We put out - as most things that are not pre-chewed go directly to the mill waste.

We put out - when we are in the midst of restructuring media and perspective sees the prestigious event or one-sided battle speech given increasing space in the shrinking of media space given to art today.

We spend - when times are hard for the hidden and forgotten perspectives and relationships in the world. We put out - when it is naive, romantic, dangerous, foolhardy, pathetic and utopian to believe that it is possible to make a difference.

NOTE: The exhibition has no fixed end date but hope to continue until the cargo reached its destination around 6 June.

Welcome!

For more information see:
http://www.shiptogaza.se/
http://shiptogazasweden.wordpress.com/

TEGEN 2

open times: thursday-sunday 12-17
Bjurholmsg. 9b
T-bana Skanstull
070-7161923
070-2855777
info@tegen2.se
www.tegen2.se

About my work:
Ship to Gaza: I have eyes only for you!

"Ship to Gaza: I have eyes only for you" was born from the anxiety I feel over the Ship to Gaza (the Freedom Flotilla). The ships are manned by my friends will face the occupant Israeli Navy who does not even hesitate to shoot innocent palenstinan fishing boats out at sea fighting for their livelihood.

While the three main religions, hopes, goals, and holiness make up the Gaza Strip three prophets ribs, stomach and abdomen. I chose to place the ships in "a basket of piping, daubed it with bitumen and tar" out of the sea. I wanted to basket known as the Exodus of the second book of the Talmud, which protects the baby Moses also will protect my friends and their ships of metal, palenstinan flag colors, and their hope for Gaza and the Gaza people. In a paradoxical way, as Moses was protected ...

I changed the sentence from Exodus in which I presented to my concerns, in Hebrew:

“And when I could not longer hide ships, I took for them an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch; and I put them therein, and laid it in the flags by the sea's brink."It was the original text:"Exodus 2 :3
And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch; and she put the child therein, and laid it in the flags by the river's brink."

Ship to Gaza: I have eyes only for you!, Hakan Akçura, 116,5 x 146 cm., Print, pitch and oil color on metal plates, wood, wood basket and cast-iron model ships, 2010

Image Credits:
1. Statue des Moses von Michelangelo (Detail), Peter Anton von Verschaffelt, after 1737, drawing, 58 x 43 cm, Reiss-Engelhorn-Museen, Mannheim
2. Descent from the Cross (Detail),Jacopo Pontormo, oil on canvas, 1526-1528, 313 × 192 cm., Santa Felicita, Florence
3. 16th-century version of a 14th-century original miniature showing Fatima (foreground), on her way to a Jewish wedding party, receiving a parcel of the green cloak brought by the Angel Gabriel from Paradise, in the presence of Mohammed (on the right), his young wife Aisha (next to him), and family members (Detail), Chester Beatty Library, Dublin
4. Gaza Strip and the Mediterranean Sea from the Shuttle KidSat Camera, NASA/JPL, Image Addition Date: 1997.01.22

Jag är tacksam mot Leyla Ferngren, Adlı Toktamış, Dror Feiler, Murat Seçkin, Johan Ferngren, Tansu Açık och Öniz Ercan. 

"Ship to Gaza: I have eyes only for you"

Om vår utställning:Over Troubled Water

Hakan Akçura, Malou Bergman, Nils Claesson, Dror Feiler & Gunilla Sköld Feiler, Kent Klich, Damir Niksic, Linn Reinius, Fia-Stina Sandlund, Martin Wickström , Maria Heimer Åkerlund

Datum: 21/5-10 till ?/6-10

Vernissage: fredagen den 21 maj kl 17 – 20

Tegen 2, Bjurholmsgatan 9 B

Var går gränserna för yttrandefrihet?
Var går gränserna för engagemanget för de mänskliga rättigheterna?
Var går gränserna för konsten?

En utställning som problematiserar frågor kring allas rätt till grundläggande mänskliga friheter. I direkt anslutning till att Sofia – ett fartyg av åtta stycken, avseglar från Grekland/Turkiet mot Gaza, för att bryta Israels illegala blockad.
I lasten finns bl.a 1000 ton cement, avsaltningsmaskiner, svetsaggregat, prefabricerade hus och dialysmaskiner.

Med på direktlänk från lastfartyget är Dror Feiler, i egenskap av medutställare/ initiativtagare/språkrör för Ship to Gaza. Med på fartygen finns också SVT, Sveriges Radio, Al Jazira, Telesur m.fl.

Vi lägger ut – när alla fagra postkoloniala perspektiv om det perifera och marginaliserade och synen på ”den andra” begravts under ett allt tjockare lager borgerlig fernissa.

Vi lägger ut – när det mesta som inte är färdigtuggat går direkt till avfallskvarnen.

Vi lägger ut – när vi mitt under mediala omstruktureringar och perspektivförskjutningar ser hur prestigefyllda event eller ensidig yttrandefrihetskamp ges allt större plats i det krympande medieutrymmet som idag ges konsten.

Vi lägger ut – när det är svåra tider för de gömda och glömda perspektiven och sambanden i världen.

Vi lägger ut – när det är naivt, romantiskt, farligt, dumdristigt,

utopiskt och patetiskt att tro att det går att göra skillnad.

Varmt Välkommen!

För mer info se:

http://www.shiptogaza.se/
http://shiptogazasweden.wordpress.com/

OBS! Utställningen har inget fastställt slutdatum utan hoppas fortsätta tills lasten nått sin destination runt den 6 juni.

TEGEN 2

öppettider:
torsd-sönd 12-17
Bjurholmsg. 9b

T-bana Skanstull
070-7161923
070-2855777

info@tegen2.se
www.tegen2.se

Om mitt verk:
Ship to Gaza: I have eyes only for you!

"Ship to Gaza: I have eyes only for you!" föddes ur den oro jag känner över Ship to Gaza (Freedom flotilla).

Skeppen som är bemannade med mina vänner kommer att möta den occupanta israeliska flottan som inte ens drar sig för att beskjuta oskyldiga palenstinska fiskebåtar ute i havs som kämpar för sitt levebröd.

Medan de tre religionernas huvudsak, hopp, mål och helighet bildar Gaza de tre profeternas revben, mage och buk. Jag valde att placera skeppen i “en korg av rör, beströk den med jordbeck och tjära” ute på havet. Jag ville att korgen som benämns i Exodus i den andra boken av Talmud vilken skyddar babyn Moses även ska beskydda mina vänner och deras skepp av metall med palenstinska flaggans färger samt deras hopp om Gaza och Gaza folket. På ett paradoxalt sätt, som Moses blev skyddad...

”Men när jag icke längre kunde dölja skeppen, tog jag en korg av rör, beströk den med jordbeck och tjära och lade dem däri och satte den så i vassen vid stranden av havet.”

Original texten var:

”Andra Moseboken 2:3 / Men när hon icke längre kunde dölja honom, tog hon en kista av rör, beströk den med jordbeck och tjära och lade barnet däri och satte den så i vassen vid stranden av Nilfloden.”

Ship to Gaza: I have eyes only for you!, Hakan Akçura, 116,5 x 146 cm., Tryck, tjära och färg olja på metal plåtar, trä, korg och gjutjärna modell båtar, 2010

Image Credits:
1. Statue des Moses von Michelangelo (Detail), Peter Anton von Verschaffelt, after 1737, drawing, 58 x 43 cm, Reiss-Engelhorn-Museen, Mannheim
2. Descent from the Cross (Detail),Jacopo Pontormo, oil on canvas, 1526-1528, 313 × 192 cm., Santa Felicita, Florence
3. 16th-century version of a 14th-century original miniature showing Fatima (foreground), on her way to a Jewish wedding party, receiving a parcel of the green cloak brought by the Angel Gabriel from Paradise, in the presence of Mohammed (on the right), his young wife Aisha (next to him), and family members (Detail), Chester Beatty Library, Dublin
4. Gaza Strip and the Mediterranean Sea from the Shuttle KidSat Camera, NASA/JPL, Image Addition Date: 1997.01.22

Jag är tacksam mot Leyla Ferngren, Adlı Toktamış, Dror Feiler, Murat Seçkin, Johan Ferngren, Tansu Açık och Öniz Ercan. 

Belalı sularda: Ship to Gaza, sizi gözüm gibi sakınırım.

İsveç Ship to Gaza'nın gemisi Sofia, Yunanistan'dan yola çıkacak.Bir gemi İrlanda'dan geçen hafta yola çıktı. Bu hafta sonunda diğerleri de Yunanistan ve Türkiye'den yola çıkacak. İkisi büyük kuru yük gemisi, biri feribot, diğerleri küçük gemiler... Adları artık Freedom Flotilla (Özgürlük Filosu). Bağışlarla bu gemileri satın alan, içlerini çimento başta olmak üzere çeşitli inşaat malzemeleri, gıda, ilaç, okul ve sağlık malzemeleriyle dolduran İsveç'te ve Yunanistan'daki örgütlenmelerin adı aynı: Ship to Gaza. Türkiye'dekinin adı İHH İnsani Yardım Vakfı, İrlanda'daki ise Free Gaza Movement.

Ben iki yıldır ilmek ilmek örülen bu yolculuğun en erken, öncü örgütü olan Ship to Gaza'nın sürecini çok yakından izleyenlerdenim. Bugün geldiği yerde Ship to Gaza'ya destek veren örgütlenmelerin, kurumların çeşitliliğine baktığımızda Türkiye'deki her siyasal çizgide ve örgütlenmede yeralan milyonlarca Filistin ve Gazze dostunun ve onları bu sürece katabilecekken katmayanların üzülmesi ve bolca düşünmesi için çok fazla neden var: Hemen tüm insani yardım ve kültür, tiyatro kuruluşları, İsveç Barış ve Adalet için Müslümanlar Derneği, İsveç'in Genç Müslümanları Derneği, İsrail -Filistin Barışı için Yahudiler Derneği, Komünist Parti, Sol Parti, Yeşil Parti, Hıristiyan dostluk dernekleri, Olof Palme Uluslararası Merkezi, tüm Filistin örgütleri, sendikalar ve öğrenci örgütlenmeleri.

Gazze'ye insani yardım malzemeleri ile dolu gemilerle yola çıkmanın ve insanlık dışı, acımasız İsrail ambargosunu delmenin bir düş olduğu günlerden bugüne onlarca tanıtım toplantısı ve kampanya yapıldı. Bağışın daha yaygın ve çok toplanması için yöntemler geliştirildi. Uluslarararası ilişkiler kuruldu. Ortak çabalar birleştirildi. Bugüne gelindi. 5000 ton yükle yola çıktılar, çıkıyorlar.

İsrail, gemiler Gazze kıyılarına 40 mil yaklaştığında ateş açacağını açıkladı geçen hafta. Birkaç gündür, gemilerin yola çıkacağı ülkelerin büyükelçilerini çağırarak onları bu yolculuğu engellemeleri gerektiği konusunda uyarıyor. Ama Freedom Flotilla'nın kararlı yolcuları bu tehdit ve gözdağını umursayacak türden insanlar değil.

Dror Feiler, "Sazak'ın Dikenleri"ne müziğiyle katılan dostum, Ship to Gaza İsveç örgütlenmesinin başında ve sözcüsü. Aynı zamanda vrupa ve İsveç İsrail -Filistin Barışı için Yahudiler Dernekleri'nin Başkanı da olan Feiler, geçen gün Anadolu Ajansı'na verdiği demeçte süreci, durduğu noktayı, duygularını çok yalın ve net aktarıyordu:

"Tek korkum annemi bir daha görememek"

"Gazze'ye Özgürlük Filosu" için İsveç'te yardım kampanyası düzenleyen İsrail doğumlu Yahudi sanatçı Dror Feiler, "Gazze'de yaşanan dramı bildiğimiz halde tepki vermeyerek insanlık onurumuzu kaybediyoruz. Gazze'deki insanlara yardım ederken kendi insanlık onurumuzu da kurtaracağız" dedi. Feiler, İsrail yönetiminin Gazze halkını "yaşa dışı ve toplu cezalandırma" yönteminin ve buna destek olan ya da ses çıkarmayan ülkelerin uluslararası hukuku ihlal ettiğini söyledi.
Dror Feiler, "İş konuşmaya gelince AB çok başarılı. Bazı Avrupalı bakanlar Gazze'deki dramı yerinde görüyor ve insanlığa karşı işlediği suçlar nedeniyle İsrail'i kınıyorlar. Döndüklerinde hiçbir şey yapmıyorlar. Doğruyu konuşuyorlar, ama icraatları sorunlu. İnsanlığa karşı suç işleyen İsrail'i Ekonomik İşbirliği ve Kalkınma Örgütü (OECD) üyesi yaparak ödüllendiriyorlar. Hükümetler bir şey yapmıyorsa bizim elimizden geleni yapmamız lazım" diye konuştu. Yaşadığı ülke İsveç'te halkın çoğunluğunun İsrail'in saldırgan politikalarına karşı olduğunu, fakat hükümetin buna uygun politikalar izlemediğini kaydeden Feiler, yeni kampanyalarla İsveç hükümeti üzerindeki baskıyı artıracaklarını ifade etti.

Avrupa'daki Yahudilerin büyük çoğunluğunu "İsrail'in apartheid (ayrımcı) politikalarını gözü kapalı desteklemek" ile suçlayan Feiler, "Bence bu büyük bir hata. Avrupa'daki Yahudiler kendilerini ırkçı ve zalim bir rejimle aynı safta görünmemeli. Böyle bir rejimin uzun vadeli olması mümkün değil" şeklinde konuştu.Feiler, "Yahudiler geçmişte ayrımcılığa uğradı, yalnız kaldılar, terk edildiler. Şimdi bizim çıkıp 'İsrail Yahudileri temsil etmiyor' diyebilmemiz çok önemli. İsrail maalesef orada yaşayanları temsil ediyor. Avrupalı Yahudiler İsrail'i desteklemek zorunda değil. Biz İsrail hükümeti için oy kullanmadık. İsrail bizim adımıza konuşmasın" dedi.

Gazze'ye insani yardım götürecek filoda kendisinin de olacağını belirten Feiler, "Bence İsrail bizim gemilere saldıracak, bizi durdurmaya çalışacak. Korkum benim İsrail'e girişimi yasaklamaları. Çünkü annem İsrail'de yaşıyor. Eğer gemilerimize baskın düzenleyip beni yakalarlarsa pasaportuma 'İsrail'e giremez' mührü vuracaklardır. Annemi bir daha görememe ihtimali beni korkutsa da bu yolculuktan vazgeçemem. İnsan hakları için mücadeleden vazgeçersek bazılarının diğerlerinden üstün olduğunu kabul etmiş oluruz ve kaybederiz" diye konuştu. Feiler, annesinin de bu mücadelede kendisine destek verdiğini belirterek, "bazı fanatiklerin çılgınlıklar yaparak" İsrail'de yaşayan yakınlarına zarar vermesinden endişe duyduğunu ifade etti.

Sofia'nın eski bir fotografı, aynı zamanda serginin de görseli

"Belalı Sularda..."

Dror Feiler, karısı sanatçı Gunilla Sköld-Feiler'le birlikte benim son 4 yılda, bir solo sergi açıp, üç karma sergisine de katıldığım Tegen 2 isimli galeriyi yönetiyorlar.

Tegen 2, Ship to Gaza'yı, Freedom Flotilla'yı, yolculuğu, Gazze halkını bir yeni karma sergiyle desteklemeye karar verdi. Adı "Over Troubled Water...", yani "Belalı Sularda..."

Sergi bu cuma, yani İsveç ve Yunanistan Ship to Gaza gemilerinin yola çıkacağı gün açılacak. Serginin ne zaman biteceği yolculuğun gelişimine ve sonucuna bağlı. Sergi mekanında, aynı zamanda sergi sanatçılarından da olan Dror Feiler'in yolalacağı gemi Sofia ile doğrudan bağlantı var. Bir tür günlük tutulacak. (İHH İnsani Yardım Vakfı'nın gemileri ise 22 Mayıs'ta demir alacakmış. Sirkeci'den ve saat 11'de. Umarım yolcu edeni çok olur. Hiçbir şey için erken değil!)

Bu sergiye ben de katılacağım. Bir kısmı İsveç'in ve Bosna Hersek Cumhuriyeti'nin çok tanınmış sanatçıları olan diğer katılımcılar şunlar: Malou Bergman, Nils Claesson, Dror Feiler & Gunilla Sköld Feiler, Kent Klich, Damir Niksic, Linn Reinius, Fia-Stina Sandlund, Martin Wickström , Maria Heimer Åkerlund.

"Ship to Gaza: I have eyes only for you"

Sergide yeralacak işimin adı ise, "Ship to Gaza: I have eyes only for you." "Gözüm gibi sakınmanın" olabildiğince yakın çevirisi..."Ship to Gaza: Sizi gözüm gibi sakınırım", Gazzeli balıkçıların ekmek derdi için denize açılan küçük teknelerine bile ateş açmaktan geri durmayan işgalci İsrail Donanması ile karşı karşıya gelecek Ship to Gaza (Özgürlük Filosu) gemilerine, o gemilerde yeralacak dostlarıma ilişkin kaygılarımdan varlık buldu. Üç büyük dinin derdi, umudu, hedefi, kutsalı Gazze’yi, üç peygamberin kaburga kemikleri, karnı, bedeni kılarken, gemileri de “katran ve ziftle bulanmış hasır bir sepetin” içine yerleştirerek “denize” bırakmayı seçtim.

Tevrat’ın ikinci kitabı Exodus’ta yeralan öyküde bebek Musa’yı koruyan “hasır sepet” benim dostlarımı, onların Filistin bayrağının renkleriyle boyadığım demir gemilerini, Gazze’ye, Gazze halkına yönelik umut ve çabalarını korusun istedim. Paradoksal bir biçimde Musa’yı da koruduğu biçimde… Exodus’un cümlesini değiştirdiğim yerden bu kaygımın metnini de ekledim işime, ibranice: “Daha fazla gizleyemeyeceğimi anlayınca, hasır bir sepet alıp katran ve ziftle sıvadım. İçine gemileri yerleştirip denizin kıyısına bıraktım.”

Aslı şuydu: ”Exodus, 2:3 Daha fazla gizleyemeyeceğini anlayınca, hasır bir sepet alıp katran ve ziftle sıvadı. İçine çocuğu yerleştirip Nil kıyısındaki sazlığa bıraktı.”

Metal ve tahta üzerine baskı, boya, zift, model dökme demir gemiler ve sepetle oluşan işimin boyutları 116.5 x 146 cm. Üretiminde teşekkür borçlu olduklarım, Adlı Toktamış, Dror Feiler, Murat Seçkin, Johan Ferngren, Tansu Açık ve Öniz Ercan. Teşekkür ederim.

"Ship to Gaza: Sizi gözüm gibi sakınırım.", Hakan Akçura, 2010

Kullandığım görseller:
1. (Detay) Michelangelo'nun Musa heykeli, Peter Anton von Verschaffelt, 1737'den sonra, çizim, 58 x 43 cm, Reiss-Engelhorn-Muzesi, Mannheim
2. (Detay) Descent from the Cross, Jacopo Pontormo, tuval üzerine yağlı boya, 1526-1528, 313 × 192 cm., Santa Felicita, Floransa
3. (Detay) Bir Musevi düğününde Muhammed'i, genç karısı Ayşe'yi, Fatma'yı ve aile üyelerini gösteren 14 yüzyıl özgün minyatürünün 16. yüzyıl versiyonundan, Chester Beatty Kütüphanesi, Dublin
4. Shuttle KidSat kamerasından Gaza Sahil Şeridi ve Akdeniz, NASA/ JPL'den, fotografın eklenme tarihi 22.01.1997.

OVER TROUBLED WATER

Hakan Akçura, Malou Bergman, Nils Claesson, Dror Feiler & Gunilla Sköld Feiler, Kent Klich, Damir Niksic, Linn Reinius, Fia-Stina Sandlund, Martin Wickström , Maria Heimer Åkerlund

21/5-10 till ?/6-10 (Serginin ne kadar süreceği, yolculuğun ne zaman ve nasıl sona ereceğine bağlı.)

Açılış: 21 maj kl 17 – 20

TEGEN 2
Bjurholmsgatan 9B, Stockholm

"Mr. President let me challenge you to face his 1-2" on ACT ART 8 - CENSORED

ACT ART 8 - CENSORED

100 ARTISTS, 1 VENUE. 1 NIGHT.

9 Areas. 10 Live Spaces. Seated Cinema. Cafe. Smoking Garden.
Performance. Live Art. Music PA`s. Film. Video. Installation. Photography. Painting. Other Media. DJ`s. Performances all night from 8pm.
"ACT ART 8 - CENSORED" on Friday 9th July 2010.
The Islington Metal Works, Angel, Islington, London
Tickets for this event will be available shortly.

About my work in this event:

"Mr. President let me challenge you to face his 1-2"
(A suggestion of nightmare for G. W. Bush)
A neo-fluxus art interference
9.1.2007 – 15.1.2007
Transformed and re-edited anonymous mobil phone records of Saddam Hussein's execution

"Akçura is an artist who doesn't keep his views to himself. The execution of ousted Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's affected him deeply and he aroused a bit of international interest when he changed the face of the overthrown Iraqi leader lying in the morgue with that of U.S. President George W. Bush. He posted the video on Youtube. Two experimental videos titled “Mr. President let me challenge you to face his,” which show Bush in a provocative way during the execution process of Saddam made it to the most watched videos section of the “Arts and Animations” category rapidly in January. But not for long. The videos were taken off the Web site with claims that the video embraced violence. Akçura said: “It was said that my video included violence. It was virtual, yet the real execution images were displayed to billions of people on TVs everyday hundreds of times.” The artist says that he sent the video to the White House as part of his virtual campaign for justice.

After Youtube blocked his work, the artist posted the video on Google Video. He mentions that they also blocked it after a short period and his reaction is “My search for justice got stuck in virtual censor.”

Turkish Daily News
VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU
ISTANBUL
Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Mr. President let me challenge you to face his 1-2 from hakan akcura on Vimeo.

ACT ART 8 - CENSORED

ARTISTS (confirmed so far include):

AINE PHILLIPS & MANUEL VASON
ALESSANDRO VITALI
ALEX FEAR
ALLAN STANLEY TAYLOR
ANDREA CONTIN
ANGEL ROSE
ANITA PONTON
ANNO BERGMANN
ART BITES
ASHLEY RYDER
BEN CHARLES EDWARDS
BEN HOPPER
BERIVAN SAYICI & PAUL FLORIAN
BERNADETTE LOUISE
CATHERINE MAFFIOLETTI
CHRISALYS
CHRISTIAN SIMMONS
CHRISTINA MILLARE
DÆDALUS
FERAL
FERNANDO MERINERO
FRANCESCO BENENATO
GETINTHEBACKOFTHEVAN
HAKAN AKÇURA
HOLESTAR
HOLLY REVELL
ILKA LEUKEFELD
INBRED HYBRID COLLECTIVE
JAMES FRENCH
JAMES LEON
JASON ATOMIC
JONNY WOO
JOSEPH MERCIER
JULIA UBERREITER
JUSTIN ALLEN & RACHEL PARRY
KAT HANULA
KATE PELLING
KEVIN BRIAN HOWBROOK
KIMBAL BUMSTEAD
KRIS WLODARSKI
LADYWINTERBUM
LARS SILTBERG
LES CHILD
LINK LEISURE
MACIEJ TOPOROWICZ
MAGDALENA SURANYI
MARIANNA & DANIEL O’REILLY
MARTIN THE ROBOT
MAXIME ANGEL
MOUSE & TOM THE BEAR
MR PUSTRA/DAEMIANE
NADIA DE CARLO
NATASHA CARUANA
NATHAN EVANS
NICOLA CANAVAN
NICOLA RUBEN MONTINI
OLIVER FROST & MARC MASSIVE
PANICLAB
PAULA DAVY
PETE MAY
RICHARD DEDOMENICI
S.ASTRID BIN
SASHA SELAVIE
SONOFABITCH
SUSAN MORTIMER
THE READERS
THOMAS FISHENDEN
THOMAS JOHN BACON
TOM WALKER
TRADEMARK
VES PITTS & JOE JEFFREYS

MAIN STAGE hosted by SCOTTEE

FILM SCREENINGS INCLUDE:

`UNCLE DAVID` starring David Hoyle & Ashley Ryder. Introduced on the night by Ashley Ryder.
`THE TOWN THAT BOARS ME` starring Jodie Harsh, Kelly Osbourne & Sophie Ellis Bexter

DJ`S:

PRINCESS JULIA & SCOTTEE

This event addresses CENSORSHIP.

Is CENSORSHIP really appropriate?

Do individuals have the right to say whatever they wish even if this offends someone else?

Does CENSORSHIP have the effect of making art more appealing, more glamorous, and more exciting?

Is it controlling and arrogant to suggest the public needs protecting?

Is CENSORSHIP about what’s morally wrong or obscene, or is it subjective?

CENSORSHIP surrounds us, be it freedom of speech, censorship of art and culture, freedom of expression or removal of media that’s deemed to be harmful, insensitive, objectionable, embarrassing or inconvenient to those in power. Thankfully it’s extremely hard (if not impossible) for those in authority to control our personal choices and forms of expression because in order for us to be controlled we must all think the same way, which of course is never really going to happen.

Curated and produced by Oliver Frost and Marc Massive and now in its 8th year, ACT ART is an underground event that takes place twice year, merging art, fashion, pop and club culture. ACT ART programmes experimental, radical, challenging, non-mainstream work that’s sometimes difficult to watch, or be confronted with, by emerging and established artists working in all media. ACT ART offers a space for those who are willing to take risks, have something to say (be it political, confrontational, beautiful, or ugly and where censorship is not an issue, and aims to bring different people together, brake down social groups, steer away from the cliquey art world and its politics, and make art more accessible and fun whilst still remaining thought provoking.

"Catharsis" on Art Beijing

ARTIST CINEMA
4.29 - 5.2 2010 VIP PREVIEW : April 29(6pm - 10pm) China Agricultural Exhibition Center

“Artists Cinema” is becoming a more and more popular concept nowadays with the prospering video art. “Artists Cinema” is the first photo-video art fair in Asia.

Co-organizer：

ET-AC Yi Xiang ET-AC
Centre for Visual Studies Peking University
2010 Chinese Screenage Art Exhibition
Chinese Screenage Art Forum
Art For All Society
C-Space
Arario Beijing

Dave Swensen, Nicole Rademacher, Khairy Hirzalla, Hakan Akçura, Larry Caveney, Kim Miller, Vienne Chan, Basmati, Irina Gabiani, Xenia Vargova, Ng Fong Chao, Noah, Chan Ka Keong, Chu Chun-Teng, Gaia Bartolini, Daniel Chavez, Michael Douglas Hawk, Richard Jochum, Alison Williams, Debbie Douez, Manfred Marburger, Gili, Avissar, José Drummond, Masha Yozefpolsky, Bianca Lei, Li Xiaosong, Nicolas Provost, Amina Bech, Bill Millett, Anders Weberg, Glenn Church, Christy Walsh, Alberto Guerreiro, Alicia Felberbaum, Sue Pam-grant, Danny Germansen, Li Mu, (Alice Kok), Adamo Macri, Ebert Brothers, Verena Stenke / Andrea Pagnes, Robertina Sebjanic, Niclas Hallberg, Michael Chang, Paolo Bonfiglio, João Ricardo, (Cindy Ng), Peng Yun, Miao Xiaochun, Zhang Xiaotao, Bai Chongmin, Ma Yongfeng, Wu Weihe, Pu HUa, Wu Junyong, Chen Xuegang, Ye Dan, Sun Lei, Lei Lei, Liu Qianyi, Sui Jianguo. Liu Xuguang, Zhang Meng , Gao Fuyan, ShengJie, Huang Yang, Wu Qiuyan, 一Chen Zhuo+ Huang Keyi, Tan Qi, Ding Xin, Shang Liang , Feng Jiangzhou, Zhuo Fan, Lin Jingjing, Wang Dongsheng, Zhang Haitao, Li Ning, Tian Miaozi, Yu Fei , Zhang Minjie, Li Ming, Chen Zhou, Liu Shiyuan, Zhang Mengqi, Huang Linfei, Sun Nan, Ye Yuanyuan, Xia Peng, Zhang Yi, Yu Siming, Huang Rongzheng, Li Long, Chen Wei, Chen Xi, Ren Lun, Wen Qiang




Catharsis (Recording one)
May 2008

Gamla Stan is the center area of Stockholm. Oldest and more touristic zone of the city.
Other side of the Gamla Stan subway station is seeing inland sea, have a nice panorama but trashy...
When I recorded some scenes at this area a few young men which were high came up to me and wanted to do "rap" in front of my camera. I said: "Okay!" and recorded them. I was only a recorder and a witness.

All big cities in Europe need this kind of purifications. Immigrants could help. I’m sure.

This video is first of the works among my new video-creation line "Recording". I have made serial videos with my identity of only being recorder and maker in this line.




About Art Beijing

After the success of the first Art Beijing Contemporary Art Fair in 2006, Art Beijing’s community of collectors, curators, critics and gallery owners asked for a similar exhibition that would focus on classical and modern fine art. Art Beijing, therefore, launched its first Art Beijing Fine Art Fair in 2009, garnering tremendous response from various corners of the art industry and helping revitalize a temporarily depressed art market at the same time. In shifting the focus to these classical and modern fine art works, Art Beijing engaged a wider public and brought new confidence to the collecting community.

The launch of Fine Art Beijing in 2009 marked the beginning of Art Beijing’s third major art fair series, preceded by Photo Beijing in 2008 and the Art Beijing Contemporary Art Fair in 2006. The Art Beijing Executive Committee’s step-by-step approach, commitment to art education and confidence in the growth of the art market in China impressed collectors, audiences and participants at every stage of its development. Art Beijing will continue to hold its successful Contemporary Art Fair and Photo Beijing each spring, followed by Fine Art Beijing in the autumn.

In 2009, Art Beijing also co-hosted a number of peripheral activities and exhibitions, such as the “Thread of Time” exhibition by Fang Lijun in Guangzhou Museum of Art. Other Art Beijing activities included its strategic cooperation with Art Changsha, the co-hosting of the Huabin Global Collection Forum and the opening ceremony for the Yintai Salon. At the same time, Art Beijing continues to promote dialogue between artistic and commercial communities, building strong partnerships with top international brands such as Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, Hermès, and Samsung. Through its commitment to the greater art community in China, Art Beijing’s influence continues to grow.

In 2010, Art Beijing enters its fifth year and has already begun preparations for its Art Beijing 2010 Contemporary Art Fair. Strong early registration for the exhibition and positive word of mouth indicates that the art market has turned a corner after last year’s financial crisis. While Art Beijing 2010 again promotes the idea of an integrated Asia and cultivates dialogue in the Asia’s art industry, the exhibition also looks beyond Asia and engages galleries and collectors throughout the world. Art Beijing 2010 has established long-term partnerships with organizations as far away as the Puerto Rican Contemporary Art Fair and continues to work with galleries, collectors and brands across the globe. Partnership and dialogue with the larger international art community is integral to both the development of art in China and to the growth of Art Beijing.

The Art Beijing 2010 Contemporary Art Fair will again be held alongside Photo Beijing, continuing its “Greenhouse Plan” and offering a 50 percent reduction in booth fees for galleries that also participate in Photo Beijing. Art Beijing 2010 gives special support to the development of art photography, its collecting community and its rapidly developing market in Asia.

Art Beijing 2010 exhibits at the National Agricultural Exhibition Center in Beijing April 29 to May 2. With its full commitment to supporting growth in Asia’s art and collecting industries, Art Beijing sincerely invites galleries, collectors, artists, brands and businesses to participate and support. Working together, we can further the development of Asia’s art industry and take Art Beijing to new heights.

Athens News: The weeding out of history

The weeding out of history

Damian Mac Con Uladh

AN ABANDONED Greek village near presentday Izmir (formerly Symrna) in Turkey is the unusual setting for a video art performance by a Turkish artist who wants to contribute to Greek-Turkish understanding and reconciliation.

Thistles of Sazak, which runs a little more than 40 minutes, shows Turkish artist Hakan Akçura clearing away the thistles from the ruins of the village of Sazaki (as the Greeks call it).
It was inhabited mostly by Greeks until the cataclysmic events of 1922. In that year, following the collapse of the Greek army, the area’s Greeks were driven into the sea, killed or deported, and their villages plundered and destroyed.

This occurred even though they “had the same rights to those lands as those who remained”, the artist says.

Symbolic image

“For me, trying to clear the covering of thistles at Sazak is a symbolic cleansing meant to open the way for rescuing the village from the lonely, derelict, unprotected state in which it has been left together with its painful past,” said the artist from his home in Stockholm, adding that he sees his performance, carried out last summer, as a contribution to Greek-Turkish friendship.

Akçura, who released his video online on March 31, says his action was inspired by the visit last year of 50 Greeks to their ancestral homeland on the Karaburun peninsula, on which Sazaki is located.

Where once the Sazaki villagers cultivated vineyards, producing wine and molasses, thistles now grow among the ruined shells of the village, which Akçura says was also abandoned by its smaller Turkish community of about a dozen families.

“There is a belief among Muslims that a cursed place cannot be settled out of fear that it will bring bad luck in the future,” says Akçura, referring to an old saying: “Where blood has flowed, no new blood can grow.”

Painful past

Akçura sees the modern form of video art as the ideal medium to help Greeks and Turks confront and engage with their difficult history, which casts a dark cloud over both countries.
He says that the expulsions of populations of the 1920s left “a lot of people with hidden or fake identities” on both sides of the Aegean.

“Most of them carried their secrets and hopes to the grave. We owe them another future,” he said.
His intention of pushing Greeks and Turks to deal with their past stems from his reading of Dido Sotiriou’s Farewell to Anatolia in 1977. Since then, he has participated in a number of artistic events in Greece.

A self-described “open flux artist”, Akçura believes in taking an “adverse and radical” approach in order to witness the “essence of time”. Video, he adds, allows for the sharing and wide circulation of artistic creation.

* Thistles of Sazak is available for viewing on Akcura’s blog, located at open-flux.blogspot.com. Information on the Karaburun Peninsula Greek-Turkish Friendship Days is available at www.karaburunheritage.com

ATHENS NEWS 12/04/2010



The full text of interview:

Damian Mac Con Uladh: You describe yourself as an “open flux artist”. How do you define that?

Hakan Akçura: "I am an open flux artist. The following attributes that are the target of my creations are the things, I believe, all the contemporary artists who can't refrain from creating with concern and responsibility should have: To witness 'the essence of time' (zeitgeist) once again, that is to be more adverse and radical on this earth that is going down the drains; to heed the sharing and wide circulation of their creations instead of their ownership problems. To be independent. Along with being an artist who shows the way, opens the minds and redefines new problems, being an artist who also can be open to all kinds of interaction and communication, and being a playmaker when necessary. To try to create and furthermore try to protect the existence of courage, originality and composition without falling into the swamp of elitism and populism."
(Hakan Akçura, "Theory of Open Flux", NY Arts Magazine, September, 2008)

What is the symbolism behind your action of clearing away the thistles?

I have given the answer to this question in my video:

"For me, trying to clear the covering of thistles at Sazak is a symbolic cleansing meant to open the way for rescuing the village from the lonely, derelict, unprotected state in which it has been left together with its painful past for 87 years. Also to transform it to one of the symbols of Greek-Turkish friendship, which I believe will develop even more for each day."

I have a summer house since 27 years in Karaburun. I have seen the ruins of Sazak several times before but I could go there first last year, before my performance. I have taken a lot of photographs whereever the thistles allowed me. When I tried to find simple, pure line/form for my performance, I thought again about this thistles and decided to clean them for the visitors from Patras.

Why didn’t more people – Greeks and Turks – come to the thistle-clearing event?

Yes, I thougt about it after the performance and it was a problem for me. I criticized their unsharing being in my blogg side. But now, I can understand them. Whereas they were not volunteers or activists, they were simple villagers from the both sides of the Aegean Sea. They were already nervous and this meeting was the first contact for them. They didnt't want to confront one another or the past. They want to meet each other, maybe to find similarity and only to breath their grand fathers/mothers ambience . But on my side, I had intention to enforce Turkish and Greece goverments for this kind of confrontations about this forced migration time (1922) and long population exchange period (1923-1930) with my performance and video.

I believe in that when I read Dido Sotiriu's extraordinary novel "Matomena Homata" as a young communist in 1977, I believe in that when I was crying in my first contact with Kayaköy (Λεβισσι, Levissi) as a young artist in 1993, I believe that again when I went to Samotrache (Semadirek) for 2nd Interbalkanic Visual Arts Symposium in 1999 and watched over the "situated" peoples hatred to island, they are originally mountaineers and forced to live there instead of the turk inhabitants.

I hope "Thistles of Sazak" starts this late discussion and confrontation between two peoples from both sides before the goverments.

What was the effect of the “exchange of populations” for the region? Was the painful past shared by both communities: those expelled and those left behind?

Sazak(i)s story was forced migration story before the “exchange of populations” period. Definitly all this stories inferences goes on and does not stop ever for me. When I talked to very old turkish villagers in the surrounding villages about my performance, I didn't expect to hear their own very lively, clear memories of very bloody and sad stories. Non-confontation is always the reason for not forgetting.

I'm sure, a lot of people lived through with the help of their neighbors and lived with own hidden/fake identities on both sides of the Aegean Sea, last 88 years. Maybe most of them died with this secret and hope. We owe them an other future.

I also want to add this: I even believe that the way to make Sazak and others a symbol of developing friendship of two peoples, goes through a sincere blending with them, to be participant and confront every wall and every trace together with them rather than just learning, celebrating and watching them.

Why did Sazak remain empty when lots of other abandoned villages were repopulated with Muslim refugees from Greece?

Because Sazak was subject for early forced migration story. Sazak didn't even come into the picture on the “exchange of populations” table. Sazak lost own 12-15 turkish families too who lived with their greek neighbors. Although Kayaköy was at that table yet it remained empty : because according to a belief among muslims a cursed place cannot be settled though it brings unluck for future generations: "Where blood has flown no new blood can grow". I hope same belief is common in Greece too; I like that.

Are you in contact with Greek descendants of Karaburun people?

My performance happened in the same time with 2nd Karaburun Peninsula Greek-Turkish Friendship Days. This event organized by Karaburun Daily Life Science and Culture Association. They have a web side: http://www.karaburunheritage.com/

I am in contact with Andreas Baltas from this organization. One of the grandchildren of Sazaks old people. He is writing a book about Sazaks and surrounding villages greek people. He gave to me his books photographs before the publishing for to use in my video and my exhibition at 2010 Ankara International Film Festival. He is working on his research and will be at Karaburun tomorrow again. He said: "It will be ready in one month."

The video was on show at the Goethe-Institut in Ankara, from 11-21 (extended to 28) March. What were the reactions of viewers to it?

I participated one of the very important video exhibition in 2010 Ankara International Film Festival with my video. "The video: Spaces of Memory" was a video screening and a video display on the features of a 24-piece memory, appeared for the first time before the audience in Turkey. It had been prepared under the direction of the curators of Ege Berensel and Andreas Treske. "Video: Spaces of Memory" collected the works of four artists in the following four memories. Eyes of Memory: Harun Farocki, Collective Memory: Antoni Muntadas, Memory of Water: Genco Gülan and Places of Memory: Hakan Akçura. Harun Farocki, Genco Gülan and I shared our memories, in the workshops to be realized within the framework of FestiLAB.

It was very powerful exhibition. Thousands of visitors came and Festival Organization extended the event time with one week. I shared my creativity and "memory" in the 4 hours long workshop with 90 participants and attended the 2 hours long interview at Turkish Radio Televisions Europa FM Channel. Several articles are published about the exhibition and my video. Now, Karaburun Municipality wants to show my video and some of the other videos under the similar subject in special screening program at the Karaburun Festival, August 2010.

I will be very happy with all possibilities for screening of my video in Greece too.

How can such a modern medium as video help in remembering the historical past?

Our exhibitions main text contains my answer to this question too:

"Video is an art of an ability of returning the images to their givers. (Ulus Baker)

Can a link be established between the video and the art of remembering, “ars memorativa” which was pervasive in the Ancient world and during the Middle Ages then left to the oblivion as the development of press by the 18th century? It was necessary to form “an artificial memory” as the paper was a rare and expensive product in the Middle Ages (I want to remind that Spinoza had only 180 books when he died). Ars memorativa, in other words, mnemotekhne was a mandatory cultural facility in order to improve the capacity of natural memory.

The supremacy of the oral culture was penetrating through the petit techniques of the narrators. Imagine that you are illiterate or you do not have a paper and a pen during an important proceeding. The only way is to organize or reorganize your thoughts and memories in an effective way. In this respect, the performers of Ars memorativa developed a discipline in the Middle Ages which they called as “Methods of Places and Images”.

This method – roughly and succinctly – was based on this: you were constructing a building in your mind – for instance a house and you were dispersing the images that you would like to remember later on in each room of this house. By this means, even the dispersion order of the images was ensuring the associating the images. Remembering was a virtual visit to this imaginary house. Let’s call to mind an evocation of Cicero “Anomalistic locations must be defined in an idea; you have to set up the images of the things that you want to hold; than locate these images to several places. Thereat, the order of locations will follow up the order of the things, they crystallize. ‘Cos their images will directly remind the associated objects…”

We are not able to find an answer to the question that to what extent such a method can be successful in our times in which the things to be remembered surpass extremely the cognitive skills of an average person. However, it is self-evident that people in the Ancient times and the Middle Ages had problems in remembering and were obliged to lead an intellectual life in which “taking notes” were almost impossible.

Does video address less to a modern – postmodern person compare to former people? Could its feature of being a high-tech product alienate it from the world of “memory techniques”? Or could it be reinstated in order to respond to a formula of “remembering the remembrance and re-remembering”?

It is argued that video is Memory Box (Chris Marker), a Memory-Space (Muntadas, Farocki) or that video is related to a remembering gaze even it imitates the functioning of memory. Marker would say that if remembering is providing a psychic domicile to a wound free from the object, this means remembering the memories of other people is getting injured by their wounds.

Ege Berensel"