4. International Sinop Biennial, 2012
Conceptual Framework: Işın Önol
Curators:
1. Main Exhibition: ”Wisdom of Shadow: Art in the Era of Corrupted Information”
Historical Sinop Penitentiary, Sinop City Library
Curators: Aslı Çetinkaya, Elke Falat, Işın Önol, Dimitrina Sevova, Janet Kaplan, Beral Madra, Sean Kelly
2. “Deep in Soviet Georgia, They’re Singing the Songs of Friendship”
Sinop City Library
Curator: Ana Riaboshenko
3. Sinopale Academy Workshops Results
Venues in the City Centre
Curators: Mürteza Fidan, Andrea Zaumseil
4.”Now Wakes the Sea”
Curator: Jacqueline Heerema, Ronald Boer (landscape architect), Eliane Esther Bots (artist/filmmaker)
5. ”Caronte 1 – L’ile Flottante ”
Sea, venues in the City Center
Curators: Francesco Ragazzi and Francesco Urbano
Artists: Francis Alÿs, Alpin Arda Bağcık, Francesco Bertele & Eddie Spanier, Brigitta Bodenauer, Amélie Brisson-Darveau, Evelina Domnitch & Dmitry Gelfand, Quynh Dong, Monika Drożyńska, Karen Geyer, Shilpa Gupta, Andreas (muk) Haider, Berglind Hlynsdottir, Ashley Hunt, İnsel İnal, Volkan Kaplan & A. Erdem Şentürk, Petra Elena Köhle & Nicolas Vermot Petit-Outhenin, Cat Tuong Nguyen, Bernd Oppl, Sümer Sayın, Liddy Scheffknecht, Özlem Sulak, Riikka Tauriainen, Hande Varsat, Stefanie Wuschitz, Now Wakes the Sea: Bahanur Nasya, Maurice Bogaert, Yılmaz Vurucu.
Venues: Historical Sinop Prison, Sinop City Library
Team: T. Melih Görgün, Beral Madra, Mahir Namur, Elif Kuli, Nilüfer Sülüner, Esin Ünlüat Kurdoğlu, Esra Güvenen, Suzan Atasever, Funda Gürel, Çağatay Şimşek, Ceyda Kalyoncu, Emel Karadeniz, Günizi Tarar, Annica Bauer, GUARDIANS OF SİNOPALE: Bedirhan Ayhan, Çağrı Baş, Nazlıhan Felek, Direnç Erşahin, Cem Gülenç, Ayşegül Kafkas, Gülbahar Karaduman, Hasene Kayıkçıoğlu, Yıldıray Küçük, Hale Oğuz, Kerem Onur, Tuğba Özcan, Murat Özgen, Seyit Şen,, Semra Yalçın, Emre Yalçın, Aykut Yılmazer, SİNOPALE OFFICE TEAM: Feride Akgün, Ece Denizci, Gülşah Edis, Güngör Erdem, Levşa Erdem, Ozan Ermiş, Bilge Güneş, İpek Hamzaoğlu, Mert Karaçıkay, Gizem Kaya, Nilay Berfu Kaya, Cem Saraç, Burak Can Şen, Çağatay Şimşek, Pınar Saatçi, Yusuf Emre Yalçın VOLUNTEERS: Zerrin Altuntepe, Kübra Armağan, Pınar Büyükbaş, Burcu Çankaya, Burcu Çetinkaya, İzzet Çetinkaya, Görkem Çökmez, Canberk Ertem, Özge Şimşek, Damla Ekiz, Nazlıhan Felek, Altay Gülen, Gülşen Gülşah Gülen, Beyza Kahveci, Burak Kara, Sena Karakaş, İlker Kaya, Ayfer Keserci, Aysun Keserci, Güneş Köksal, Beyza Kurt, Işıl Oktay, Çağla Meriç Özdemir, Derya Öznur Özdemir, Nihat Özdemir, Ayşenur Saatçi, Kerem Yıldırım, Nazan Teke, Ezgi Topçuoğlu, Hafize Ümit, İlkin Ümit, Erim Ünsal, Ayşin Gaye Üstün, Salim Ceyhun Üstün, Barış Yavuz, Beste Yıldırım, Arda Cem Yılmaz, Elif Yılmazer
Organized by: European Cultural Association
Supporters: Governorship Of Sinop, Municipality Of Sinop, Ministry Of Culture And Tourism Of Turkish Republic, Halkbank, Directorate Of Culture And Tourism of Sinop, Bundesministerium für Unterricht, Kunst und Kultur, Netherlands Consulate General in Istanbul, Goethe Institut-Ankara, Romanian Cultural Institute Dimitrie Cantemir, British Council, Pro Helvetia, Dr. Riza Nur Public Library of Sinop, Austrian Culture Forum, Polish Adam Mickiewicz Institute, De.Mo./Movin’up 2012, USA Embassy Public Affairs, Perfetti Van Melle, Sinop Chamber of Businessman, Burg Giebichenstein Kunsthochschule Halle, BM Contemporary Art, Nuova Icona, Ars Electronica, Kunstfactor, Satellietgroep, Azmi Hamzaoğlu, Otel 117, Antik Otel, Otel Di̇yojen, Haber Atölyesi, Yılmazer Mobilya, STS Estetik Lazer Sistemleri, Chameleon Design And Project Management, Ayancık Postası
Wisdom of Shadow: Art in the Era of Corrupted Information
This exhibition project proposes to invite artists and curators to deal with the notion of spreading information not through light but through shadows and darkness as a response to the existing global politics in relation to the development projects in the city of Sinop. The artists are mainly invited to produce interactive work to receive the direct involvement of the residents of the city. Most of the selected artists will be using open source digital technologies, not only for practical reasons for their art production means but also for the philosophical stand of the open-source platform for sharing information and knowledge as opposed to the dominant knowledge production and distribution systems. The artists are not only invited to involve the public in their interactive work dealing with shadow and hidden connotations, but also to provide a variety of workshops to increase public awareness around the decisions about their city, following the prevailing nature of the Sinopale.
Light is a problematic matter in exhibition making as it inevitably causes the “redundant” shadows with itself. When installing an artwork, the usual tendency for the art producer, curator, or exhibition designer is to avoid shadows as much as possible, and ignore the unavoidable ones, unless they are not intended to be a component of the work. With an unwritten agreement, the viewer also follows this tendency. If they pass in front of a projection, or a light source in an exhibition space, they tend to quickly leave the territory of the light, not to be an obstacle, casting a shadow over the actual image. The use of shadow as a medium intentionally or unintentionally deals with this kind of denial and invites the viewer’s attention to the unwanted and uncanny images. It creates a direct link between the audience and the artwork, creating space for the viewer to become a part of the work to be viewed. It does not only have boundless possibilities for interactivity and playfulness that open up a space for collective memory, joy and expression but also provides an alternative space for spreading information. The project can be perceived as the extension of the conceptual framework of the 3rd Sinopale, titled Hidden Memories, Lost Traces.
Wisdom of Shadows is designed as an homage to one of the cynic philosophers from Ancient Greece, Diogenes of Sinope, who not only did defend the importance of simplicity in life but also did he practice it in his daily living sincerely. As, according to the myth, he requested Alexander the Great to stop blocking his sunshine, the exhibition questions the possibility to create an awareness together with the residents of the city to perform an alike gesture to the authorities that are taking part with the global politics, disregarding the sustainable life that metaphorically and literally comes from the Sun.