Gül Explores Contemporary Istanbul Art Fair

President Gül and Mrs. Hayrünnisa Gül visited a contemporary art fair entitled “Contemporary Istanbul” held at the Lütfi Kırdar Congress and Exhibition Center.

President Gül was informed by artists and officials about the exhibition that 80 galleries attended, 37 of which were from abroad.

TURKISH PAINTERS’ ACHIEVMENTS

President Gül later commented: “Turkish paintings have recently drawn considerable attention not only in New York but in also Paris and many other cities such as the Middle Eastern ones. We have allotted one of the Presidential Culture Awards to painting this year and will hold the ceremonies soon. I am very impressed to see such a crowd here today, which I was not expecting as a matter of fact.”

The First lady shared that she liked the works at the exhibition very much, saying: “It is pleasing that this exhibition has drawn this much attention in such a short time. They say ‘We have caught up with the most prestigious exhibitions only in 5 years.’ I hope for even better.” 

CONTEMPORARY İSTANBUL  

Held for the 5^th time, Contemporary Istanbul Art Fair was organized at Lütfi Kırdar Congress and Exhibition Center in Rumelia Hall from November 25-28. Aiming to introduce contemporary art to masses and to make Istanbul the center for this art, Contemporary Istanbul has taken many important steps toward this very aim by bringing artists and galleries from all over the world together.  The activity that is expected to reach 12 million art lovers was welcomed with great interest from both domestic and foreign media.

Contemporary Istanbul Art Fair has become a successful activity holding several exhibitions and conferences that bring artists and their works together with art lovers throughout the year. Last year, it held conferences entitled “Dialogues” with the partnership of Akademie der Kunste in October in Berlin and in Istanbul in December. In addition, Contemporary Istanbul has opened in other cities like Izmir, Adana, Bursa and Ankara with its conference series entitled “Contemporary Art Meetings” this year.