Founded and directed by Seren Kohen and sponsored by Akkök Holding, the Mamut Art Project is now in its seventh edition. The innovative art event was established as an alternative to the mainstream commercial art fair, to support emerging artists with exhibiting their work, networking and establishing relationships with art world professionals, such as galleries, museums and curators as well as collectors. Mamut Art Project in some way resembles The Other Art Fair, founded by Saatchi Art, in its mission and structure. However, while The Other Art Fair, supported by a giant in the international art scene, has expanded to include events from London, Los Angeles and Brooklyn, to Chicago and Melbourne, Mamut Art Project is strategically placed between Asia and Europe, and so far has placed great emphasis on Turkish (and Asian) artists.
Dilek Yaman, Family, Boysan ve Pakize, 2012 Hahnemühle photoglossy print, 70 x 70 cm. Image courtesy the artist. Dilek Yaman, Family, Ayten ve Ceny, 2012, Hahnemühle photoglossy print, 50 x 50 cm. Image courtesy the artist. Melike Koçak, Breeze, 2018, fine art print, 30 x 30 cm. Image courtesy the artist. Melike Koçak, Breeze, 2018, fine art print, 30 x 30 cm. Image courtesy the artist.
This year, the innovative art event in Istanbul will include more than 500 artworks by 50 emerging artists from Turkey and beyond. The 25 male and 25 female artists were selected from among 1350 applicants by a jury that included practicing contemporary artist Memed Erdener a.k.a. Extrastruggle, collector Ari Meşulam, curator and writer Aslı Seven, art historian Professor Dr Burcu Pelvanoğlu and founder of Pi Artworks Gallery Yeşim Turanlı.
In the seventh edition of the event, the participating artists, each with a 10-square-metre exhibition space, will exhibit artworks across a wide range of disciplines, such as painting, sculpture, collage, photography, textile and digital art. Selected applications include works that investigate new forms and materials, respond to pressing contemporary issues and contribute to global dialogues, and re-frame individual expression.
The 2019 artists explore a wide range of themes, including immigration, family, cultural heritage, alienated identities, physical incompatibilities and dystopia, providing a window onto an alternative world and reflecting the mood of the young generation growing up in a socially and politically challenging environment in Turkey.
The only participating artist not based in Turkey is Maral Mavizi. Iran-born and Sweden-based, Maviz will present a video work featuring real footage of the war in Iran, narrating the story of her mother’s migration from Iran to Sweden. Also presenting video art, in addition to sculpture and photography, is Çağan Okuyan. Drawing from his personal family history, the collection of works on show reflects the changing kebab culture introduced by Turkish immigrants in Europe. Okuyan’s family are kebab-makers living in X and his multimedia installation The Kebab Project will explore his personal connection with the profession.
Çağan Okuyan, Avrupa Birliginin Sembolü Kebab Döner Olsun, 2018, digital collage, fine art paper. Image courtesy the artist. Çağan Okuyan, Anadol Tomris, 2018, digital collage, fine art print. Image courtesy the artist.
Barbaros Kayan also plays with notions of memory and migration, albeit not on a personal level, presenting a photography project in which he layers images from refugee camps in Turkey with silhouette-shaped scenes of ruins and destruction in Syria. These figures portrayed in his images thus carry their memories with them. His project is the result of an extensive research process, which saw him travelling between Turkey and Syria under very challenging circumstances for three years.
Barbaros Kayan, from the weries “Moving Portraits”, 2016-2018, archival pigment print. Image courtesy the artist. Barbaros Kayan, from the weries “Moving Portraits”, 2016-2018, archival pigment print. Image courtesy the artist.
Memory is a primary element also in the work of Yahya Yazı, who sees found objects as silent witnesses of our memories. He and his family were forced by the government to leave their hometown in the East, an experience that inspired his practice. His installations of found objects are created as a tribute to people who have had to flee their homes for political reasons, leaving most of their belongings behind. Yazı thus infuses the objects with a new purpose and injects his installations with colour, transforming images of ruins into images of pleasure.
Özüm Koşar takes a step away from the political issues explored by her peers, to reflect on the self-inflicting, masochistic process in which women transform their bodies in the hope of achieving the ideal beauty. The artist will exhibit her series of works “Organs Without Bodies”, shredded body sculptures made of fibres, socks and nylon, depicting what she describes as a transformation into an organ of the great “or-ganism” called power.
In addition to the main artist booths, Mamut Art Project also features the Mamut Performances programme, now in its fourth edition, contributing to the ongoing development of performance art in Turkey. KRÜW, a collaboration with a collective of 20 Istanbul-based artists from different fields including illustrators, sculptors and street artists, will create a series of works for this year’s Mamut, which will be editioned as attractively priced silkscreen prints throughout the event. There will also be a section for children, Mamut Kids, providing a chance for the young to participate in interactive art activities focusing on process and experience. Finally, a new addition to the event, Mamut Shots is a motivational talk series aimed to exchange knowledge and inspire the audience, held by creative industry leaders from different fields.
C. A. Xuan Mai Ardia
Mamut Art Project 2019 runs from 3 to 7 April 2019 at Istanbul’s Küçükçiftlik Park, Istanbul, Turkey.