Richard Bartle. Sheffield Contemporary artist working in mixed media at Bloc Studios. mardin biennial turkey

Mardin Biennial 2010

Abbara Kadabra

04.06.10 - 05.07.10

Mardin

Turkey

www.mardinbiennial.org

At the round table - Yuvarlak Masada

Mixed media - 2010 (Commission and residency for the biennial)

Richard Bartle’s work is as much about the obsessive nature of human activity as it is obsessive in its own right. From his early collages of maddening, even nauseating, repetition, to his more recent monumental works such as Powwowwhere he catalogued every leader of every nation during the entire eight year term of George Bush’s presidency, Bartle constantly seeks to make observation and comment on the phenomena of the modern condition. His latest works Deities at the bottom of the garden explore in minute detail the customs and icons of all the major world religions. Manifested in a series of scale models, the work reduces the usually grand architecture of churches and temples into a more private worship space and context. Bartle’s latest works at once seem like a personal spiritual journey, lured in by the exquisite and the beautiful craftsmanship, it becomes apparent too that we are also being invited to witness something more associative; to join the artist as he deconstructs the iconography and the scripture, to make our own minds up on the question of what it is to have faith and the level to which that can become obsession.

For the Mardin Biennial Bartle has once again turned his obsessive curiosity, and the desire to communicate with the social and historical, towards miniaturisation. Through a series of beautifully crafted scale modelled chairs, cataloguing the history and traditions of the civilizations of the Mardin region (from the Romans to the modern republic), Bartle has created a circular forum and a space for dialogue that transcends time, the political and historical, that focuses too on the tastes and skills of the peoples they represent – uniting epochs. Richard Bartle will also be attending a short residency in Mardin where he will create a plinth for this work using local materials, resources and crafts traditions – a platform for the work that seeks to evoke and imitate that history as it is now manifest in the architecture of a modern historical city.

The Chairs:

About the Biennial

The preliminary exhibition “I Received Your Invitation, Thank you!” held in October 2009 was an international show and the forerunner to the actual large exhibition to be held in Mardin from the 4th of June until the 5th of July, 2010. The continuation of intensive work towards this big show and with the participation of experienced and well-known national and international artists, the format of a biennial is being taken. It will also be the largest contemporary arts exhibition of its kind ever held in the city of Mardin. In this sense the biennial will not only provide Mardin with a new avenue of cultural growth but also will be an important contributor and platform for contemporary arts with in Turkey. The Mardin Bienal which is sponsored by

Governorship of Mardin and The Southeastern Anatolia Project Regional Development Administration (GAP), Curated by Döne Otyam, consulted with Ferhat Özgür and Ayşegül Sönmez. The exhibition (as can be discerned from its title) has been inspired by the historic architectural structures ‘abbaras’ found in Mardin, which are both public and private spaces. ‘AbbaraKadabra’ as the biennial title indicated a fusion between this architectural feature unique to Mardin and the magic that is contemporary art. As every abbara in Mardin is a important sociological, architectural and philosophic proposition – The city’s previous historical lack of awareness of its dialectic argument between public and private space is highlighted by the project’s use of the term abbara within its title.

The work to be exhibited within ‘AbbaraKadabra’ will be showed in historical venues as Kasımiye Madrasa, Zinciriye Madasa, Cumhuriyet Sqaure, Tokmakçılar Konak as well as public spaces and some abbaras. Aiming to document the spatial installation of the biennial, the catalogue will provide detailed information in both Turkish and English and will be published during the show. The catalogue texts include: Murathan Mungan’s story ‘Money Djinns’, Esra Aliçavuşoğlu’s commentary on the phenomena of biennials within Turkey, a joint essay-dialogue prepared by Ayşegül Sönmez, Ferhat Özgür and Döne Otyam titled ‘Internal Readings’ with regards to the process of producing a biennial. This primary biennial event will bring together several voices from all over Turkey and aims for a sense of trust and solidarity. Among some of the 63 participating artists of ‘AbbaraKadabra’ are Ben Rivers, Margaret Salmon, Lawrence Weiner, Shaun Gladwell, Heike Weber, Matthias Schamp, Oliver Musovik, Hussein Chalayan, Ferhat Özgür, Selim Birsel, Ursula Mayer, Adrian Paci, Fatih Tan, Tomur Atagök, Maurizio Pellegrin, Serhat Kiraz, Mithat Şen, Erdağ Aksel, Kezban Arca Batıbeki, Gülay Semercioğlu, Ali Kazma, Mehmet Çeper, Nurullah Görhan, Çınar Eslek, Serkan Demir, Erdal Duman, Arzu Başaran, Hakan Irmak and Gülay Semercioğlu. There will be two very special performances by artists Nezaket Ekici and Funda Karakuş in Kasımiye Madarsa and Tokmakçı Konak respectively as well as works from many artistic disciplines will produce a dynamic and strong biennial.

Conceptual Framework

“A city is a book…” – Victor Hugo
“Architecture, is made from surroundings” – Suzanne Langer

“If even for a short period of time spent living in an expanding city, for thousands of years, with one’s city, with one’s village is a city-dweller. In this sense many cannot conceive of themselves outside a city. Regardless how much we question the city, its place remains fixed. The person who questions the city, acts out of self knowledge. The questions of what a city is and what is the self is intertwined. When questioning a city, a person examines their own aphorisms.” – Nermi Uygur

Cities today are important displays. Woven with signs, describe us to ourselves.

Mardin Biennial’s title is taken from a magical saying: Abracadabra… the word used to make the magic go on its way. For the biennial there is a slight play on the word: Abbaracadabra.

Abbara, found in Mardin only, is the name for the architectural feature that allows for passage to both the home and the street. Abbara structures were conceived before modernity and are representational both as an idea and a word that leans on modernity. Therefore every abbara is a significant sociological, philosophic and architecture point. Thus the project title draws attention to how the city disregarded the separation of public and private space. Emphasizing on this dialectic enables us to better comprehend the present day.

In an age when the definitions and borders of public space and private space are continually shifting, the separations between the two become less clear, abbaras are historic signals to the present day. Abbaras are the coming together of public and private spaces and provide an important suggestion for the present. Underneath an abbara is public space, and the above section provides private space. The internal and the external of a house are in negotiation.

A biennial saying “abbaracadabra”, the miracle that is Mardin is put into action. The magic is at work. Bringing the historic town of Mardin and the modern city that is Mardin together. The works that will be situated in and around the city will also act to transform it in a physical and cerebral manner. Making, casting new spells and drawing inspiration from the history of the city, in order to create a today.

With this exhibition concept, taking into account all the unique factors of Mardin – its body of earth, the multiple historic and contemporary meanings of ‘city’, we aim to produce an exhibition of statements. Whilst dealing with a historic city like Mardin, creating new opportunities is a challenge. Unique to the city is the ability to demonstrate both private and public lives and different modes of living. AbbaraCadabra, will enable participating artists through the medium of modern art to question, redefine and examine relationships between current and past cities.

Having been a home, dwelling for tens of civilizations over the course of history, and bringing with it several symbols and signs to this extent – Mardin – and to further see this city in the process of modernity is a dynamic view. The city allows for the examination of creating as a means of action and reaction against history in order to cultivate a present.

At the same time, the relationship between the several faiths found in the region and the life style they advocate amongst their followers, coupled with modern life, is a dichotomy. The works displayed at the exhibitions, enables Mardin to see itself both with its history and its current state – providing a new perspective with which to view the familiar symbols of both past and present. This perspective takes on: public and private, personal and societal, past and future. In the age of globalization, in an age where all cities are becoming alike, Mardin’s ability to remain and protect its uniqueness – with its unknown riches and a simple word play is being placed not only on the international world arena but also on a national scale.

The biennial theme and easy to say name Mardin, will remain in the international art scene consciousness and as it happened with the Istanbul biennial, will quickly be discovered and become known and valued.

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