Apricots from Damascus
An apexart franchise exhibition
December 23, 2015–February 21, 2016
Since the escalation of the war in Syria, millions of people have left their homes, with a majority fleeing to Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan. Public spaces in cities like Istanbul, transformed by this climate of movement and exile, encompass different possibilities for encounters and interactions. The zine and exhibition project Apricots from Damascus, constructed by Dilek Winchester and Atıf Akın, pays homage to Andre Breton’s statement “One publishes to find comrades!” and aims to create a multilingual environment for production and exchange. The participants of the project use the fanzine format to draw on personal experiences, or on the relics of waves of immigration that took place in the recent history of the Republic of Turkey, with a specific focus on Istanbul.
Apricots from Damascus is translated from the Turkish “Şam’da Kayısı,” which forms part of an idiomatic expression meaning, “It doesn’t get any better than this.” The zines, which will also be distributed in public spaces in Istanbul, are printed in Arabic, English and Turkish. Apricots from Damascus positions a form of publication as an artistic practice, in an effort to create a more accessible template for a cultural commons.
Featuring work by: Atıf Akın, Marwa Arsanios, Khaled Barakeh, Sezgin Boynik, Hera Büyüktaşçıyan, Nadia Christidi, Ergin Çavuşoğlu, Angela Harutyunyan, Minna Henriksson, Armine Hovhannisyan, Marianna Hovhannisyan, Güven İncirlioğlu (The Pope), Banu Karaca, Pınar Öğrenci, Zeynep Öz, Aras Özgün, Dilek Winchester and Fehras Publishing Practices
A panel discussion with the organizers and editors of Apricots from Damascus will take place at SALT Galata on January 6, 2016.
Apricots from Damascus is an apexart franchise exhibition in collaboration with SALT.
Painter Sabiha Rüştü Bozcalı
December 22, 2015–February 28, 2016
In 2014, a collection of Sabiha Rüştü Bozcalı’s (1904–98) works and documents was introduced and later donated to SALT Research. The contents of this archive exposed the compelling life of painter Bozcalı and suggested her importance as a key figure in the cultural history of Turkey. Previously little known, the complex artistic career of Bozcalı, who was also one of the first female illustrators in the country, will be explored through an exhibition of drawings, paintings, photographs, letters, postcards, and the various publications to which she contributed.