Polish Art and Culture All Around Turkey!
The events organized throughout the year 2014, celebrating the “600th Anniversary of Polish-Turkish Diplomatic Relations" accelerate once again with the Into the Country exhibition in Ankara, at SALT Ulus in September. The celebration events, which will last until the end of the year, will continue with several important projects such as Pera Museum’s Wednesday concert series, Akbank Jazz Festival concerts, exhibitions, among them Shock Therapy and Oxymoron of Normality, music projects, as well as design presentations at the 2nd Istanbul Design Biennale. The events are organized in coordination with Culture.pl, the digital platform of the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, introducing Polish culture to the world with over 38 thousand articles and daily information.
Visual Arts & Photography
Mark Your Agendas for Exhibitions From Poland
The exhibition Into the Country will go on view at SALT Ulus, Ankara from September 11 to November 1, 2014. The exhibition will feature the works of Fatma Bucak, Honorata Martin, Michał Łagowski, Krzysztof Maniak, RUTA, Daniel Rycharski, and Slavs and Tatars.
Shock Therapy: Photos from the transformation of Poland after 1989 exhibition will take place at the National Reassurance Gallery (Milli Reasürans Galerisi) from October 15 to November 29, 2014. The exhibition will consist of works by ten extraordinary Polish photographers, selected by Polish curator, Adam Mazur. Their works offer a glimpse into the last 25 years of photography in Poland, as well as the transformations the country has undergone since 1989.
The Migrating University of Adam Mickiewicz exhibition will meet with Istanbul citizens in the Tarlabaşı district, from October to November, 2014. Several speeches and workshops will be organized regarding the history of the district and its spatial changes. The aim of this artistic intervention at the Tarlabaşı district, where Adam Mickiewicz has also lived and where his museum is now located, is to redefine the character and achievements of the Polish poet in an interesting way for Istanbul audiences.
Oxymoron of Normality is another exhibition to take place within the scope of the “600th Anniversary of Polish-Turkish Diplomatic Relations”. The exhibition will be on view at Istanbul’s renowned art-space, DEPO, from October 17 to November 30, 2014, and is inspired by Bulgarian journalist Alexander Kiossev’s Notes on Self-Colonizing Cultures, in which he evaluates the process of identity formation in Central and Eastern European countries and the Balkans. The author names these countries as “self-colonizing cultures” and tries to point out their problems with autonomy and self-governing. Jadwiga Sawicka, Anna Konik, Oskar Dawicki, Hubert Czerepok, Franciszek Orłowski, Piotr Wysocki, Konrad Smoleński, Marek Wasilewski, Zbigniew Libera, Can Altay, Fatma Bucak, Hera Büyüktaşcıyan and Ali Taptik are among the artists attending this Turkish-Polish joint exhibition.
Stanisław Chlebowski, the court painter of Sultan Abdülaziz, at Pera Museum
Opening on October 24th at the Pera Museum, the exhibition focusing on Orientalism in Polish Painting, Drawing and Graphics will last until the closing of the “600th Anniversary” celebrations. The exhibition will remain open until 18 January 2015 and feature 190 works reflecting on orientalism’s impact in Polish painting and art from the 17th century to the beginning of the 19th century. The exhibition places special light on works by Stanisław Chlebowski, the court painter of Sultan Abdülaziz in Istanbul, from 1864 to 1876. Paintings by Jan Christian Kamsetzer, from his travels to Turkey, are also among the works exhibited.
Music
Discovering Rising Stars of Polish Music
Pera Museum’s Young Wednesday concert series will feature a number of young and shining stars of Poland starting from September. The concert series will start on September 17 with Drekoty, a modern Polish punk band, and will continue on September 24 with Mikrokolektyw, an experimental acoustic jazz duo from Poland. Following popular and contemporary chamber music by SzaZa on November 28, Male Instrumenty will discover experimental sounds with small instruments on November 14. The concerts at Pera Museum will end on December 19 with cheerful vocals blended with guitar, accordion, and violin tones by the Warsaw based band “Paula & Karol”.
Renowned Polish musicians will appear as guest performers at the 24th Akbank Jazz Festival this year in Istanbul. The famous jazz pianist Marcin Masecki will take the stage on October 26 with his solo performance; Maciej Obara International Quartet, the band founded by famous saxophonist Maciej Obara will be going live on October 30; Hera, one of the distinctive bands of the Polish improvised music scene will perform on October 31 at Akbank Sanat. The Polish band Cukunft will perform various concerts on nine different campuses across Turkey, between November 3-14, as part of the Jazz on Campus events, from November 3 to 14.
The wave of Polish music will gain momentum in October with the Don’t Panic! We are from Poland project. The Polish groups and bands to perform within the scope of the project are being selected with the votes of Turkish music lovers. 15 winners of free tickets to the upcoming Istanbul concert have been announced earlier this July.
Design
Polish designers in Istanbul
Within the scope of the 2nd Istanbul Design Biennial taking place from November 1 to December 15, 2014, Polish designers will showcase their special projects. Among the proposed projects are an extensive map of Polish cuisine, co-curated by Concordia Design, Zamek Cieszyn and Cmielow Design Studio. Also among the highlights is the launching of the cookbook prepared by selected Turkish and Polish chefs, who previously participated in the Food Design project that was started earlier this June. The Biennial will also feature fine Polish porcelain, co-designed by Polish and Turkish craftsmen.
& Many More...
More than 80 events were organized in various cities including Istanbul, Antalya, Bursa, Ankara, Izmir, Mardin and Bodrum during the first half of the year 2014 within the scope of “600th Anniversary of Polish-Turkish diplomatic relations”. The events grouped under “visual arts”, “actual music”, “classical music” and “theater and dance” categories have met close to 400.000 spectators. To view a detailed overview of the past season, visit our article here.
With growing entusiasm, the second half of the cultural programme celebrating the “600th anniversary of Polish-Turkish diplomatic relations” welcomes all audiences to celebrate a unique fusion of Polish and Turkish cultures.
Edited by Elçin M. 20/08/2014