On a recent August morning in Istanbul, three Turkish businessmen with slick hair and vibrant purple ties left the grounds of a former Ottoman power plant. They had just received a preview tour of Istanbul Bilgi University's newest campus, which opened on September 8.
The colossal arts and education center is called Santralİstanbul. Located on a curve of coastline known as the Golden Horn, it will include a contemporary art museum, university classrooms and departments, a Museum of Energy, a public library, a park, cinemas, dance halls, open air performance spaces, a multipurpose tent, restaurants, a shopping street, and artists' residences. Promotional materials tally “Some Figures” for the still-unopened campus – Total area: 118,000 square meters. Museum of Contemporary Arts: 7,000 square meters. Museum visitors: 1.5 million people per year. Residency program: 1,000 artists, architects, designers, thinkers, scientists, cultural professionals per year.
Director Serhan Ada was serene. “We have nothing like an official affiliation. But we have spoken with many types of art institutions and foundations. In time we will find a type of contract. Now we are discussing let's say a grant with the Getty Foundation. This is about the access to the large audiences, different types of audiences, etcetera.” He listed a mind-boggling number of partners and projects in Greece, Egypt, France, Finland, Germany, and England. One future project is about “illumination, electricity, light and art.” Another involves a circus.
Challenges have already been dealt with. An initial problem was a dearth of students. Then it became clear that Santralİstanbul's expenses, estimated at 30 million dollars, would surpass the 40 million mark. (Today, they near 50 million). In 2006 Bilgi, a non-profit foundation, partnered with the for-profit education provider Laureate Education Inc. The Turkish press hurried to point out that Laureate would bring in a large number of local and international students, as well as providing management, marketing, and technological support for Bilgi. Laureate Education Inc. hurried to point out that the transaction would not materially impact the company's immediate earnings outlook. The exact nature of the transaction remains somewhat murky – press accounts vary, and Dr. Ada himself noted that this “strategic collaboration” was not his area of expertise.
On this August morning, Ada's outfit followed the gray-on-gray scheme of the Santralİstanbul publicity campaign. He wore a gray t-shirt, gray jeans, and black Converse sneakers. His glasses (minimal frames, silver metal) may or may not have been designed by the contemporary art museum's architect. Ada picked up one of two cell-phones on his desk to request a glass of water. A phone rang in the lobby outside, and the water materialized soon thereafter. An eager front-desk secretary (a former Bilgi theater major who feels very optimistic about the university's new endeavor), kept visitors equally well-supplied with beverages.
The three Turkish businessmen passed the front desk on their way out the door. They left business cards from the electronics manufacturer Philips. Less affluent visitors were stranded in the lobby between hourly shuttles – a ferry service is in the works, but for now, the campus is accessible only by minibus.
The shuttle route's main highlight is a surreal three-block stretch of plastic mannequin suppliers, whose nude wares are packed tightly into full-length display windows. The same down-and-out neighborhood is also home to Bilgi's distinctly less eye-catching computer science, math, and law campus. This location was chosen in hopes of stimulating urban regeneration and increased communication between students, faculty, and neighborhood residents. The campus is surrounded by high stone walls.
Santralİstanbul is meant to continue Bilgi's broader humanitarian mission, with art as the lingua franca. Ada is optimistic about Santralİstanbul's ability to foster communication between the estimated 1,000 visiting residents, newly recruited foreign students, and Turkish locals, despite the potential lack of a common language.
“Language is not necessarily a huge barrier when it comes to art,” he explains. “There will be a lot of workshops going on.”
Images: universes-in-universe.org
Check out an update on life at the front at Erkan Saka's blog.
A longer version of this article is available in Nafas Contemporary Art Magazine.
Also in Time Out Istanbul, September 2007.
0 comments:
Post a Comment