Istanbul Airport is Introducing Art to the World

Company Istanbul Airport
Date 16.09.2021

Istanbul Airport is bringing together all the works that shine out with the value they give to culture and art at İGART. Within the scope of İGART which will unite Istanbul’s identity immersed in culture and arts and the cultural memory of Anatolia with the world, the artists are given the opportunity to showcase their work through an exhibition, a workshop, and a live music performance at the Istanbul Airport. In the first activity as part of İGART, the “Under Viaduct” located at the subway exit area of the airport will be opened to the contest. The grand prize will be one of the biggest prizes given to an art project up until today.

The destination of art, Istanbul Airport has gathered all the artworks created in this field under the roof of İGART, as part of the support it provides to culture and art. Istanbul Airport has become the host of many exhibitions, workshops and live music performances as well as the innovative projects such as airport museum and airport library. With the activities done under İGART, it is planned to open up more spaces for art and encourage the artists more.

Within the scope of İGART, which has Painter and Academician Prof. Dr. Hüsamettin Koçan as the Chairman of Executive Committee, the aim is to materialize projects from all areas of art from painting to sculpture, architecture to criticism, curating to academics. The executive committee consisting of nine individuals; Painter and Academician Prof. Dr Hüsamettin Koçan, Prof. Dr. Gülveli Kaya, Nazlı Pektaş, Deniz Odabaş, Prof. Dr. Marcus Graf, Gökhan Şengül, Murat Tabanlıoğlu, Mehmet Ali Güveli, and Mehmet Fehmi Bilge are joining forces to produce and conduct projects with a social approach that protects the social benefit.

Our goal is to be the number one airport in the world

In his speech, the CEO of iGA Airport Kadri Samsunlu stated that their goal is to bring the travel experience to the meeting point of arts and culture and “Istanbul Airport that we have been running with a perfect operation since its opening has become one of the world’s best airports that can compete with Qatar, London and Dubai in this short period of time. The airport shares a lot of its characteristics with its namesake; Istanbul is a city of art, culture and history… You can feel it wherever you go. A city that lives 24/7, always developing, a trade center. At Istanbul Airport, there is a significant volume of trade with its hotel, shopping and advertising areas, as well as the food and beverage courts. Apart from that, we are moving forward with our aim at being differentiated beyond being one of the best airports in the world, making the passengers have another exclusive experience and making Istanbul Airport a center they would like to visit again. Today we are together to turn Istanbul Airport a gate to art as well. We will ensure that the buildings will have a spirit and an identity, contributing to the brand of Istanbul. We will give our full support to our İGART project with our terminal facilities and managerial strength and follow the path that will be determined by the estimable executive committee led by the Painter and Academician Prof. Dr. Hüsamettin Koçan with their independent decision making power.”

İGART will bring a great contribution to the cultural and artistic environment of our country…

İGART Chairman of Executive Committee Painter and Academician Prof. Dr. Hüsamettin Koçan who spoke at the İGART launch has highlighted the fact that supporting art and the artist has become much more crucial in an era which a global pandemic ensues, and the activities to be conducted under İGART, especially the contest, planned to take place in the first period, holds significant value in this aspect as well. Koçan has concluded his words by saying; “Istanbul Airport is a neutral and unprejudiced meeting point where passengers from different cultures, beliefs and all the lives with a common goal of getting to somewhere meet unbeknownst to one another. This is a space where individuals can cast adrift and be open to communication with their liberation. To make the space, the individual and the artist meet in one common place inspired by this very feature of the airport is quite meaningful.” he continued. Drawing the attention to the fact that within the competition to be conducted under İGART, the artists are not limited in any way except the definition of venue, Koçan has remarked that the competition is one that provides the artist with the freedom to create and propose by protecting the material rights of the artist. He stated that one channel of the contest has been reserved only to young artists under the age of 35 who represent our future, and that their responsibilities towards art have also been fulfilled. Koçan has finished his words with the statement; “Producing new artistic energy open to every suggestion, every technique, and every person will make a great contribution to the cultural and artistic environment of our country”.

The grand prize of 1 million liras awaits its winner…

In the launch, İGART Art Projects Contest, which is one of the first activities conducted as part of the project, is given wide publicity. An open call to the applicants has been made for the first two stages of İGART Art Projects Contest which consists of multiple different project areas and is open to artists that create in the field of plastic arts. There are 17 project areas within the competition. In the first stage of the contest, the Category-1 project area, covering the “Under Viaduct” area located at the subway exit, will be only open to artists under the age of 35. Other stages will be opened to competition in the year 2022. Thanks to this particular details, the contest is expected to open up a space for young artists. It is announced that for each project area as part of the contest, the creators of the 3 finalist projects will receive 10,000TRY and the grand prize is determined to be the royalty fee of 1,000,000TRY given to the creator of the winning project. Also, the cost of application is to be covered by iGA. The panel of the contest consists of İGART Chairman of Executive Committee Prof. Dr. Hüsamettin Koçan, Members of İGART Executive Committee Deniz Odabaş, Prof. Dr. Gülveli Kaya, Prof. Dr. Marcus Graf, Mehmet Ali Güveli, Murat Tabanlıoğlu, Nazlı Pektaş, as well as sculpturers Seyhun Topuz and Seçkin Pirim.

İGART Art Project will begin with venue promotion tours that will take place during September. The transportation will be provided via the shuttle service that will depart in front of Beşiktaş ferry port on Tuesdays, September 21-28 and October 5, 2021, at 12 PM. The date of application to the contest is determined to be September 15 – November 1, 2021. The announcement of the winning project is scheduled to be made on December 20, 2021. Another detail that catches the interest from the information given at the introductory meeting on the competition of İGART is that there are suggestions to use environmentally friendly materials as part of the sustainability policy of iGA.

It is announced that all activities under İGART and detailed information on İGART Art Projects Contest can be found at https://igart.istanbul/en/

Contact

Istanbul Airport
Tayakadın
Terminal Caddesi No:1
34283 Arnavutköy
Istanbul
Turkey
  • +90 4441442