<nettime> call to rethink the process of the 13th Istanbul Biennial

[Geert Lovink <geert@xs4all.nl>]

We wrote the following text on May 25th, 2013.  With the beginning of the protests at Gezi Park, our priorities shifted and we decided to postpone  its circulation. Today, especially after  âlast weekâsâ experiences, when we rethink what happened on May 10th, we are even more convinced of the urgency of this letter.

Yours sincerely,

> We the undersigned, who are all working in the field of art, condemn the reaction of The Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV) and 13th Istanbul Biennial curatorial team, to the protest that was performed by Public/Common Resistance Platform members at the  âPublic Capitalâ event on May 10th 2013.
> 
> The protest was organized and performed by a group of activists wearing
> 
> T-shirts printed with the names of forcibly gentrifying neighborhoods in Istanbul; at short intervals, one would stand up from the crowd and drape him/ herself on the floor in the middle of the room using a piece of cloth printed with the logos of  related companies. The performance was finished by IKSV team lifting the protesters up roughly and carrying them off from the venue.
>  
> Whilst pretending to have a âpublicâ discourse , this applied intolerance towards critical and different voices, the violence towards protesters, and the attempt of detaining a platform member because he was video recording the activity, and  calling the police and taking him to police station and making charges against him cannot be an acceptable attitude.
> 
> The authoritative, judgmental and uncommunicative attitude of the 13th Istanbul Biennial towards different voices of the public is highly in contradiction with its claims to âactivate social engagement and public fora to generate a possibility for rethinking the concept of âpublicnessâ.*
> 
> We would  kindly and urgently  invite you to change this authoritarian reflex and rethink the proposed process (structure) of the 13th Istanbul Biennial. *http://bienal.iksv.org/en/archive/newsarchive/p/1/62
> 
> Please reply to  imzaliyorum@gmail.com if you like to join.
>  
> Ahmet ÃÄÃt, Ahmet Åenkart, Ali Asker Bal, Ali Cabbar, Ali Äbrahim Ãcal, Ali Mete SancaktaroÄlu, Ani Setyan, Arzu BaÅaran, Arzu YayÄntaÅ, Asena Hayal, Asena GÃnal, AslÄ Ãetinkaya, Atalay Yeni, Atilla Atala,  Aylin Kuryel, Aysel Miman, Azra Deniz Okyay, BarÄÅ Acar, BarÄÅ MengÃtay, BarÄÅ Seyitvan, Banu CennetoÄlu, Berk DemirbaÅ, Bubi, Burak Karacan, BurÃak Konukman, BurÃin BaÅar, Canan Beykal, Ceren Oykut, Ãiler Belen, Demet YalÃÄnkaya, Deniz ErbaÅ, Deniz GÃkduman, Deniz GÃl, Deniz Ilgaz, Deniz M. Ãrnek, Deniz Pireci, Derya AydoÄdu, Didem Erk, Didem Ãzbek, Dilara HanÃer Sebah, Dino DinÃer Åirin, Eda Gecikmez, Ege Berensel,  Elif Zeynep KaragÃz, Emine Corduk,  Emre ZeytinoÄlu, Endam Acar, ErdaÄ Aksel, Erden Kosova, Erinà Seymen, Esat BaÅak, Evrensel Belgin, Evrim AltuÄ, Evrim Kavcar, FatoÅ KaradaÄ, Ferhat ÃzgÃr, Feyyaz Yaman, FÄrat ArapoÄlu, Foto Akbaba, Fulya ÃalÄÅkan, Fulya Ãetin, FÃsun Turcan ElmasoÄlu, Gonca Sezer, GÃzde Kazaz, GÃl Bolulu, GÃlÃin Aksoy, GÃnay Demir, Hakan AkÃura, Hakan KamÄÅoÄlu, Hatice ArÄcÄ, ItÄr Demir, Äbrahim KoÃ, Älhan SayÄn, Älke YÄlmaz, Änci Furni, Änsel Änal, Kardelen FincancÄ, Komet GÃrkan ÃoÅkun, Lara Fresko, Leyla SakpÄnar, LÃtfiye BozdaÄ, Mahmut Koyuncu, Malik Bulut, Murat Morova, Murat SeÃkin, Nalan YÄrtmaÃ, Nejat SatÄ, Neriman Polat, Nihan TahtaiÅleyen, Nilbar GÃreÅ, Nur AtaibiÅ, Nurcan GÃndoÄan, Nur GÃrel, Onur CeritoÄlu, Onur GÃlfidan, Onur KaÃmaz, Osman Bozkurt, Oya Kasap, Ãzcan Yaman, Ãzge AÃÄkkol, ÃzgÃr Atlagan, ÃzgÃr Ãimen, Raziye Kubat,  Saadet Sorgunlu, Sakine Ãil,  Selen Usanmaz, Selin KocagÃncÃ, Sema Efe, Serpil OdabaÅÄ, SeÃil Yersel, SeÃkin AydÄn,  Sevil Tunaboylu, Sevinà Altan, Seydi Murat KoÃ, Suat ÃÄÃt, Sylvia Kouvali, Åefik Ãzcan, Åehmus Atasever, Tahir Ãn,  T. Melih GÃrgÃn, UlaÅ BaÅar Gezgin, Uluà Ali KÄlÄÃ, Ãmit Turgay Durgun, Vahit Tuna, Yahya Mete Madra, Yasemin Ãzcan, Yasemin Nur, Yavuz Parlar, YeÅim AÄaoÄlu, YeÅim Åahin, YeÅim Us, Zeynep Yasa, Zeyno PekÃnlÃ



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