As this exhibition takes a step east from its predecessor, from surveying artistic production in the European countries of the Mediterranean, it encounters that of a less easily defined geography positioned around the East Mediterranean, which is more often referred to in geopolitical terms as the Balkans and Middle East. This complex collection of countries share a common colonial history, as part of the substantial land area marked by the conquests of the Ottoman Empire, a fact that is the source of many contemporary problems and prejudices. The Balkans and the Middle East are now related by an analogous process of political reconstruction and their continued perception as an 'other' and a peripheral (despite the EU accession of a number of the Balkan countries) entity to the West and Europe Central. This is what continues to unify the region as a whole and what simultaneously makes independence from its past context implausible.
The need to understand how this shared history and mutual heritage has fed into contemporary culture, and through this, the attempt to analyse and at the same time culturally transcend a myriad of interrelated political tensions, led to a series of national and geographically specific survey shows held in Europe in the 2000s.1 Curated and exposed in the west, many of these exhibitions imported art and artists as tools of national and regional representation. Surprisingly, the Balkans and Middle East were rarely brought together as the combined focus of a major exhibition, preference being to look at the situation of one or the other as an opposition to the notion of 'Europe'. In confrontation of this Western interest in Balkan art and the missing link of its consideration alongside the Middle East art situation encouraged Platform Garanti Contemporary Art Center to organise in 2003 the conference and conversation series south…east…mediterranean…europe, with writers, critics, curators and artists invited to participate from Sofia, Skopje, Jerusalem, Cairo, Belgrade, Beirut, Zagreb, Istanbul, Tirana, Pristine, and Sarajevo.2 'The meeting focused upon rethinking artistic production, cultural geography and possible future collaborations in South-East Europe and the South-East Mediterranean, otherwise known as the Balkans and the Middle East'.3
Then in 2004 the 5th Cetinje Biennial titled Love it or Leave it curated by Rene Block and Natasa Ilic also considered this notion of 'opposition'. The biennial press released proposed that the exhibition would 'trace affinities and differences within cultural and political conditions and practices, which - according to the general perception - question the Balkans and the Middle East as two regions of different value systems. Applying its political and economical systems, the Balkans positions itself as part of Europe - but represents, at the same time, a transit area to the Middle East. Sources and origins of the current artistic situation of two different regions will step into dialogue'.4
While the trend of national and regional representation persists, curatorial strategy now tends towards presenting a more analytical response of individual artistic practice rather than merely assuming a geographically defined response. In the meanwhile, the initially accepted condition of export from the Balkans and Middle East, that had been the main structure and hope of support for artists from these regions, began to loose its appeal. Instead this repetition of geographical representation fed a desire for new forms of self promotion and installed the realisation that if an artistic environment was valuable enough to be imported by others, then it should be valued, established and acknowledged with as much commitment on home soil.
This shift to a process of glocalisation from a previous acceptance of globalisation has in the last decade, led to the region's artistic centres recognising their potential as future art hubs that can now import an audience rather than repeatedly exporting art. With the gradual support of new money, private investment and public support from elsewhere, the family art tree began to grow, to incorporate a much wider spectrum of artistic activity and to nurture better communication between key individuals and institutions within the combined region. Most recently the growth of a contemporary art market mediated through a plethora of new commercial galleries, as well as major art fairs such as the fairly established Art Athina and the only two year old Art Dubai, has in part precipitated a formative, but self-orchestrated, regional rhythm of production, exhibition and sale.
As the 'art biennial' continues to proliferate ever more rapidly around the globe, its presence and calibre in a country and region can be taken as one indicator of the development of a community based art situation. The instigation of such large-scale exhibitions suggests that there are individuals keen to broaden their local horizon, to both import talent from elsewhere and to promote their own selected talent and ambition more widely. Regardless of the relationship of these events to economy and tourism, their coming, if delivered with focus and expertise, is generally a sign that artistic abundance and its acceptance is a primary trigger.
A survey of these large-scale initiatives is perhaps the most obvious place to start when looking at the current artistic activity in a given region, especially if looking from outside. These events can also be considered as a basic comparative to their coevals in the international scene. The biennial model, while not a constant form of artistic support, is one that instigates a flurry of activity, exchange and to an extent quality control. These attributes are invaluable in fostering the early stages of an art scene and developing it to international level. As almost all the artists invited to present work in this exhibition have participated in one or more of the region's biennials, let us first look at their development here.
Founded in 1987, one of the oldest and most revered biennials in the world, the International Istanbul Biennial, takes place in a pivotal position internationally. Located in Istanbul, a city that for centuries acted as the centre of the Byzantine Empire as Byzantium and then the Ottoman Empire as Constantinople, this metropolis now sits between numerous geographical, geopolitical and cultural zones. While not the capital, it is the largest city and the cultural centre of Turkey, a country that is strategically important in relation to the Middle East and the Balkans as it both divides and joins the two. In this context, Turkey appears to flirt with its own regional classification, sometimes being grouped as a part of the Balkans and in terms of religious politics to an extent with the Middle East, and of course at the same time it sits between the East and the West, Asia and Europe, the Orient and the Occident. This context of being seen as both a part of and a separate entity of so many different types of physically and politically described regions gives the art initiatives in Istanbul the possibility to encourage composite networks of communication. In turn these relationships present the opportunity for Istanbul to play a pivotal cultural role in the creation of a very particular and inclusive art situation.
Having celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2007, the biennial in Istanbul has played an important role in recognising national artistic development over several generations as well as the need to invite international artists and their work. Those working on the biennial realised early on the importance of bringing together the country's neighbouring artists and arts professionals into a shared discourse that focuses more specifically on the surrounding geography and its evolution. As early as the third biennial in 1992, curator Vasif Kortun's exhibition Production of Cultural Difference included a high number of participants from countries east of Europe notably many from Bulgaria, Poland, Russia and Israel. 'The press conference before the biennial's opening revealed how important this event was to the participants. The Israeli spokesperson noted the opportunity for establishing a Mediterranean dialogue; the Bulgarian, the challenge of dealing with new freedoms and of associating on equal terms with artists from countries with contemporary art traditions....the Russians, the importance of seeing what they have produced out in the world. And so on. There was an obvious sense of optimism that goes with new beginnings'5.
In 1995 Rene Block's curatorial directorship of the Fourth International Istanbul Biennial paid particular attention to the invitation of artists from Balkan countries, with artists coming from Bosnia, Croatia, Slovenia, Macedonia and Serbia and also several from the Middle East including those from Iran, Israel and Egypt. It was Block's desire to create an intercultural meeting ground, to have a real engagement with Istanbul and to 'avoid having the exhibition turn into a kind of international road-show temporarily plunked down in an exotic locale'6.
The 9th Istanbul Biennial curated by Vasif Kortun and Charles Esche deepened this resolve with almost fifty per cent of the exhibition's artists living in or coming from the Balkans, Middle East and other closely related countries of Central Asia. The biennial proposed 'an exhibition structure that would fold out of and reveal its context – the city of Istanbul' This was achieved by inviting many of the participating artists to spend up to three months living and working in Istanbul, commissioned to respond to the 'urban location and the imaginative charge that this city represents for the world'.7 Now, with the announcement that the curatorial collective What, How & For Whom (WHW) from Zagreb will curate the 11th Istanbul Biennial, the strongest statement yet of a desire to intensify these neighbouring relationships has been made. The appointment of a voice of collectivity and also one of local specificity is a far cry from the tourist-venue hosted biennials of the city's past and the traditional solo Direction of the biennial model. This bold step entirely shifts the potential of the Istanbul Biennial and could anticipate the next opportunity, following the predominance of 'place' in recent curatorial initiatives and the ultimately unsuccessful re-imagination of Manifesta 6 in Cyprus as an experimental art academy, to spark a new genre of biennial making both for this geography and internationally.8
Another more recently acclaimed exhibition force in the region is the Sharjah Biennial. Although active since 1993 it first gained serious recognition in its 6th rendition when it was announced that the aim was to introduce a new era for contemporary art in the Gulf. Since then, Director Jack Persekian has introduced a key motivator for the art scene in the Gulf by establishing a residency programme that runs in parallel to the biennial. This enables artists to 'spend time in Sharjah and to engage with the Emirate and its context and to conduct an ongoing series of workshops and collaborative projects that will broaden the educational opportunities currently available to local students including the College of Fine Arts at the University of Sharjah, and College of Art and Architecture at the American University'.9 This is yet another example of a new mode of production and support that mainly focuses on its neighbouring art scenes for its own success.
In 2007, two major new biennials in Greece were added to the regional map, the first taking place in Thessaloniki and the second in Athens. The physical proximity of Istanbul to Thessaloniki and in turn to Athens marks one of many potential independent art circuits, much like the Asian Biennial calendar, that can now be negotiated outside the established US and European art systems. Such networks are sparking a new era of exchange. They also create opportunities for artists to travel to neighbouring countries, which ironically was previously much more difficult and unlikely in terms of visas and funding than travelling to the more normalised zones of Central and Northern Europe.
Other big periodic exhibitions that have come, gone or remain in the region include the currently suspended Tirana Biennial in Albania; two editions, with the third planned in 2009 of the Riwaq Biennial, Palestine; the less revered state-sponsored Cairo Biennial, which is likely to be superseded in terms of credibility by the proposed Photo Cairo exhibition planned for December 2008; the previously mentioned Cetinje Biennial in Montenegro; and the Periferic Biennial in Iasi, Romania, founded in 1997.
Two other successful initiatives that are working to rethink the traditional biennial model and at the same time involve themselves more intimately with the locally existing institutional base via working with independent organisations are Meeting Points and Home Works. The Meeting Points festival organised by the Young Arab Theatre Fund has gradually expanded its reach to create a circuit of sites of intervention in the Arab World and beyond. In its 5th edition in 2007 events and exhibitions took place in Amman, Damascus, Beirut, Ramallah, Cairo, Alexandria, El Minia, Tunis, Rabat, Brussels and Berlin. Over a seven-week period, theatre and contemporary dance performances, visual art exhibitions and nights of film screenings, established zones of creativity and bridges of exchange, the aim being to support talented young individuals as well as emergent cultural spaces.10
As the title suggests Home Works invites others to enter a site of exchange for contemporary art in the Arab World, in Beirut, Lebanon. Initiated by Ashkal Alwan (Of Colors and Forms) The Lebanese Association for Plastic Arts, the week long forum takes place every 18 months and is composed of lectures, performance and film screenings. Like many of the festivals in the region Home Works holds the character of a pilgrimage for the many artists and cultural workers that have moved away to live abroad. Their return and also the coming together of natives, immigrants and visitors creates an assembly that is personal and specific. This is due to its location in Beirut, a city, which despite its venerated art scene does not have a permanent museum or art institution to speak of. As its main art centre, Ashkal Alwan has for many years considered itself as functioning 'with no permanent address', but continues to offer art projects and local artists a form of institutional framework.11
While large periodic activities introduce a wave of accelerated cultural interest, due to their local specificity 'they are neither truly indexical, nor, as in the marketplace, formed in reference to each other and they come together only by virtue of being planned to happen at such and such dates every two years.12 In addition, each one in turn, heavily relies on its local, continuous support structure and network, a crutch that is not always so easily relatable or perhaps self-explanatory within the global art labyrinth. Due largely to a lack of public funding, in many of the countries of these regions there is a clear divide between the professionalism of the biennial model, down to the next contour of well considered arts initiatives - the region's main independent arts institutions. There are few fully and well functioning museums and this 'museum void' is only just beginning to be targeted. One reason for this is the repeated mistake of assuming that the replication of western museum examples, such as Istanbul Modern's take on Tate Modern, will work without specific contextualisation elsewhere. Perhaps more controversial is the importation of existing brands as in Abu Dhabi's Saadiyat Island project, a completely constructed cultural district, which is set to include a version of the Louvre and Guggenheim Foundation. The concern for many of the already existing institutions is their lack of direction and mediocre policies for collecting contemporary art.
While contemporary 'museum' practice seems to allude governmental cultural departments, perhaps it is the resolve of the independent art centres that will gradually redefine this role and eventually take their place. While it is impossible to mention all of the many arts spaces that have had an impact in these regions, be it temporary or more permanent, there are some that have grown in tandem with their local art situation and are now major players in terms of artistic support, intellectual critique, production and curatorial practice. To name but a few, and to focus on those that grew up together we can include the Townhouse Gallery of Contemporary Art in Cairo, Ashkal Alwan in Beirut, Platform Garanti Contemporary Art Center in Istanbul, The Institute of Contemporary Art in Sofia and WHW in Zagreb. These institutions, variously funded by both private and public money albeit from elsewhere, formed a critical approach and adapted their development according to changes in their site specificity. They have all nurtured a generation of artists, working with them and supporting their practice as well as promoting it internationally. Each one is far more than an exhibition platform, in fact the focus is more often on production, archiving, research and debate. A more recent effort of some of these institutions is to introduce a residency programme, a triangular relationship between themselves that takes place without European involvement. This exchange, in person, of ideas and cultural beliefs, presents the most meaningful circle of art collaboration yet to be formed in the larger region. The effects of this simple act will be long felt, enlightening the younger generation of artists to related histories and current social and urban conditions, as well as providing access to an intimately shared structure of support and knowledge, one that can subsume larger projects, museums and biennials to result in a correlation of artistic evolution.
1. For example Balkania curated by Roder Conover, Eda Cufer and Peter Weibel in 2002 at the Nueue Galerie Graz, Austria; Blood and Honey: Future's in the Balkans curated by Harold Szeemann in 2003 for Essl Collection in Klostrneuburg, Austria; Call Me ISTANBUL ist mein Name in 2004 at ZKM in Karlsruhe, Germany; Contemporary Arab Representations curated by Catherine David, various venues, 2001 – 2003; In the Gorges of the Balkans curated by René Block in 2003, Kunsthalle Fridericianum, Kassel, Germany.
2.The project was sited within the context of In The Cities of the Balkans, the second part of The Balkans Trilogy, a project initiated by Kunsthalle Fridericianum.
3.south...east...mediterranean...europe conference press release, December 14 – 16, 2003 http://platformgaranti.blogspot.com/2004_01_01_archive.html
4.Love it or Leave it, 5th Cetinje Biennial press release, by curators René Block and Natasa Ilic.
5. Sarah McFadden, “Report from Istanbul: Bosphorus Dialogues. 3rd International Istanbul Biennial Exhibition Turkey”, Art in America, June 1993
6.Gergory Volk, “Between East and West: The 4th International Istanbul Biennial, Antrepo, Hagia Irene and Yerebatan, Istanbul, Turkey”, Art in America, May 1996.
7.Istanbul Biennial Press Release, (2005): www.iksv.org/bienal/bienal9
8.Manifesta 6 was due to take place in Nicosia, Cyprus in 2005 under the collective curatorial approach of Mai Abu ElDahab, Anton Vidokle and Florian Waldvogel. Manifesta 6 was cancelled three months before the opening.
9.artist-in-residence. www.sharjahbiennial.org
10.www.meetingpoints.org
11.www.ashkalalwan.org
12. Vasif Kortun, Unpublished text, 2007.
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