Panel Discussion: Contemporary Art in the Netherlands and Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen’s Collection
Within the scope of the exhibition "La La La Human Steps: A Selection from the Collection of Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen", the museum’s director Sjarel Ex will speak about the long tradition of collection making of Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, one of the most renowned museums of the Netherlands. Then, three Dutch artists whose works are featured both in this collection and the exhibition will talk about contemporary art in the Netherlands through their works.
Speakers: Sjarel Ex (Director of Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen and exhibition curator), Paul Kooiker (artist), Guido van der Werve (artist), Sylvie Zijlmans (artist)
Moderator: Çelenk Bafra (Curator, İstanbul Modern)
The panel will be held in English, simultaneous translation into Turkish will be provided.
Thursday, February 16, 18.00
İstanbul Modern Cinema
SCREENING PROGRAM
1395 Days Without Red
Anri Sala, Šejla Kamerić
Screened within the scope of the exhibitionLa La La Human Steps, the two works entitled 1395 Days Without Red focus on what happened on the main avenue known as “Sniper Alley” during the 1395 days between 1992 and 1996 when Sarajevo was under siege. The films are about the trauma caused by the Yugoslav Wars and were shot by Šejla Kamerić (Bosnia and Herzegovina) and Anri Sala (Albania) in cooperation with London-based organization Artangel which has supported installations and films by artists such as Francis Alÿs, Atom Egoyan, and Catherine Yass. Kamerić shared with Kutluğ Ataman the European Cultural Foundation’ 2011 Routes ECF Princess Margriet Award which is given annually to artists, activists, and thinkers who have contributed in imagining and understanding Europe’s cultural diversity through new and interesting practices and are selected from among fifty candidates by an independent jury.
Sala, who won the 2011 ABSOLUT ART AWARD, has been selected to represent France in the 2013 Venice Biennale. Screened in October 2011 at the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, 1395 Days Without Red will be presented in Turkey for the first time at İstanbul Modern within the scope of the exhibition La La La Human Steps. The films will be screened throughout the course of the exhibition, Saturdays at 14:00 and Wednesdays at 16:00 at İstanbul Modern Cinema. Screenings are free of charge for museum visitors
1395 Days Without Redis a collaborative film project created and developed by Šejla Kamerić and Anri Sala in collaboration with Ari Benjamin Meyers. Starring in the project are Spanish actress Maribel Verdú, known for her role in Pan’s Labyrinth, and the citizens of Sarajevo who personally endured the war. The same scenario was filmed as two separate films by Kamerić and Sala. Anri Sala’s film was produced in collaboration with Liria Begeja. Šejla Kamerić’s film is 65’ long and Sala’s 43’. Thus the project has given life to two separate films by two artists
1395 Days Without Redis about the state of mind of people under siege trying to make their way through the city while avoiding the snipers in the hills of Sarajevo. Citizens were advised not to wear bright colors so as not to attract the snipers; hence the title of the films. Throughout the siege The Sarajevo Symphony Orchestra continued to play. In the films the orchestra rehearses Tchaikovsky’s 6th Symphony, the Pathétique. The musicians stop and start, repeating different sections of the symphony, just as the woman starring in the films stops and starts walking. Hearing the music in her head, she finds the courage to carry on.
Consisting of Kamerić and Sala’s films, 1395 Days Without Red emerges as a deeply affecting cinematographic project centered on the tension-packed atmosphere of the siege of Sarajevo and the pressure placed upon the citizens. Showing the journey of a woman through the empty streets of Sarajevo to Tchaikovsky’s 6th Symphony, the Pathétique, the films were shot through the eyes of two different directors enabling the viewer to travel the same route as the woman in two different ways. The project by two Balkan artists successfully conveys the fear the war induced in people by showing how citizens had to walk, sometimes run, the empty streets without being hit by the snipers.
Anri Salawas born in Albania, in 1976. He was educated at the National Academy of Arts, Tirana and the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. He went on to study film and audio-visual arts at Le Fresnoy, Studio National des Arts Contemporains in Tourcoing. In his recent works, which are not as dark as his early works, Sala uses elements such as bright colors, music, and surreal images.
Šejla Kamerićwas born in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in 1976, and lives in Berlin and Sarajevo. After studying graphic design at the Academy of Fine Arts in Sarajevo she worked as art director for the advertising agency Fabrika. In her works Kamerić mainly uses photography, video, and film, juxtaposing social context with intimate perspectives. Public interventions are an important aspect of her approach to art. Her works have been exhibited in Europe, the USA, and Japan and been included in many prestigious collections in Europe. In 1395 Days Without Red, Kamerić re-lives the trauma of the war in this individual journey through the collective memory of the city.
Born in New York in 1972, Ari Benjamin Meyers is a composer and conductor living in Berlin. He is internationally known for his cross-genre productions and compositions that play on the expectations of the audience. Meyers, who has collaborated with Sala before, was included in the project 1395 Days Without Red by Sala because music plays such an important part in the film. The film having neither script nor dialogue, the music powerfully accompanies the movements of the main female character.
Workshops In Conjunction With The Exhibition “La La La Human Steps”
ART STEPS
Art Workshops for Children, Youths, and Families
February 16 – May 06, 2012
The İstanbul Museum of Modern Art has designed an educational program in conjunction with the exhibition “La La La Human Steps.” The exhibition incorporates paintings, prints, drawings, and video installations from the collection of the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
The children, youths, and families participate in activities designed according to age groups and create a project for a port city and work on performances, videos, and installations.
For this educational program, carried out between February 16 – May 06, 2012, İstanbul Modern welcomes school groups every day of theweek except Mondays, children and youths on weekends, and families on Sundays.
WINDMILL WORKSHOP
4-6 year-olds
In this workshop children learn about windmills which have been used from past to present in many areas, and been the subject of many tales. During the workshop children paint windmind models in the colors they prefer and take them along as a souvenir of the day to set up again at school or in their home.
February 18, March 4, 11, 24, April 7, 8, 21, 29, 2012 / 10:15-11:45
March 17, 31, April 14, 28, 2012 / 13:00-14:30
February 19, March 3, April 1, 15, May 5, 6, 2012 / 15:00-16:30
PANORAMA
7-9 year-olds
In this workshop children think about the concept of the city by combining stickers of bridges, towers, and palaces from İstanbul and Rotterdam and bringing together the identities of the two cities in a single picture.
February 19, 26, March 3, 17, 18, April 22, May 5, 6, 2012 / 10:15-11:45
February 18, 25, March 24, April 7, 21, 2012 / 13:00-14:30
March 4, 10, 25, 31, April 8,14, 28, 2012 / 15:00-16:30
MICRO-PHENOMENA
10-12 year-olds
In this workshop children make a video in which they represent phenomena that are small but far-reaching such as the movement of electrons, the dissociation of molecules, nuclear fission, and the formation of the DNA chain. In this way they both reinforce what they learn in school and are introduced to performance and video art.
February 25, March 25, April 1, 14, 28, 2012 / 10:15–11:45
March 3, 10, May 5, 2012 / 13:00-14:30
February 18, March 11, 17, 24, April 7, 21, 29, 2012 / 15:00-16:30
SHADOW FILMS
13-15 year-olds
In this workshop children make new films by adding shadows to footage selected from movies. They complete the workshop by questioning the similarities and differences between video art and other art forms.
March 10, 31, April 15, 2012 / 10:15-11:45
February 25, 26, March 18, 22, 2012 / 15:00-16:30
“SHIMMERING ROOM” and “COLORFUL FEET” WORKSHOPS IN THE ART EN FAMILLE SERIES
İstanbul Modern has prepared two new programs for the Art en Famille workshops for children and families.
In the workshop Shimmering Room families design lanterns and bring their designs together as an installation in a room. In the workshop Colorful Feet families learn about the traditional craft of shoemaking in the Netherlands and make komplens for themselves.
SHIMMERING ROOM
In this workshop, children and their families make paper lanterns and place small candles inside them to rearrange the workshop space with candle lights and their designs.
February 19, March 4, 18, April 1, 15, 29, 2012 / 13:00-14:30
COLORFUL FEET – Komplens
This workshop focuses on the traditional shoemaking craft of the Netherlands. Participating families learn about the original komplens produced in different cities of the Netherlands throughout history. During the workshop children create komplens with the help of their families.
Workshop ¾
February 26, March 11, 25, April 8, 22, May 6, 2012 / 13:00-14:30
The İstanbul Museum of Modern Art has designed a workshop in conjunction with the exhibition “La La La Human Steps.” In workshop ¾, youth between 13 to 18 year-olds will search for answers to four questions in their minds about the concept of “sea” by making three videos. Held on March 17 and April 22, 2012 between 13.00 – 16.00 of hours, the workshop will be held under the guidance of artist Ethem Özgüven.
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