In Conver­sation: Ali Akay, Selim Birsel,
Vasıf Kortun and Emre Zeytinoğlu

It was a time of conversation: Why these three exhibition?
SALT Galata, Workshop II-III

Ali Akay, curator of Küreselleşme-Devlet, Sefalet, Şiddet [Globalization – State, Misery, Violence]; Selim Birsel, one of the artists involved in the GAR [Railway Station] exhibition; Vasıf Kortun, curator of Elli Numara/Anı Bellek II [Number Fifty / Memory/Recollection II]; and artist Emre Zeytinoğlu are coming together on the occasion of O zamanlar konuşuyorduk [It was a time of conversation], on view at SALT Galata from February 8 – April 22. It was a time of conversation looks back at these projects, all realized during the second half of the 1990s in Turkey, and uses original archival documents to interpret their stories. The discussion between Ali Akay, Selim Birsel, Vasıf Kortun and Emre Zeytinoğlu will focus on the reasons for bringing together the archives of these three exhibitions and the changing frameworks of art in Turkey during the 1990s.

Ali Akay

Ali Akay has published articles on art, sociology and philosophy since 1986, and organized national and international exhibitions since 1994. His publications include Sanat Tarihi: Sıradışı Bir Disiplin [History of Art: Unusual Discipline] (2011), Postmodernizmin ABC’si [ABCs of Postmodernism] (2010), Birleşmeyen Sentez [Noncohesive Synthesis] (2010), Sanatın Gramları [Grams of Art] (2010), Sanatın Durumları [The Conditions of Art] (2005), Postmodernizm [Postmodernism] (2005) and Tekil Düşünce [Singular Thought] (2004). He is the founder of the sociology journal Toplumbilim. Akay has served as Head of the Department of Sociology at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University since 2004.

Selim Birsel

Visual artist Selim Birsel has participated in national and international exhibitions with media including drawing, painting, installation, photography, video and performance; he began curating in divers institutions and projects since 1991. Birsel worked at Sabancı University’s Kasa Gallery between 1999 and 2010 and is a directing member of BJCEM (the International Association of the Biennial of Young Artists from Europe and the Mediterranean). He has taught studio art courses (at the undergraduate and graduate level) at Sabancı University since 1999.

Vasıf Kortun

Director of Research and Programs, SALT

Emre Zeytinoğlu

Emre Zeytinoğlu has organized exhibitions since 1986, and in 1988 began writing about art. His publications include Sanat Üzerine Yersiz Yorumlar [Groundless Comments on Art] (2008), Uyku Tulumunda Spor [Sport in Sleeping Bag] (2004), Sanatın Suç Ortaklıkları [Complicities of Art] (2003), Kavramın Sınırlarında [At the Borders of the Concept] (with Ali Akay, 1998) and Pisuarın Bir Dekonstrüksiyonu [A Deconstruction of the Fountain] (with Ali Akay, 1994). He teaches Art, Theory and Criticism; Globalization and Art; and Art and Design Culture at Mimar Sinan University of Fine Arts and Eskişehir Anadolu University.

The talk will be held in Turkish.