Talk by Başak Şenova

SALT Beyoğlu, Walk-in Cinema

Curated by Başak Şenova and Pavlina Paraskevaido, UNCOVERED is a three-year (2010-2013) research based art project, divided into two phases, and its area of investigation are the issues stemming from the prolonged condition of the closed Nicosia International Airport. The co-curator of the project, Başak Şenova will talk about the project along and the future plans. This talk will be followed by the book launch at Depo at 19.00 on the same day.

Three terms – “memory”, “commons,” and “control mechanisms” – form the conceptual springboard for the project, which begins by developing a space of encounter for cultural producers from across the divided island. Lying abandoned inside the buffer zone since July 1974, off limits for the local population, the Nicosia Airport represents a spatial order generated by 37 years of UN control.

In the course of the project, a team of Greek and Turkish Cypriots was put together to collect data relating to the airport that form for the UNCOVERED Archive. Artists have also been conducting interviews about the airport with people from the island. The project has two phases. The first phase was dedicated to data collection and the development of these local perspectives. It culminated in an exhibition, panel, presentations, and book in 2011. The second phase expands to include international partners, and focuses on data processing and case analysis through panels, workshops, and publications. This second phase gives priority to the commission and presentation of international art projects under the auspices of UNCOVERED, both on Cyprus and abroad, while developing and improving facilities for art production on Cyprus itself.

Curator, designer, and editor Başak Şenova studied English Philology (BA) at Hacettepe University and Graphic Design (MFA) and Art, Design and Architecture (Ph.D.) at Bilkent University. She attended the 7th Curatorial Training Programme of Stichting De Appel, Amsterdam. She is one of the founding members of NOMAD, as well as the organizer of ctrl_alt_del and Upgrade!Istanbul. She is the curator of the Pavilion of Turkey at the 53rd Venice Biennale (2009). Şenova lives in Ankara and works in İstanbul.

The talk will be held in English.