5 women transforming the Istanbul art scene
From gallerists to curators, these Turkish trailblazers are shaking things up
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After nearly 10 years working in galleries, auction houses and arts editorial in London, I had built a strong network and a good understanding of the London art scene. Moving to Istanbul meant starting all over again — which was daunting to say the least. But little by little I’ve found my groove and a new network of brilliant women bossing it in the arts.
I still have a ton to learn but discovering this new world filled with incredible galleries, artists, curators and collectors has been one of the greatest joys of moving abroad.
In celebration of International Women’s Day, I sat down with five inspiring women at the top of their game. We discussed passions, ambitions and the ways in which they are driving change in the art world. It has fuelled my fire — I hope it does yours!
Eda Kehale Argün
Christie’s representative and independent art consultant
A representative of Christie’s and an independent art consultant, Kehale Argün is committed to increasing the exchange and dialogue between the Turkish art and luxury markets and their international counterparts. ‘This would strengthen and further internationalize our market, and hopefully increase awareness of Turkish artists and culture in the global art community,’ she says.
In recent years, Kehale Argün has driven several projects that have done just that. Among them was Istanbul Calling, a charitable initiative spearheaded by Christie’s and the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV) to celebrate the latter’s 50th anniversary and benefit its new Young Artists Fund. ‘Its other principal goal was to promote Turkish contemporary artists on the international stage,’ she adds.
And that it did. Eight works out of the 23 donated by Turkish artists were bought by international collectors, and many more received bids from collectors all over the world. The event also set a cluster of new auction records — for Hera Büyüktaşçıyan, Burçak Bingöl and Ahmet Doğu İpek, among others.
Ezgi Yıldız
Co-founder & director of Kairos Gallery
Yıldız has long had a different vision for what a gallery could be. ‘I started as an artist’s assistant right after graduating college,’ she says. ‘Assisting the artist’s production and being on the journey of an artwork from the workshop to the audience and then to the collector taught me a lot about my current mission.’
She later worked as an archivist at Galeri Baraz, one of the first galleries in Turkey, and as the director of leading contemporary art galleries and spaces across Istanbul, including Martch Art Project and Uniq. In 2022 she co-founded Kairos Gallery with Cihan Kurt. The gallery was born, she says, from a desire to change the traditional power dynamics between the gallery owner and the artist.
‘Instead of focusing on the traditional artist and production-oriented exhibition, event organization and art management methods, we wanted to open up a space for constructive, interdisciplinary dialogues and collective work in the name of accessibility,’ she says.
‘We want to have close contact with the artists we represent, to dream with them and to realize this dream together. I think that being involved in the artist’s production process and the mentoring relationship established with the artist is a meaningful way to build a bridge between the audience and the creator.’
Çelenk Bafra
Curator & director of SAHA and SAHA Studio
Bafra cut her teeth at some of the most prestigious arts institutions in Turkey, among them the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV), where she was twice appointed the director of the Istanbul Biennial, and the Istanbul Modern, where she worked as a curator and the director of exhibitions and programs.
She’s also worked as an advisor to the Turkish Pavilion at the Venice Biennale and as an independent writer, curator and radio host. Her arts and culture show has been broadcast on Açık Radyo since 2016.
Now she’s the curator and director of SAHA, a not-for-profit organization that supports artists, curators and writers from Turkey with everything from their production and development to their network and relationships with international art institutions. It also seeks to integrate art from Turkey into the international art ecosystem. Since it was founded in 2011, SAHA has supported around 550 Turkish curators, writers and projects in some 50 countries around the world.
A career highlight? ‘Conceiving and then launching SAHA Studio in 2019,’ she says, explaining that the initiative provides art professionals and artists from Turkey with a co-working space and curatorial support, as well as a budget for research, production, exhibition and presentation for their projects. ‘And supporting the publication of bilingual art books from Turkey.’
She’s currently focusing her efforts on ‘finding new ways to be relevant and supportive in the aftermath of the devastating earthquakes in Turkey and beyond,’ she says. ‘We’re also committed to reinforcing SAHA’s residency program which hosts international researchers and curators in residency in Istanbul.’
Burçak Bingöl
Artist
Born in Görele in 1976 and raised in Ankara, Bingöl explores notions of belonging, cultural heritage and identity in Turkey, as well as the fluid exchange of imagery, ideas, people and goods that has occurred throughout its history. Through her intensive process of tracing, copying and reworking materials and objects, she challenges both Eastern and Western artmaking traditions.
In recent years, Bingöl’s ceramic artworks have been acquired by such celebrated institutions as New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art and the MOCAK Museum of Contemporary Art in Krakow.
In 2022 she participated in the Artist Residency and Commissions Programme at Tate St Ives in Cornwall, which resulted in a solo show: Minor Vibrations on Earth. It featured a new installation that resembled a kiln filled with clay objects which appeared broken, melted or incomplete. For Bingöl, the action of rebuilding from accidents or mistakes during the firing process is a metaphor for the continued disintegration and reconstruction of cultural traditions and heritage.
In October 2022, Christie’s selected Bingöl as one of eight Turkish artists to collect right now. Shortly afterwards, her Avatar: İstanbul Root – Surrender, which explores the relationship between ‘root’, ‘body’ and ‘belonging’ through the history, literature and flora of Istanbul, sold for £16,380, setting a new world record for the artist at auction.
Gökşen Buğra
Founder of Galeri Bosfor
Since graduating with an MA from Bilkent University in Ankara, Buğra has held leading positions at Contemporary Istanbul, 44A Art Gallery and ArtOn. She has also curated independent exhibitions, edited art books and been published widely in newspapers and magazines. For the past four years, Buğra has taught ‘Portfolio Preparation and Presentation Techniques’ at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University in Istanbul.
In March 2022, she opened her own gallery in the Karaköy neighbourhood of Istanbul. ‘The gallery primarily serves as a sharing space, not a prestige platform,’ she says. ‘The value created by the space contributes to the reputation of the artist and the collector, not as a goal but as a result.’
With Bosfor, Buğra hopes to breathe fresh life into the traditional gallery system. ‘I want the gallery to be a place that makes you feel at home rather than alienated,’ she says. ’I don’t want it to exert power over the visitor, but initiate new encounters, acquaintances, and build its own adventure.’
Rejecting the dizzying rhythm of commercial shows, which tend to open and close in a matter of weeks, is a way of doing just that. ‘I want people to take the time to really engage with the artist, the artwork and the artist’s practice,’ she says.
Her ultimate goal? ‘To secure an international presence for the gallery,’ she says. With new projects in the pipeline, it won’t be long before her mission is complete.