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05Article · Teachers, Families, Researchers

Turkey Needs Creative New Generations

The biennial’s founding director Gazi Selçuk on the place of creativity in education and the aims of the biennial (2016).

Photo: Biennial Archive

A hand painting a face with a brush at a workshop table covered with paints and materials
Photo: Biennial Archive

Gazi Selçuk, Director of the Istanbul Children and Youth Art Biennial, says that many of Türkiye’s problems stem from people not making enough use of their creative potential. He stresses that today a new generation developing high technology is changing the world, and that children and young people must be supported if the same development is to happen in Türkiye.

Gazi Selçuk, Chair of the Board of the Palet Culture, Art and Education Association (PALETDER) and Founding Director of the Istanbul Children and Youth Art Biennial, notes that, besides supporting young people who make art, the Biennial aims to help shape the creative new generation that Türkiye needs. Pointing out that in today’s world the creative new generation producing high technology is changing the world and contributing greatly to social and economic development, Selçuk underlines that art is the most fertile ground for bringing out potential creative talent.

Explaining that scientific knowledge emerges through experiment and artistic knowledge through intuition, Selçuk emphasises that, in order to discover talent in both fields, it is vital to bring out children’s creativity and steer them towards making art. Noting that Türkiye is a middle-income country in global economic terms, Selçuk says that young people’s creative talents must be supported on every platform if the country is to rise quickly out of the middle-income trap it has been unable to escape for many years.

Awakening the creativity of the young generation

Selçuk explains that they chose “Wake-up Call: Good Morning” as the concept of the 4th Istanbul Children and Youth Art Biennial, held this year from 19 April to 23 May, so that children and young people could wake us up to the environment, war, global warming, migration, disadvantaged groups and many other issues, and so as to wake everyone, young and old, up to the world of innovation in which Türkiye has fallen behind.

Selçuk says that TEGV, the Biennial’s Corporate Partner, brought to the Biennial the works of children studying in Anatolia, and Kızılay the works of Syrian children living in refugee camps, and that out of 1600 art projects developed by the 150 thousand children and young people reached, 450 were included in the Biennial. Selçuk notes that the Biennial features the artistic work of 10 thousand children in painting, sculpture, ceramics, installation, video and new media.

  • 1600 projects designed by more than 150 thousand children and young people were submitted to the Biennial.
  • Of these, 450 projects produced by 11,000 students are on show at Antrepo 1 and MKM Beşiktaş Çağdaş, with 3200 m2 of indoor space.
  • As part of the Biennial Programme, 245 workshops, talks, concerts and performances were planned, and they are taking place as planned.
  • As of last week, 45 thousand visitors had attended and watched the events.
  • Next month the Biennial travels to Lefkoşa (Nicosia) in the TRNC, and in October to Hatay.

Note to editors

The Istanbul Children and Youth Art Biennial, organised for the fourth time this year by the Palet Culture, Art and Education Association (PALETDER), carries out its work with the corporate partnership of İstanbul İl Milli Eğitim Müdürlüğü and Türkiye Eğitim Gönüllüleri Vakfı (TEGV) and in cooperation with more than 60 private, public, local government and NGO partners, including İBB, İstanbul Valiliği, Beşiktaş Belediyesi, Beyoğlu Belediyesi, Akbank Sanat, the Consulate General of Sweden, the Consulate General of the Netherlands, Yunus Emre Enstitüsü KKTC, Şişecam Cam Ambalaj, DASİFED, Bilgi University and Doğuş University.

The Istanbul Children and Youth Art Biennial creates a space for sharing on a global scale, grounded in multiculturalism, and allows different geographies and cultures to be expressed through children’s eyes and aesthetics. Children and young people, who have the chance to create in many fields at the Biennial – from performance to dance, from video art to sculpture – are also leading the way in building effective intercultural communication.

Enriched by the exhibitions, concerts, events and workshops of students on their way to becoming the cultural producers and audiences of the future, the Istanbul Children and Youth Art Biennial is followed by a wide audience of writers, artists, art lovers, teachers, students, parents and members of the media. Previous biennials, held at a variety of venues across Istanbul – its ferries, squares, railway stations, warehouses, galleries and museums – have been visited by 160 thousand people.