The official opening of the 3rd Istanbul Children and Youth Art Biennial, which began on 15 May 2014 under the theme “Small Is Good”, has taken place after being postponed because of the mining disaster in Soma.
Hundreds of children attended the opening, held on Thursday 5 June at the Mustafa Kemal Cultural Centre with the participation of Istanbul Governor Hüseyin Avni Mutlu, Beşiktaş Mayor Murat Hazinedar, Beşiktaş District Governor Abdullah Kalkan and the Consulate of Sweden.
Istanbul Governor Hüseyin Avni Mutlu said that the works he saw in the exhibition hall were the clearest proof of the heights children’s creativity can reach: “The Istanbul Children and Youth Art Biennial, an event held in only a few countries in the world and taking place in Turkey for the third time this year, is a big step for our country.” Stressing that arts education at an early age matters not only for a child’s development but also for a country’s future, Mutlu said: “Countries with a generation that grows up immersed in art will always be one step ahead. I thank everyone who has contributed to the Biennial.”
Beşiktaş Mayor Murat Hazinedar, who noted that a child’s creativity can only be developed by providing the right conditions, said: “I would like to thank everyone who has contributed, above all the Biennial’s director Gazi Selçuk. It is truly a source of pride that a project of this scale is sustainable. Through art, we can both have a positive influence on a child’s personality and help them protect themselves, and gain the chance to get to know their personalities more deeply. We feel both happiness and honour in giving our children days full of art and offering them different perspectives for the years ahead.”
Biennial Director Gazi Selçuk, for his part, noted that the years in which children’s creative capacity is at its richest and most open to development are the kindergarten, primary and middle school years: “With the right approach to arts education at these ages, children can grow up to be creative individuals. One of the best examples of this is Steve Jobs, the creative mind who changed the world with the movement of a finger and broke new ground in technology and design. Jobs, who was adopted, had an unsuccessful educational career, dropping out of university in his first year. Yet the solid arts education he received in kindergarten and primary school shaped his creative side and paved the way for him to become one of the most successful people in the world. If research were carried out on the world’s most creative individuals, it would be seen that all of the top ten had received a proper arts education in their kindergarten and primary school years. Individuals who grow up and are supported in a structured artistic environment in their early years become adults with refined, cultivated tastes who make art part of their lives and, whatever profession they choose, they become successful individuals who make a difference, good parents and happy citizens. The Biennial, which we are holding for the third time this year, makes an important contribution to raising the quality of arts education by drawing attention to the creative potential of children and young people. With the support of the Consulate of Sweden, we have designed all of this week’s events to raise awareness of children’s rights.”
For detailed information about the Biennial programme, visit http://www.cocukgenclikbienal.org/
The Biennial, where all events and admission are free and which is expected to reach around 70,000 visitors, will continue until 15 June 2014.
About the Biennial:
The Biennial is an art organisation created to enable the 3 million students studying in Istanbul in particular, and children all over the world in general, to take part in contemporary art, to use different materials, techniques and disciplines, and to present their original artistic work to audiences on a high-quality platform. By creating a space for sharing grounded in multiculturalism on a global scale, the Biennial enables different geographies and cultures to be expressed through the eyes and aesthetics of children. Through its events and exchanges, it raises the quality of arts education while fostering effective intercultural communication and the creation of a common language, contributes to the development of young artists and key players in the cultural industries, and aims in the long term to create producers and consumers of arts and culture.
Biennial Director, Gazi Selçuk
Curators: Maria Sezer, Leyla Sakpınar, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Gülçin Özdemir Aksoy and Kader Akçay
Advisory Board: Harun Kaya, Deputy Governor of Istanbul; Prof. Devrim Erbil, State Artist, academic; Muammer Yıldız, Provincial Director of National Education; Berna Çağatay, TEGV General Manager; Beral Madra, curator and art director; Fikret Toksöz, TESEV Good Governance Programme Director; Osman Kavala, Chair of the Board, Anadolu Kültür A.Ş.; Şerafettin Turan, Deputy Provincial Director of National Education, Istanbul; Gazi Selçuk, art director, artist, educator; Gülçin Aksoy, faculty member, Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University; Leyla Sakpınar, lecturer at Boğaziçi University, artist, educator; Maria Sezer, artist, educator; Esra Çelikkanat, educator; Özcan Yurdalan, photographer, writer, educator
