26 Mar 2013

Call for Artists / Plato Sanat Artist-in-Residency Programme, İstanbul

Balat? / Plato Sanat Artist-in-Residency Programme

Plato Sanat, an important space for contemporary art in İstanbul, is offering visual artists the possibility to participate in its new residence program. The Plato Sanat Residence Program will host artists for the duration of 6 weeks, giving them the opportunity for artistic research and production in a professional and institutional environment.

The Plato Sanat Residence Program is thematic. Each year, an overall topic of research will be given. The artistic research and production done during the participation in the program shall contribute to ongoing urgent discussions concerning contemporary urban life in Istanbul.

Balat?
Plato Sanat, in its first residency project, deal with urban regeneration projects in Istanbul and specifically in Balat, which is the historical area that Plato Sanat is located in. İstanbul is currently on the agenda with the reactions and protests against the many urban regeneration projects and the methods of these regeneration projects. Using the potential earthquake in Istanbul as a justification, many urban regeneration projects are prepared and realized for neighborhoods that host historic and cultural diversities. Balat, where Plato Sanat is located, is one of these areas that has been subjected to these practices.

It is expected of the artists who participate in the residency program to research the urban regeneration, the social and historical diversity that Balat hosts and to integrate Balat's urban structure and architectural features, socio-political reality and social facts into their production.