Mamut Art Project awaits art lovers from Istanbul and beyond
The 2020 edition of the Mamut Art Project is ready for art lovers on- and offline, at Yapi Kredi Bomontiada and at www.mamutartproject.com between October 27 and November 8, 2020.
Mamut Art Project can be seen at Yapi Kredi Bomontiada until November 8, 2020.
The Mamut Art Project has been providing contemporary Turkish artists with a platform for eight consecutive years as well as holding portfolio reviews, consultations and communications for them, bringing artists together with art professionals and the public.
Last year, the Mamut Art Project was visited by close to 20,000 people. This year, the Mamut team met up one-on-one with more than 250 artists during portfolio days. The Mamut Art Project has evolved with the participation of more than 350 promising talents in the past seven years. For the 2020 edition, there were 1,500 applications from Turkey and abroad, setting a record.
Aytug Aykut has produced drawings and pottery based on the saying ‘Homo homini lupus est’, a Latin proverb meaning ‘A man is a wolf to another man’.
For this year’s project, the five members of the jury selected 49 artists from among these applications. The jury comprises the Coordinator of Visual Arts and Visual Communication design Program Coordinator at Sabanci University, artist and musician Selcuk Artut, curator, writer, and director of SAHA Association Celenk Bafra, artist Asli Cavusoglu, founder of artSumer Gallery Asli Sumer, and OMM - Odunpazari Modern Museum founder and collector Erol Tabanca.
Street artist Kaybid has portrayed animals threatened with extinction, which can be seen in animated form if the viewer scans the QR code.
The Mamut Art Project was initially planning to hold the event in the spring at Kucukciftlik Park in Macka, Istanbul, a location that is about three times as big as the current space. Due to Covid-19, their plans had to be shelved and a revised edition planned. Now, visitors can make an appointment to see these works free of charge at the fourth floor of the Yapi Kredi Bomontiada space, with all the precautions taken against the virus.
The Mamut Art Project also aims to reach more art lovers by bringing the art online on their website starting October 27, 2020 as it introduces young and upcoming talent to the masses.
Damla Bakici has collected industrially polluted water from Izmit Bay and used it to fill aquariums, in a comment on humanity’s effect on nature and our expectations of cleanliness.
“Considering the process we are in right now, we have thought and worked hard on what would be the most appropriate Mamut for our artists, collectors and all our followers,” says the Mamut Art Project Founding Director Seren Kohen in a press statement. “We believe that we are presenting the best possible show given the conditions of the times we’re in and all that we have had to adapt to. We can’t wait to introduce the new Mamut adapted to 2020 and our 49 artists with you with all our honesty and excitement,” she continues.
Kavachi has worked as a dishwasher to survive as an artist overseas. In this display, the hand-stitched lettering says ‘Today I am an artist. Tomorrow I will be a dishwasher.’
Asked to describe the Mamut Art Project in a few sentences, Art Director Tuba Kocakaya tells TRT World that it is difficult to define 49 artists under one heading, as the artists all have their own life filters, their own experiences, their own perspectives.
“Yet there is a selection here that takes a snapshot of ‘now’, a beautiful summary that brings together various perspectives and various techniques,” she muses. “That’s why I think the show veers off the beaten path, and is a groundbreaking one. The artists take classical concepts and narratives and reinterpret them to bring them to the field afresh. I find them brave, and frank.”
Seniz Polat has drawn women with their heads cropped out of the picture in a state of relaxation.
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