Rotary Sanat Fonu

Within the scope of Rotary Art Fund 2021, the works of artists Mehmet Ali Boran, Zeynep Merve Çiçek, Esra Oskay, Ömer Paker, Tayfun Serttaş, İrem Tok are exhibited in the “Mezzanine” area of the Elgiz Museum.

“Due to the earthquake in our country, our exhibition period has been extended to May 20 according to the planned exhibition dates.”

Esra Oskay – “Proje Ankara”

“It aims to understand the Ankara and its new inhabitants as promised in the 3D visuals of 79 housing projects for sale in Ankara in 2021. Based on the counts performed on these images, it tries to measure the distance between a utopian imaginary of Ankara in the slow rhythm of an idyllic life and today's Ankara.”

ÖMER PAKER - THE TOWER; THE BEGINNING OF THE CENTURY MOVEMENT

Welcome to the truth in all its nakedness, not yet shrouded in the guise of modern art. No columns, no flexure, no buffers, no cranes, no supports. It was built on raw human beings and no known earthquake has ever destroyed it. Here you are confronted with the reality that today's man survives by compromising himself and stepping on what is beneath him in order to exist within the existing order.

This project is built on the cyclical life movement of the most basic thing in the universe, even the atom. The chaotic distribution of the crowd and the presentation of many characteristic figures between neatly constructed concrete-like floors contains political, didactic and life truths.There are no supporting elements in the structure and each person in the order carries the other floor as if proving their existence for another person.The tower was created in 2019 based on the first drawing, whose philosophy was based on the idea that man gives as much as he takes from the universe, and while Lokhoff's hierarchy tower of 1901, which we can assume to be its ancestor, depicted purely social classes, only class and economic layers were depicted in the illustration titled Pyramid of the Capitalist System, published exactly ten years later in 1911 in the magazine Industrial Worker in the United States.What is depicted in the tower you are watching now is based on the idea that people of all social statuses can experience each different level/class but cannot remain fixed in their place, instead of class distinctions being determined by different levels.As an arabesque approach specific to our geography, it can also be summarized as a world of making do.

As an arabesque approach specific to our geography, it can also be summarized as a world of finding fulfillment.

Likewise, while the tower standing upright symbolizes the continuation of life, the elements that make up the balance, despite all these different factors and political perspectives, have only one basis: the inner drive to live.It doesn't matter which floor one is on: it only gains value through the perspective of the viewer.After all, man exists as much as his effort.

Produced with the support of Istanbul Rotary Art Fund.

ISTANBUL CONVENTION
(Commemorative Coin)

On May 11, 2011, the Istanbul Convention, of which the Republic of Turkey was the first signatory, was abrogated by a unilateral 'Midnight Decree' published in the Official Gazette dated March 20, 2021. This devastating decision is characterized as a historical setback by NGOs and the public opinion in the field of rights advocacy, especially women in Turkey. Under conditions where an internationally binding convention that directly concerns 50% of the society cannot be negotiated with stakeholders, every individual is obliged to bring the convention to the agenda again and again, and artists are obliged to emphasize the context of the Istanbul Convention. Publicizing the content of the convention by referring to “commemorative coins”, a state tradition, cannot be read independently from the debate(s) into which women in Turkey are drawn.

Betting on everyday issues by 'flipping a coin' is an ongoing (involuntary) decision-making mechanism. The ambivalent position of the mainstream media, which portrays the issue as a bet/deal and discusses the speculations on the contract rather than the content of the contract, the abstentionist - indifferent - policy of the signatory countries towards the developments in Turkey, and the news reports on 'Dowry Abolished in Siirt', which were touted as a historic decision (victory) in the national media the week the contract was terminated, are 'everyday' developments that exemplify that human rights cannot be read independently of finance capital. Femicides, which for many years have not gone beyond being 'third page news', are on the agenda in our country like never before. In such an environment, it is not 'fate' that decisions on women, who make up half of the society, can be manipulated so easily, especially through the mainstream media.

Publicizing the Istanbul Convention by monumentalizing it aims to take it out of speculative debates and question it in the public conscience as a whole. Since the Tanzimat Edict, the Turkish State tradition has unilaterally withdrawn from many legal regulations that could be considered symbols of modernization... Political fluctuations that can be summarized as 'one step forward, two steps back' reinforce the feelings of 'uncertainty, anxiety and insecurity' that permeate the public sphere. The process we are going through reveals that we need to take positions again and again, even on the most basic rights we enjoy.

As defined in the literature; “Unlike the coins used in daily life, coins produced by the General Directorate of the Mint and Stamp Printing House of the Republic of Turkey from materials such as brass, gold, silver and bronze and issued in limited numbers to commemorate nationally and internationally important historical, scientific, cultural and artistic events and other events and days worth commemorating and to commemorate people who have made a name for themselves in various fields are known as ‘commemorative coins’. Commemorative coins, which have collectible value, are minted in small quantities and cannot be substituted for money or used in buying and selling transactions. Commemorative coins are considered one of the best tools to represent a country's cultural heritage. The most distinctive feature of commemorative coins, which are minted by the Mint an average of 12 times a year, is that they are produced in limited numbers and remain on sale for a certain period of time”.