We are pleased to present three artists from the art initiative arthere in the frame of the Mahalla festival at the art fair Contemporary Istanbul next week – September 14 until September 17.

A group of Syrian artists, who have taken shelter in Turkey, have come together in a three-floor art center in Kadiköy on the Asian side of Istanbul to produce together.

Syrian photographer Omar Berakdar founded the arthere in the Yeldeğirmeni neighborhood of Istanbul’s Kadıköy.

“The artists, who were obliged to leave Syria because of the civil war, first came to Istanbul in Turkey, because Istanbul is an art center with many galleries and it is one of the best cities for an artist to live in,” says Beraktar.

Beraktar said they would never be allowed to open an art center like this in Syria.

Omar Beraktar will as well present the work of arthere and his work on September 19, 11 am, in a panel of Mahalla at SALT Galata. The subject of the panel will be: Borders, Mobility and Cultural Identity. Other participants are Theo Eshetu, participant of documenta 2017, Pınar Öğrenci, artist and founder of MARSistanbul, Iris Andraschek, former artist in residence from Austria, Costa Vece, artists from Switzerland, and others. The talk will be moderated by Evrim Hikmet Öğüt, Ethnomusicologist, Mimar Sinan Fine Art University Istanbul.

We will be very pleased to see you at Contemporary Istanbul and at SALT.