Istanbul Art Space Blocks Its Own Exhibition

Akbank Sanat’s decision comes at a time of increasing censorship, and self-censorship, in Turkey, as the government applies harsh measures against people perceived as criticizing the war being carried out against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in southeastern Turkey. In particular, calling for “peace” has become a risky gesture, as president Recep Tayyıp Erdoğan has targeted individuals who oppose security operations in Kurdish cities, which have brought reports of civilian massacres, most recently in Cizre, in February. In January, a petition calling for peace signed by more than 1,400 academics in Turkey, and by international figures including Judith Butler, Slavoj Žižek, Noam Chomsky, Etienne Balibar and David Harvey, was met by a string of condemnation by Erdoğan, and several signatories have been fired from public universities and investigated for spreading “terrorism propaganda.” All the while, human rights groups estimate more than 150 civilians have been killed since fighting between Kurdish militants and the Turkish government resumed in June. Central parts of cities, including Diyarbakır’s Sur (“walled”) district and nearby Silvan, have been depopulated and devastated, and there are an estimated 200,000 internally displaced people from Kurdish cities.

Corporate sponsorship of the arts in Turkey has long been seen as a potential risk for precisely this reason: that cultural programming could be shut down when it threatens political or business interests. Online and privately, many members of the Turkish art community expressed dismay, but not surprise, after the announcement. A corporate-managed space run by a retail bank, Akbank Sanat has many personal and business links to the government. Additionally, one of the board members is art historian and staunch pro-government columnist Hasan Bülent Kahraman, who is also the CEO of the local Contemporary Istanbul art fair. Additionally, many people in Istanbul have also not forgotten that, in 1993, the art and culture center sponsored by Akbank hosted an exhibition of artworks by the Turkish military general Kenan Evren, who headed the brutal 1980 military coup d’état that led to the execution of more than 50 people, hundreds of disappearances, and the arrest of an estimated half-million people, including many cultural practitioners.

HG Masters is editor at large at ArtAsiaPacific. 

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