The introductory meeting of the Izmir Mediterranean Biennial, which will be held for the first time by the Izmir Metropolitan Municipality with the theme of “Looking at the Same Water” between 21 March and 7 May 2023, was held at the Historical Coal Gas Factory. Mayor of Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Tunç Soyer, “This meeting will say two short sentences to the world, inspired by the Mediterranean culture: The Mediterranean is harmony. The Mediterranean is hope,” he said.
The introductory meeting of the Izmir Mediterranean Biennial, which will be held by the Izmir Metropolitan Municipality with the theme of "Looking at the Same Water", which marks the common history and culture of the Mediterranean geography for the first time this year, was held at the Historical Coal Gas Factory. İzmir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor of İzmir Mediterranean Biennial to be held between 30 March and 21 May 7 with the participation of 2023 young artists from Turkey and Mediterranean countries. Tunç Soyer Izmir Italian Consul Valerio Giorgio, Izmir Provincial Culture and Tourism Director Murat Karacanta, Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Gender Equality Commission and Izmir City Council President Nilay Kökkılınç, Izmir Mediterranean Biennial Curator Caroline David, Izmir French Cultural Center Director Jose-Maria Queiros, artist Ahmet Güneştekin, İzmir Metropolitan Municipality bureaucrats and artists.
Soyer: “The Mediterranean has hosted the most powerful civilizations”
Mayor of Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Tunç Soyer, “This meeting will say two short sentences to the world, inspired by the Mediterranean culture: The Mediterranean is harmony. Mediterranean is hope. The Mediterranean is the place where the first agriculture, the first settlements and the first civilizations were born. These lands have attracted people from all over the world. Throughout history, people who have flown to this region have of course carried their own cultures with them. Cultures, perhaps all world cultures, were knotted in the Mediterranean, where they influenced and developed each other. As such, the Mediterranean hosted the most powerful civilizations,” he said.
“It will be the product of harmony”
Stating that the young artists who will take part in the biennial will be accompanied by world-famous names such as Sarkis Zabunyan, Fabrizzio Plessi and Mona Hatoum, the President Tunç Soyer“İzmir has been a city of peace where different cultures have respected each other and lived in harmony for 8500 years, regardless of their colour, language, belief and identity. Products with philosophy, art and commercial value were gathered in İzmir for centuries and spread all over the world from here. In this way, a great harmony culture developed in the villages, streets, mountains and countryside of İzmir. This culture is a state of unity within multiplicity, multiplicity within unity, filtered through the thousands of years of history of this special city. We call this harmony culture unique to the Mediterranean, the cyclical culture. Circular culture is the definition of a vision that is based on finding solutions to the challenging processes the world is going through and, while doing so, keeping the universal values that spread from the Mediterranean to the world alive. The 21st Izmir Mediterranean Biennial, which will start on March 1 with the awakening of nature, will be a product of this harmony.”
“Izmir is the right place”
Caroline David, Curator of the Izmir Mediterranean Biennial, emphasized that the biennial is important for young artists to gain an international vision of art and said, "Izmir, with its deep-rooted history and multicultural structure, is the right place to organize such a beautiful and comprehensive Mediterranean event." Kadir Efe Oruç, Head of İzmir Metropolitan Municipality Culture and Art Department, said, “In line with the vision of our President, we are working with the aim of making İzmir one of the cultural and artistic production centers of the Mediterranean once again in the field of culture and arts. The Mediterranean Biennial also serves exactly this purpose.”
Ayşegül Kurtel, the Founding Director of the K2 Contemporary Art Center, gave information about the Izmir Mediterranean Biennial and expressed her happiness for contributing to the organization of the biennial.
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