By Nazli Gurlek
I am writing as part of an independent group composed of artists, curators and critics working in Istanbul that set out to take action against Istanbul Bilgi University’s decision to auction off part of its collection.
The Santralistanbul complex, part of the Istanbul Bilgi University campus, was set up in 2007 in a former power plant in the city’s Eyüp neighbourhood. The complex featured a museum of contemporary art, an energy museum and a cultural and educational centre. The government had rented the power plant to Bilgi University on the condition that the building be used as an energy museum and contemporary art museum. It hosted exhibitions from Centre Pompidou, ZKM in Karlsruhe and MUSAC in León, among others, as well as ambitious local exhibitions.
However, after a rather combative change of ownership the university has recently decided to dissolve its Santralistanbul Museum of Contemporary Art, and to liquidate its collection. The local auction house Maçka Mezat, which has taken up the sale scheduled on February 17, makes no reference to the origin of the works, only referring to them as: ‘The private collection comprises important works by prominent Turkish modern and contemporary artists.’ This sale includes part of the museum collection with important pieces by Sarkis, Yuksel Arslan, Kemal Onsoy, Alaeddin Aksoy, Canan Tolon, Selma Gurbuz, Burhan Uygur, Mehmet Guleryuz, Nil Yalter, Mithat Sen and Ayse Erkmen.
We believe that this is not a simple case of deaccession. The issue is whether works donated or sold to a museum that set out to provide public access to a collection of 20th-century art in Turkey, while ensuring its preservation, could be reverted to the private domain. The collection was formed for a public institution that would not only act as a depository of the country’s recent art history but also provide scholarship in the context of an academic institution. Unfortunately, neither has materialized.
We are reaching out to promote an ethical debate around the university’s decision, and to seek means of keeping the collection in the public domain. You can show your support for the case through signing the petition and sharing it. Please see here for more information.