[-empyre-] The maze of Istanbul.

[Lichty, Patrick]

Great discussion here about the symposium.  I think that my major crtiticism abotu ISEA is that in many ways it seems like the local culture isn't deeply represented enough.   I realize that I have a bias toward Turkish Art, but I feel liek the projects that have dealt with Near and Middle Eastern art seems really underattended.  From this, I feel like there are times that if you just attend ISEA, you could drop the bubble anywhere from New York to Kuala Lampur.  But then, this is also not entirely the case with Istanbul.  The shock of a deeply privatized, oligarchic culture and the political issues of free speech have evidenced themselves in terms of firewalls and the corporate environment of the Sabanci Center.  Not that the US does not have its own problems, like blocking Wikileaks, but these differences seem to be most visible here in Istanbul.

So far, I have found the conferenxce pretty difficult to attend, from the dispersed nature of the venues (I will not get to the communications center), and the distraction of the bienalle just create a lack of focus.

What I would hav eliked to see is a concentration of regional work and discussion more than it is.  There is good stuff happening, and I'll talk abotu that soon