Istanbul Residency Programme Guidelines

IRP
Istanbul Residency Programme

Istanbul Residency Programme (IRP) is housed in the same building with the Centre’s exhibition space, archive, and screening room. IRP was initiated in January 2003 and is open to contemporary visual artists, critics and curators of contemporary art. Each residency lasts for a period of between three and six months. There are four studios for artists as well as two additional rooms for writers.

Since 2005 and with support from international arts organisations IRP has been able to implement a number of residency opportunities for artists from Turkey. For further information please scroll down to: Residency Exchanges.


IRP at Platform

Artist selection
IRP do not propose any specific criteria for the selection of artists. All we request is that the following should be considered as a mandate:
That applying artists consider that their practice would benefit from and be inspired by a period spent in Istanbul.
That applying artists are willing to become involved in activities organised by Platform above and beyond their own practice.

Facilities provided
Working studio, library and artist archive, storage units, a fully established common kitchen, computers, a local landline and Internet access. Support from Platform’s staff to help arrange discussion and activities with local artists and universities, implement workshops and organise open studio events. Although not guaranteed, there may be the opportunity to exhibit at Platform at the end of a residency period, this will be discussed with each participant during his or her time in Istanbul. There are Apple computers in the residency floor with fast Internet access and wireless.

Nature of the bursary
The facilities listed above. The funding body concerned provides travel to Istanbul and accommodation close to IRP with our support to locate suitable housing according to budget and other requirements. Unless the funding body states otherwise, artists must provide their own health and personal possessions insurance.

Eligibility
Platform Garanti’s residency programme aims to offer a common and shared base for artists from the region as well as artists from elsewhere. The policy of the institution is based on the guiding principle that it is more important to bring positions together than break them apart.

IRP accepts artists, critics and curators of contemporary art coming from countries supported by the funding organisations collaborating with the programme. (See below) Please note that IRP cannot accept applications directly.

Artists are currently accepted via the funding collaborations listed below. We are in the process of researching further funding bodies, co-operations with international arts organizations and exchange possibilities. For queries other than those answered here please contact:
platform@garanti.com.tr


Funding Collaborations

Department of Culture of Diputación Foral de Bizkaia and Sala Rekalde, Spain (2004 - 2007 - No longer active)
Support for artists coming from the Basque Region of Spain to undertake three-month residency periods at IRP.

Flemish Government, Belgium
Residency support for artists coming from Flanders for periods of three months.

Fonds, BKVB, The Netherlands Foundation for Visual Arts, Design and Architecture, Netherlands
Support for Dutch artists and artists of other nationalities currently living and working in the Netherlands. Six month residency periods available twice yearly. www.fondsbkvb.nl

FRAME, Finnish Fund for Art Exchange, Finland
Support from FRAME for Finnish artists to spend three-month residency periods in Istanbul
www.frame-fund.fi

Iaab, International Artists Exchange Programme Basel, Switzerland (2005-2008 - No longer active)
Support for artists from the Basel region of Switzerland for periods of six months.
www.iaab.ch

IASPIS (International Artist Studio Programme In Sweden), Sweden
Three-month residency support for artists coming from Sweden.
www.iaspis.com

OCA (Office for Contemporary Art), Norway
Support for critics/curators based in Norway for residency periods of three months. www.oca.no

GAI - Associazione per il Circuito dei Giovani Artisti Italiani
Italian Ministry of Culture - PARC (Directorate-general for landscape contemporary art and architecture)
Ministry for Youth Policies
GAI is an organization of 48 local governments with the purpose to support the juvenile creativity with educational, promotional and research initiatives. The association is intended to supply documentation of activity, to offer services, to organize formative and promotional opportunity for young people that operate in contemporary art field.

Backyard Residencies (2006 - - No longer active)
Supported by the Nordic Council of Ministers, Backyard Residencies is a programme for visual artists from the South East of Europe and open to applicants from the following countries: Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece, Albania, Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia. Twelve selected artists will be offered twelve six-week to eight-week residencies at the three independent art institutions in Iasi (Romania), Istanbul (Turkey) and Novi Sad / Belgrade (Serbia and Montenegro).
For more information see section below on regional residencies.


Residency Exchanges

Can Xalant, Mataro, Spain
Can Xalant is the first Centre for the Creation of Visual Arts and Contemporary Thought to be set up within the framework of the region, and was born out of an agreement between Mataró Town Council and the Independent Body for Cultural Promotion of the Catalan Regional Government's Department of Culture.

The aim of the project is to establish the programmes necessary for research and production in the field of the visual arts. With this in mind, the Centre offers the artistic community, and all those involved in the world of culture who so request, the resources they need in order to develop their own projects, with particular focus being placed on up-and-coming artists with ties to the region and to its social context.

Spike Island, Bristol
Spike Island is a place for the production and exhibition of contemporary art in Bristol, UK. Spike Island's mission is to provide space, time and opportunity for the research, production and presentation of practices relating to the visual arts and design.

Based in the city's harbourside, the institution offers artists' studios
, galleries
, Artist Residency Programme
, Spike Design and Print Studio and a canteen / bar
www.spikeisland.org.uk

Frankfurt Artist in Residence
The Culture Department of the City of Frankfurt am Main has conducted a residency program since 1990. The city provides a residential studio and a monthly grant.

Pro Helvetia, Arts Council of Switzerland (initiated by the Cairo Office) (2005 - 2008 - No longer active)
Pro Helvetia is supporting artists from Turkey for three-month residency periods in Basel. The grant covers travel, acommodation, subsistence, working facilities, health insurance, and a small contribution towards a project to be realised with a Swiss artist – this could take place after the residency period.
www.prohelvetia.ch

AIR, Antwerp, Belgium (2005 - 2008 - No longer active)
AIR with the support of the Flemish Government and Platform Garanti will receive one artist per year from Turkey for three-months in Antwerp. The first artist was selected in 2006.
www.airantwerpen.be

Regional Residencies

Regional Residency Program (2009-2010):

Over the last six years the Istanbul Residency Program (IRP) has done much to support the mobility of artists, curators and writers from countries in South East Europe (SEE), the East Mediterranean and the Caucasus regions. Within this context IRP is initiating the new regional residency grants program Creative Collaboration with support from the British Council. Creative Collaboration aims to maximize regional co-operations in particular between key institutions that focus on artistic research.

The program will be managed via a relationship between six institutions that include Platform Garanti CAC (Istanbul, Turkey), Vector Association (Iasi, Romania), Ashkal Alwan (Beirut, Lebanon), Townhouse Gallery (Cairo, Egypt), Delfina Foundation (London, UK) and Spike Island (Bristol, UK). Creative Collaboration grants will be made available to artists, curators and writers from countries in South East Europe, the East and South Mediterranean, the Gulf region and the United Kingdom. Over the course of two years twenty artists will be selected by a jury and offered six to eight-week residencies at one of the participating institutions.

N.B. The program is open to applicants from the following countries: Albania, Algeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, Greece, Gulf region, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Kosovo, Lebanon, Libya, Macedonia, Morocco, Palestine, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey and the United Kingdom.

History of Regional Residency Programs at IRP

IRP continues to extend its focus with a regional component. The aim of this programme is to help encourage international and regional collaborations between the South East Europe, the South East Mediterranean and West Asia as well as increase the opportunities for artists from Turkey to spend time on residency programmes in other countries. We work with countries where the structure for a contemporary art scene is being initiated, but where there are no arts institiutions or funding structures to provide further support at this time.

In 2004 the American Center Foundation (ACF) offered its first grant to an artist from the region and IRP referred to professionals in Albania, Egypt, Iran, Lebanon, the Palestinian National Authority, Romania and Serbia for artist nominations. Following the receipt of 21 artist nominations and a final board selection attended by IRP and curators Jack Persekian (Al Mamal Foundation, Jerusalem) and Gilane Tawadros (Iniva, London) artist Wael Shawky from Egypt was invited to spend 6 months in Istanbul on IRP. During this time he created two new works and participated in the ‘Mediterraneans’ Exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Rome.

For the ACF residency in 2005 the list of focus countries shifted to include artist nominations from Iara Boubnova in Bulgaria, Suzana Milevska in Macedonia, Matei Bejenaru in Romania, Sezgin Boynik in Kosova, Ola Khalidi in Jordan, Sabina Sabolovic in Croatia and Leyla Hodzic in Bosnia. From the 21 nominated artists a board consisting Vasif Kortun, Mai Abu elDahab from Egypt and Branko Dimitrievic from Serbia selected La La Rascic from Bosnia/Sarajevo. La La Rascic arrived in February of 2005 and spent 6 months at IRP, which culminated in a presentation of a new work in the exhibition ‘That from a long way off look like flies’ in Platform’s gallery space.

The third artist to be selected for the American Center Foundation residency grant for 2006 was the artist group son:DA (Metka Golec and Miha Horvat) from Slovenia. The selection committee comprising Vasif Kortun (director of Platform Garanti Contemporary Art Center), Natasa Petresin (Ljubljana, an independent curator and critic) and Tirdad Zolghadr (The Iranian/Swiss curator and writer) selected son:DA from a shortlist of 11 artists who had been nominated by 5 arts professionals from countries in the Eastern Mediterranean, South East Europe and West Asia: Natasa Petresin, Slovenia; Ron Sluik, and Pavel Braila, Moldova; Edward Balassanian, Armenia; Akram Zaatari, Syria. As a result of their time spent with IRP, son:DA produced three new works and also collaborated with Erinc Seymen, a young artist from Turkey, to realise a performance at Platform Gallery. This performance was also re-staged at UGM Maribor, Slovenia in December 2006 with participation of Erinc Seymen.

A grant from the European Cultural Foundation (ECF), awarded to Platform in 2004 allowed IRP to expand its activities in the region that year inviting Nurullah Görhan from South-Eastern Turkey and Yael Bartana from Israel/Netherlands.

Backyard Residencies was a programme of artists’ residences in South-East Europe. The programme was initiated by Vector Association, Iasi, RO; Platform Garanti Contemporary Art Centre, Istanbul, TR; New media center_kuda.org, Novi Sad-Belgrade, SCG. Backyard Residencies was a project under the SEE Mobility Project (Artists’ Residences in South-East Europe, 2006-2007), supported by the Nordic Council of Ministers.

The project was conceived as a residency programme for visual artists from the SEE region who wish to carry out projects of artistic research within the region. The programme was open for applicants from the following countries: Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece, Albania, Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia. Twelve selected artists were offered twelve six-week to eight-week residencies at the three independent art institutions in Iasi (Romania), Istanbul (Turkey) and Novi Sad / Belgrade (Serbia and Montenegro). The residencies was available from June 2006 to June 2007.

After Israel's attack on Lebanon in the summer of 2006 Platform Garanti initiated a collaboration with Askhal Alwan (The Lebanese Association for Plastic Arts) in Beirut to invite an artist at IRP. Lebanese artist Ghassan Halwani was hosted at IRP for two months to work on a project.

IRP constantly explores potential support venues for artists coming from the regions of South East Europe, the South East Mediterranean and West Asia to spend time on the Istanbul Residency Programme.