Life in the UK: Osman Bozkurt & Didem Özbek of PiST/// at Castlefield Gallery

Posted by Katy Cowan in Events on Wednesday 7th September 2011. Tagged with Manchester, Art.

Castlefield Gallery is pleased to present Life in the UK, a debut UK commission by Istanbul based artists Osman Bozkurt and Didem Özbek of PiST/// for the Asia Triennial Manchester 2011. As the only artists to participate in the Triennial from Turkey, this project focuses on the issue of freedom of travel exploring one of the most salient issues of our time; the migration of people from one place to other parts of the world.

For this ambitious multi artform project, Bozkurt and Özbek will transform the gallery into a temporary VISA application centre using the exterior and interior of the gallery as a mechanism to explore real stories fused with history and fiction. Examining the growth of the VISA ‘industry’ in Istanbul as its starting point, the project that combines the theatrical and participatory with installation and film, and will explore the radical impact that migration has had on demography, identity, politics, global economic changes, community and belonging.

This exhibition is co-curated by Lora Sariaslan, curator at Istanbul Modern and Castlefield Gallery.

Osman Bozkurt b. Istanbul 1970 is a photographer and video artist. He was recently featured in the Independent newspaper as one of the world’s ‘up and coming international artists’, nominated by Alistair Hicks, art advisor for the Deutsche Bank Collection. His work has been exhibited at the Tate Modern; Platform Garanti Contemporary Art Centre, Istanbul; Villa Manin Centro d’Arte Contemporanea, Udine; Palais des Beaux-Arts, Lille; Frieze Art Fair, 2008 among many others.

Didem Özbek b. 1970 lives and works in Istanbul. Her work has been exhibited at Akbank Sanat, Istanbul; Umetnostna Galerija Maribor, Slovenia; International Design Centre Nagoya, Japan among others. She also developed and created other conceptual projects for PiST/// such as Artist Information, Tea Stand and White Sugar Cube Book.

PiST/// is an interdisciplinary project space that creates new platforms for discourse and presentation from young and emerging artists, writers, critics, architects or musicians to generate an international dynamic in the art scene of Istanbul and Turkey. Located on 3 neighbouring shop fronts in Pangalti, Istanbul, PiST/// is an independent project run by artists Didem Özbek and Osman Bozkurt founded in May 2006.

Asia Triennial Manchester 2011 (ATM11) The UK’s only Asian Art Triennial opens 1 October – 27 November 2011 in Manchester. Initiated and led by Shisha, ATM11 will showcase current contemporary visual art and craft from Asia. ATM11 is a festival of visual culture that features a series of exhibitions, commissions and interventions by international and UK artists exploring the theme of Time and Generation, presenting new site-specific work alongside work not seen before in the UK, and challenging stereotypical viewpoints of contemporary Asian artistic practice.

via Life in the UK: Osman Bozkurt & Didem Özbek of PiST/// at Castlefield Gallery | North West | Creative Boom Magazine.