Helikon Art Center

Helikon Director Alp Aslan made an agreement with organiser of the residency Mrs. Olga Sukha concerning partnership and exchange programme between Helikon & MC6.

As we announced before, installation and performance were held on International Women Day with Orhan Özçalık and performance artist Sibel Talas.

Art event is supported by Municipality of Izmit.

For further details, please click here.

In many countries of the world, particularly in the Middle Eastern ones, women face violence in the name of ‘honour’ and thousands of them are murdered by men. Official records in Turkey suggest that 200 women were murdered in 2020. Unoffical and unregistered murders are estimated to be much more. 

This Project, which aims to raise awareness on this issue, employs shoes as representation of women.  200 pairs of shoes symbolising victims will be exhibited in open space. Only first names of the victims will be demonstrated. These shoes will be collected by sensitive women after an open call on social media.

Why shoes?

Shoes, regardless of their preference, demonstrate the wearer’s identity. They make a mark. And these marks include ‘fragments’ of her identity. They even give clues about her mood (fear, joy, grief…). Shoes, particularly women shoes do talk. The sound of walking shoes in fact tell a person’s life story. They express emotions transiently. Therefore, this project will employ sounds of shoes and more sound effects in order to tell victims’ life stories. The exhibition will take place on a public space, in front of the Izmit Municipality building.

If you’d like to support to our project, please take photo of a woman shoe in the main square of your city and send us until March 8th.

Helikon Contemporary Art Center offers workshops for the students of Fine Arts Faculties, Departments of Painting and Sculpture for free. Vacancies are the following:

1- Full package (workshop participation, accomodation in two-bed bungalows) for 4 students.

2- Daily package (workshop participation) for 4 students.

Total 4 weeks between November 15th and December 15th, 2020. Cooking opportunity is available for participants as open kitchen. For applications please contact with us until November 10th, 2020.

We have cancelled/suspended all acitivies due to the Covid-19 pandemic. We hope to reschedule our calendar if current conditions improve.

Please stay healthy.

Meeting with Director of Art and Cultural Studies Laboratory (ACSL) Susanna Gyulamiryan (Art Critic/Curator of the Armenian Pavilion at La Biennale di Venezia 2019). Agreed with an exchange programme in Helikon Art Center for autmumn.

Mr. Özçalık are agreed with Terlemezyan Collage Managers Anna Mnatsakanyan and Arevik Sargsyan to make residency for artists from Armenia in Helikon Art Center.

Orhan Özçalık is in Tehran Embassy of Republic of Turkey, with Counsellor of Cultural & Information Affairs Mehmet Taşkın, Helikon’s Representative & Curator Neda Tavalaee and Kooshk Residency Executive Manager Maryam Bagheri.

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