Aiming to bring dynamism to the art markets and growing steadily, ARTANKARA met with art lovers for the seventh time with distinguished examples of works of art from home and abroad, without compromising on quality.
The 7th ARTANKARA International Contemporary Art Fair will be held at ATO Congresium between 31 March and 03 April, with the aim of bringing galleries and artists together with art lovers and raising artistic and aesthetic awareness with the projects and interviews, with 107 galleries, museums, universities, initiatives and projects from 21 countries. At the fair, where more than 1000 artists were hosted, more than 4000 works were presented to art lovers. ARTANKARA, which has become a more effective artistic meeting platform every year than the previous one, has grown by 30 percent despite all the negativities related to the Corona virus that occurred last year and continues. Last year, 18,500 people visited the fair under pandemic conditions and social distance rules. This year, 28,500 people visited despite the ongoing pandemic conditions. 25 talks, 22 events, 4 Contemporary Art Projects and 2 Social responsibility projects were held at the fair, where art, artists and works of art were discussed in various dimensions.
ARTANKARA 2020 determined the theme of its competition among young people as “Paradox”. “Paradox”, Art is paradoxical by nature. Not only does it reflect the present, but the art of the future is also created. The artist makes artistic inferences from the tensions between beautiful and ugly, right and wrong, what is and what is to come, and the perception of reality. The works submitted within the scope of the “Paradox” themed competition for young people were evaluated by the selection committee and 15 of them were exhibited in the special section in 2021.
The fair opened with a preview on March 31, 2021 at 16:00 and continued with a cocktail after the opening ceremony at 19:00. The awards traditionally given by the fair in 3 categories found their owners. The fair met with art lovers between 31 March and 03 April between 10.00 and 20.00.
Artankara Chairman of the Board of Directors Bilgin Aygül and Prof.Dr. gave information about the fair in their opening speeches. After Hasan Pekmezci, UPSD World President, Painter Bedri Baykam, Ato President Mr. Gürsel Baran, Ankara Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Mr. Mansur Yavaş and Republic of Turkey Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism Mr. Özgül Özkan Yavuz made the opening speeches, and then the award ceremony started. With the presentation of the award artists and institutions by Prof. Dr. Hasan Pekmezci, the Collector of the Institutional Honor Award for Contribution to Art was presented to Ankara Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Mr. Murat Balkan, whom we lost in a traffic accident last year while continuing his museum work. The Artist Honor Award was given by Mansur Yavaş to his daughter Naz Balkan Gürses, the Artist Honor Award was given to Prof. Dr. Kıymet Giray by the Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey, Mr. Özgül Özkan Yavuz, on behalf of Mehmet Güleryüz, and the Institution Honor Award was given to Prof. Dr. Kıymet Giray, on behalf of the Ankara Painting and Sculpture Museum, by ATO President Mr. It was presented to the Museum Director Mr. Erdem Akkurt by Gürsel Baran.
The opening of the fair, which took place at Ato Congresium, was attended by more than four thousand guests, and contemporary art works were watched with interest.