Ankara once again held a festival-like fair this year; ARTANKARA 9th International Contemporary Art Fair held at the Ato Congresium hosted magnificent moments in five days with the intense interest of art lovers.
The fair, which was open on March 9 – 12, hosted art lovers with 8000 works of art by more than 1500 artists from 42 countries under the umbrella of 150 participants. Many memorable moments were experienced with 33 live performances, 29 panels and interviews, 27 concerts and a fashion show where masterpieces of unforgettable painters were interpreted with fashion.
At the opening ceremony, which started with Ayça Yılmaz’s concert; ARTANKARA International Contemporary Art Fair President Bilgin Aygül, artist Tamer Levent and International Plastic Arts Association President and artist Bedri Baykam took part with their speeches. Traditionally given within the scope of the fair, Hasan Pekmezci received the “Artist Honor Award”, while the “Institution Honorary Award” was presented to the Burhan Doğançay Museum and the “Honorary Award for Contribution to Art” to Prof. Dr. Kıymet Giray.
Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism Özgül Özkan Yavuz, Deputy General Director of the General Directorate of Fine Arts of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism Alper Özkan, ASO President Seyit Ardıç, ATO Deputy Chairman and City Council President Halil İbrahim Yılmaz, Anadolu Organized Industrial Zone President Hüseyin Kutsi Tuncay, Russian Federation Ambassador Aleksey Yerhov, the protocol and foreign mission also showed great interest in the fair, which was visited by the ambassadors and cultural attachés of dozens of countries. In addition, the presence of exhibitors and visitors from 81 provinces of Turkey revealed that ARTANKARA will be a sought-after fair in international calendars in the coming years.
Believing in the healing power of art, many artists from the earthquake region were invited and given the opportunity to exhibit their works.
At the Fair, in which the Russian Federation participated as a guest country, Russian artists performed a concert with violin and balalaika; on the occasion of Pushkin’s 225th birthday, a conference was held in which Ataol Behramoğlu was also among them and Nazım Hikmet was commemorated. In the continuation of the conference, The Poet Who Created The Age; Pushkin Evening named classical music concert offered a magnificent musical feast with the participation of Russian artists.
ARTANKARA 9th International Contemporary Art Fair hosted 72 thousand art lovers
At the fair, where artists from different countries, from Russia to Germany, Korea to Ukraine, took part, 72 thousand art lovers showed interest in ARTANKARA with great enthusiasm. Speaking about ARTANKARA, Atis Fair President, Bilgin Aygül, expressed their satisfaction with the intense interest shown in the fair. “Although we have reservations about organization of ARTANKARA one month after the great earthquake disaster we experienced in February 2023, due to the intense interest; with the motto “We Will Heal With Science and Art”, we opened ARTANKARA by saying “Yes to Art”. We share this happiness on behalf of our participants, artists and art lovers. We are delighted to have brought the arts together with citizens of capital city once again through our panels, interviews, workshops and live performances.” Aygül drew attention to the importance of reaching and sharing art to a wider audience; He said that as ARTANKARA team, they plan to organize events such as Art in Industry and Fresh Ankara in different venues throughout the year.
In addition, we would like to thank BRHD, TÜSGAD and all our sponsors and supporters for their support from the first day.
