BEYOND CREDIT

CONTEMPORARY ART AND MUTUAL TRUST
19 June - 25 July 2010, opening June 19, 7 pm

Curators: Maria Vassileva, Iara Boubnova, Luchezar Boyadjiev

ARTISTS:
AHMET ÖĞÜT, ANA PRVACKI, ANETTA MONA CHISA & LUCIA TKACOVA, ARİSTARKH CHERNYSHEV, CIPRIAN MURESAN, CRISTINA LUCAS, CHRISTIAN JANKOWSKI, INGEBORG LÜSCHER, IGOR ESKINJA, IVAN MOUDOV, KIRIL PRASHKOV, KRASSIMIR TERZIEV, LIA PERJOVSCHI, LUCHEZAR BOYADJIEV, NEDKO SOLAKOV, PRAVDOLIUB IVANOV, STEFAN NIKOLAEV, VADIM FISHKIN, VIKENTI KOMITSKI, WAEL SHAWKY

Curators from Bulgaria, Maria Vassileva, Iara Boubnova, Luchezar Boyadjiev conceived and realized the exhibition, "BEYOND CREDIT - Contemporary Art and Mutual Trust", with important artworks of famous international artists. The exhibition is one of the significant events of Istanbul, European Cultural Capital 2010 and it is realized on the occasion of the Cultural Corridors Summit of Presidents and Prime Ministers of South-eastern European Countries. It will take place at the Sanat Limanı, situated in the Antrepo compounds at Tophane.
CURATORS’ STATEMENT:
The Beyond Credit exhibition concentrates on the future cultural implications of the recent
financial crisis. The show is taking its cue from the collapse of the global markets which was
largely due to greed and the abuse of trust Modern credit prior to the crisis was based on
the unlimited trust in the potential of the system to reinvent itself along ever refreshable
investment ventures. The collapse of credit lines and the impossible liquidity of investments led to the crash and the main victim was trust. The Beyond Credit show looks at the financial
crisis as a window of opportunity to rethink the potential for cultural renewal. It is a platform to search for a new culture of trust and confidence that needs to be constructed. What will it be – this is the question – will it be the product of governments and financial institution alone, or will art and culture have a say in formulating a new vision for the future?
The crisis has produced operational necessity for understanding, respect and dialogue. Culture and knowledge of the other are of the utmost importance in this process. We are going through a process of redefinition and the core of the process is the establishment of new “credit” lines of identity confidence… It seems that from the point of view of art and culture the world financial crisis has brought the need for a new understanding of the notions of trust and confidence.
It has also brought along the need to re-evaluate the notion of cultural credit - the “instant gratification of confidence lines” needs to migrate from the domain of the global financial markets to the domain of culture and politics; the new world order will depend as much on more control over investment and the flow of capital as on the mutual trust of the partners as far as their identities are concerned and the lines of confidence staying open. The era of cultural liquidity has come…or at least this exhibition project is looking into the possibility. In the last decades cultures have invested heavily in each other – the process of globalization has as its side effect the Exchange of cultural credit between cultures, art scenes, visions, stories, and so on. It is time to call the bets and see what is it that was invested in the cultural aspects of globalization, to see if there is any liquidity in the investments, in other words – the fact that I know more thn ever before about you will it help you and me get along better and in a mutually beneficial way?
The future of the world will depend on the answer to such questions as: Do I feel so confident in my own identity that I do not feel threatened by my neighbours’ identity? What can I do in order to build up my neighbours’ confidence and trust in my own identity? How can I build up my own confidence in my neighbours’ identity? How can I predispose my neighbour to take a similar route or let me see peacefully his/her ways into the shared future?
The works in the show will engage the viewer in ways critical, ironical, playful, analytical, or
plain funny.