2011 Istanbul in retrospective

The main issues that took over the minds and actions of Istanbulites in the past, or better said the passing year 2011 can be shortly summarized under the headings of Transformation, Art and Protests. If we settle on approximately such headings, we shall then proceed to scrutinize what sequence of events have shaped them.  

Transformation

Towards the end of 2011 we witnessed - and some experienced -  the unfortunate earthquake disaster in Turkey. Such a catastrophic but natural (in the sense of by nature!) transformation of cities, villages and lifes, immediately had it's ripples in the minds of many Istanbulites and gave way to contemplations on man made transformation of cities and of course of Istanbul. It would be for the better if this contemplation on transformation of Istanbul had only given way to actions such as rendering the buildings in the city earthquake-proof...However this was neither the only action taken nor the primary agenda.

Istanbul and its various districts have already been undergoing a process gentrification and if I might say art-ification. In 2011, the acceleration of these processes were visibly observed. The city-scape of Istanbul quickly transformed and is still transforming with Manhattan style residential skyscrapers popping up in various parts of the city - and in some cases replacing the old-fashioned buildings and whole neighborhoods-; with an increased number of shopping malls reversely proportionate to the number of real public spaces. These changes and dicussions about them frequently made the headline news in 2011; and sometimes it was impossible to avoid having nightmares of a dystopian sceneraio where the bird is caged within a golden cage - but this does not change the fact that actually the bird is  'caged'….      

Art

With the Istanbul Biennial in 2011 and it's satellite events, perhaps Istanbul came to the foreground art-wise in 2011 even more than it had in 2010. Under some circumstances, the newly opened galleries in certain districts took the initiation step into the gentrification of those neighborhoods, while some really integrated art into the everyday life of those whose life had so far been quite distanced from it. Also the economic market in 2011 seemed to grasp the real (or speculative?) value of art and how it can put art to use within its mechanism. We witnessed new art fairs in Istanbul some of which will be sustained in the future years and some of which will surely disappear within only a few years. Art became a hot topic of discussion in Istanbul for both the trend-followers and more politically charged ones since censorship in art also had a role in the 2011 play of Istanbul. Art sometimes became the shelter for political dissidents and at other times it had the face of capitalism; it was also occasionaly put into the service of the public while it was commonly consumed on the tables of the elites!

2011 Istanbul in retrospective

Protests

If the glass is half full than one can say that Istanbulites became more familiar with taking social action in the streets and making their voice and demands be heard - also facilitated by the means of social media. Yet if the glass is half empty, there were unfortunatelly still many reasons that caused people to protest in the streets (perhaps this was part of the zeitgeist since occupy movements took shape and accelerated in 2011 all over the world). Here are some examples of what people protested against and for: the ban on internet, violence against women, unplanned and irregular urbanization, civil rights, ethnic equality, thought crimes…And Istanbulites in 2011 developed pretty creative strategies of protesting like kissing in buses!