ISTANBUL
The seventh International Istanbul Children and Youth Art Biennial has kicked off, featuring 5,270 projects of some 5,250 children and young people around the theme of “Hope” this year.
The biennial, one of the largest children’s and youth art events in the world, is being organized with the support of the Education Ministry, the Culture and Tourism Ministry, the Istanbul Municipality, local municipalities, academic circles and more than 40 NGOs.
Venues such as İstiklal Art Gallery, City Lines Ferries, Kadıköy and Beşiktaş Pier Square will host the biennial.
Beyoğlu Mayor İnan Güney, NGO representatives and art lovers attended the opening event held on April 25 at the Beyoğlu Municipality İstiklal Art Gallery.
Making the opening speech, Beyoğlu Mayor İnan Güney said: “We are proud to hold the opening of the International Children and Youth Art Biennial, which we organized for the seventh time this year, in Beyoğlu, the heart of Istanbul. Art is an indispensable element of Beyoğlu identity. Our goal is to provide a suitable environment for you, with the awareness that creative ideas will flourish in a free atmosphere. You will be the architects of a productive, creative and young Beyoğlu, and we are the ones who will encourage and support you.”
“Together, we will overcome the obstacles that prevent all children and young people from carrying out cultural and artistic activities. With investment and cooperation, we will make Beyoğlu the heart of art and culture,” he added.
Stating that they aim to bring children’s artistic projects together with the world of adults, the biennial director, Naci Selçuk, said: “Nearly 5250 children developed 5270 projects related to hope. We will organize the biennial on stages that we will set up in Beşiktaş MKM, Beyoğlu İstiklal Art Gallery, city ferries, Kadıköy and Beşiktaş and we will present children’s music and stage performances to the audience.”
Esra Özkan, the curator of this year’s biennial, stated that they set out with the theme of “Hope” and said, “This year, we set out on a journey together with children and young people to imagine the near future. We embarked on this journey by including different fields of science and art. You will see the works of many young people and children for a month. Hunger, famine, world, ecology, sustainability and wars were on our agenda, but our goal is to find out how we should hope for the future. Because there is always hope,” she said.
The seventh International Istanbul Children and Youth Art Biennial will continue through May 23.