Exhibition of Turkey at the 1957 Sao Paulo Biennial

Abstract

The Sao Paulo Biennial (Bienal de São Paulo) organized its first event in 1951 with the purpose of promoting contemporary art in Brazil and making São Paulo an international art center. Turkey was invited to Sao Paulo Biennial for 1953 and 1955, however invitations were declined by official authorities for administrational purposes. Although the art circles of the period wanted to attend the exhibition, the invitation was considered for only 1957 biennial and for the first time Turkey had a presence in 1957 in the Sao Paulo Biennial: Exhibition was carried out with the organization of the Istanbul Academy of Fine Arts and under the commission of Sabri Berkel. Due to insufficient national archives or their being closed to researchers until now, the documents of the exhibition have been accessed through the Sao Paulo Biennial Foundation (Fundação Biennial de São Paulo). Primarily, the artists who attended the exhibition and their works exhibited have been determined, the early dialogues established between the biennial officials and the Turkish authorities were tried to be understood through institutions and individuals and the first exhibition of Turkey in Sao Paulo Biennial was reviewed for the first time in this research, through the documents in biennial archives. Turkey has participated at the 1957 Sao Paulo Biennial International Art Exhibition with Sabri Berkel, Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu in the paintings section, Hadi Bara, İlhan Koman and Zühtü Müridoğlu in sculptures section. In the exhibition, a total of 19 works, 10 of which are paintings and 9 of which are sculptures, by Turkish artists were exhibited. When the works and the anthology in the exhibition were generally considered, it is seen that 1957 exhibition is “under the dominance of modern interpretations”. During and after the preparation phase of the exhibition of Turkey, it is seen that many correspondences were made between different institutions and names. These correspondences provide us with important clues about the possibilities of the arts authorities and the cultural policies of the period. The fact that Turkey declined the invitation for 1953 and 1955 biennials for administrative reasons, even though it was invited, indicate that the institutions were in certain impossibilities. As a matter of fact, newspaper articles of the period attribute the rejection of invitations to economic inadequacies. When Turkey’s documents in Sao Paulo Biennial Archive are examined, it is seen that official invitation correspondences were responded negatively or positively, not left unanswered. However, the burden of correspondence traffic was mostly undertaken by Sabri Berkel and Hadi Bara on behalf of the Istanbul Academy of Fine Arts. When we consider the works exhibited in general, it can be said that, all the works selected for the exhibition are works with a modern artistic style and identified with the art movements of the period. As a distinctive feature, the works of the Academy in classical trends are not included in this exhibition. The Istanbul Academy of Fine Arts seems to have given up on showing that it is a successful practitioner of classical art, at the 1957 Sao Paulo Biennale exhibition. In this sense, there is also a distinct change in the choice of the Academy while expressing itself in international exhibitions. The selection committee, which aims to present a summary of the art production in Turkey and leave a refined impression, favored the new art understanding of the period.

Keywords

• Sao Paulo Biennial
• Istanbul Academy of Fine Arts
• Biennials
• Turkish Painting and Sculpture
• Sabri Berkel
• Turkish Paintig and Sculpture

1957 Sao Paulo Bienali Türkiye Sergisi

Abstract

Sao Paulo Bienali, çağdaş sanatı Brezilya’da tanıtmak ve Sao Paulo’yu uluslararası bir sanat merkezi haline getirmek amacıyla ilk etkinliğini 1951 yılında gerçekleştirir. Türkiye ise Sao Paulo Bienali, Uluslararası Plastik Sanatlar Sergisi’ne ilk kez 1957 yılında katılarak IV. Bienal’de varlık gösterir. IV. Sao Paulo Bienali’ndeki Türkiye Sergisi’ni organize eden İstanbul Güzel Sanatlar Akademisi, sergi komiseri ise Sabri Berkel olur. Bu sergiye ait belgelere ulusal arşivlerin yetersizliği ve araştırmacıya kapalı olmaları sebebiyle, Sao Paulo Bienali Vakfı/Fundação Bienal de Sao Paulo üzerinden ulaşılmıştır. Öncelikli olarak 1957 yılı IV. Sao Paulo Bienali Türkiye sergisine katılan sanatçılar ve sergiledikleri eserler tespit edilmiş, bienal yetkilileri ve Türk yetkililer arasında kurulan erken tarihli diyaloglar, kurumlar ve şahıslar üzerinden anlaşılmaya çalışılmış, Türkiye’nin Sao Paulo Bienali’ndeki ilk sergisi, bienal arşivlerindeki belgeler üzerinden ilk kez bu araştırma içinde incelenmiştir. Resim bölümünde Sabri Berkel, Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu, heykel bölümünde Hadi Bara, İlhan Koman ve Zühtü Müridoğlu’nun Türkiye’yi temsil ettiği sergide 10’u resim, 9’u heykel olmak üzere toplam 19 eser sergilenmiştir. Eserler ve sergideki seçki genel olarak değerlendirildiğinde, 1957 sergisinin “modern yorumların hakimiyeti altında” olduğu söylenebilir. Araştırma sırasında ayrıca Türkiye’nin daha önce gerçekleşen Sao Paulo Bienallerine de davet edildiği görülmüş, 1957 sergisi sonrasında da, farklı kurum ve isimler arasında birçok yazışma gerçekleştiği tespit edilmiştir. Bu yazışmalar Türkiye’deki sanat yetkilisi kurumların imkanları ve dönemin kültür politikaları hakkında önemli ipuçları sunan yazışmalardır ve makale içinde bu yazışmalar da değerlendirilmiştir.

Keywords

• Sao Paulo Bienali
• İstanbul Güzel Sanatlar Akademisi
• Bienaller
• Türk Resim ve Heykeli
• Sabri Berkel
• Bienal

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