Today, in our world that has fallen into a deep silence, we all experience together, under the shadow of the pandemic, how dystopia feels. Are we really already in a dystopia? After all, won’t it only be when the lives of the old, weak, and ill are no longer deemed worth the trouble of such difficult measures as we find ourselves undergoing in the current pandemic that we will truly be living in a dystopia? If though dystopia is here and now, could we have even gained something from it (even while tragically mourning and commemorating the victims of the pandemic)? Is there some raw and painful truth that we can embrace even because of it? Is there any way imaginable to claw ourselves back from the edge of it? In the Distopya Sound Art Istanbul 2021, we defy dystopias homeopathically by daring you to revel in them.
Embarking on its second edition, Distopya Istanbul 2021 strives to fulfill its mission to bring sound art to the fore internationally. The festival made its Istanbul debut in 2019, hosting a series of events including exhibitions, electronic music, electroacoustic concerts, and an algorave with the participation of nearly twenty artists from the local and international scene. The exhibitions section of the 2019 edition was privileged to host artworks from Ipek Gorgun, Golo Föllmer, Gürkan Mıhçı, Georg Klein, Selçuk Artut, Society for Non-trivial Pursuits, Mario Asef, and Kirsten Reese among others.
Even under the current pandemic circumstances, this year’s festival’s ambition is to continue its presence on the Istanbul cultural landscape by exhibiting sound artworks (with necessary safety measures) in the Akbank Sanat Building (www.akbanksanat.com), Istanbul, among other possible venues and events, between 9th of March – 15th of June 2021. Located on Istiklal Street, the busiest street in Istanbul, the exhibition will take place in Akbank Sanat’s two main exhibition halls.
Curators
Selçuk Artut and Jeremy Woodruff