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Walking in the Periphery: Activist Art and Urban Resistance to Neoliberalism in Istanbul

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 January 2019

Ipek Türeli  and
Meltem Al
Ipek Türeli
Affiliation:
Peter Guo-Hua Fu School of ArchitectureMcGill University
Meltem Al
Affiliation:
Peter Guo-Hua Fu School of ArchitectureMcGill University
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Extract

In 2013, the Gezi Park protests created a wave of optimism in Istanbul – until it was brutally suppressed by the government. Although the ephemeral movement ended without having achieved its immediate goals, it continues to have ripple effects on the public culture of Istanbul. The ruling party, for example, has emulated the forms and formats of performance that emerged during the protests in order to mobilize its own support base. In a post-Gezi Istanbul, however, the occupation of public spaces in protest of the government has become nearly impossible, rendering alternative artistic and activist practices all the more important.

Type
Research: Bridging Boundaries
Information
Review of Middle East Studies , Volume 52 , Issue 2 , November 2018 , pp. 310 - 333
Copyright
Copyright © Middle East Studies Association of North America, Inc. 2019 

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Footnotes

1

Ipek Türeli is Canada Research Chair in Architectures of Spatial Justice and Assistant Professor of Architecture at McGill University. Meltem Al is a current Ph.D. student in Architecture at McGill University.

References

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49 Interview with Serkan Taycan by authors (Istanbul, 2016). Since about a year ago, the author has revised this position. He explains, “I deliberately avoided naming Kanal İstanbul until very recently. However, last year, in one of the walks, we came across some engineers and drill operators, who openly said they were working for the “Kanal İstanbul” project. Since then, the project's existence has gone beyond being mentioned in campaign speeches and media coverage, and has become a fact. Therefore, in my recent interviews and writings, I do articulate the relationship between the canal and Between Two Seas.” Email correspondence with authors on November 11, 2018.

50 Text slightly modified from that in the published web-based portfolio, at the request of the artist on November 11, 2018.

51 Some of the English-language articles on the project include: Doğan, Evinç and Stupar, Aleksandra, “The limits of growth: A case study of three mega-projects in Istanbul,” Cities 60 (2017): 281–88CrossRefGoogle Scholar. Görgülü, Aslı Çekmiş and Hacıhasanoğlu, Işıl, “Water crossing utopias of Istanbul: Past and future,” ITU Journal of Faculty of Architecture 9, no. 2 (2012): 67–88Google Scholar. Christian Keller, “Kanal İstanbul: Pipedream or Politics?,” Institut Français des relations internationales 27 (2011). Kundak, Seda and Baypınar, Mete Başar, “The Crazy Project-Canale di Istanbul,” TeMA-Trimestrale del Laboratorio Territorio Mobilità e Ambiente-TeMALab 4, no. 03/11 (2011): 53–63Google Scholar. Turkish-language reports issued by groups of oppositional scholars in Turkey include: “İstanbul'un Geleceğini Etkileyecek Üç Proje: 3. Köprü – 3. Havalimanı – Kanal İstanbul” Report by TEMA Foundation Report, 2014. 159 pages. Available at http://www.tema.org.tr/folders/14966/categorial1docs/1244/BUYUKPROJELER20032014data.pdf and “Ya Kanal, Ya İstanbul, Kanal İstanbul Projesinin Ekolojik, Sosyal ve Ekonomik Degerlendirilmesi” WWF Rapor, 2015, https://d2hawiim0tjbd8.cloudfront.net/downloads/kanalistanbul_1.pdf.

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