Why Istanbul?
Since the inception of the Caravansarai project, we have been repeatedly asked the same question:
“Why, as Americans, do you want to have a project space in Istanbul?”
To us, the response seems obvious and straightforward enough that neither of us really considered that we would get asked this question so often!
Our story as Caravansarai begins with Julie having first been invited to Istanbul as an artist-in-resident in 2006. In this city she found inspiration and an environment receptive to her artistic projects. Her work with Res Artis turned her into a super-connector and she soon found herself hosting all sorts of people from around the world in this fascinating city. She became guide, collaborator, instigator, chef, and innkeeper to so many visiting artists that she rented a small production/presentation space in the Tebebasi area of Beyoglu. That space was the first Caravansarai.
Anika had been performing, teaching and researching in various Balkan countries, including Turkey, since 2003 but it wasn’t until a personal crisis propelled her to seek refuge in Istanbul that she met Julie and helped her move all of her belongings out of the first Caravansarai!
In discussing the fertility and potential of the Istanbul art scene, we realized that Istanbul is a convenient meeting point and desirable destination for the artists we know.
Even more attractive than its great location is the recent allotment of funding to arts and cultural programs in Turkey. The European Commission and many other European and international funds have targeted Turkish artists and projects in Turkey as focal points for their cultural programs. This influx of funding is especially relevant now as Istanbul is a 2010 European Capital of Culture.
It was for personal, financial, and logistical reasons that we decided to pool our creative and financial resources and buy a space in which we could produce our own work, as well as to continue to provide space for other artists like us.