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    <div dir="ltr"> Datum:     Thu, 21 Mar 2013 03:00:32 +0000<br>
      Von:     serhat koksal <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E"
        href="mailto:serhatkoksal@hotmail.com">&lt;serhatkoksal@hotmail.com&gt;</a><br>
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                                            <div dir="ltr"> To the press
                                              and the public; <br>
                                              A group of activists
                                              protested against the
                                              “Scared of Murals”
                                              exhibition held at Beyoğlu
                                              Salt, <br>
                                              <br>
                                              with stencils featuring
                                              portraits of Vehbi Koç,
                                              Sakıp Sabancı and Şarık
                                              Tara and the slogans “It
                                              isn’t over! They are still
                                              scared…<br>
                                              ”, “We are still here” and
                                              “Waiting for the
                                              barbarians". <br>
                                              The activists placed their
                                              stencils on the floor of
                                              the gallery’s foyer and
                                              gave a press statement. <br>
                                              <br>
                                              They completed their
                                              protest by using their
                                              stencils to paint on the
                                              building’s façade. <br>
                                              <br>
                                              16 March 2013 <br>
                                              <br>
                                              <a
href="http://gozel.tumblr.com/post/45886522633/it-isnt-over-you-are-still"
                                                target="_blank"> http://gozel.tumblr.com/post/45886522633/it-isnt-over-you-are-still</a><br>
                                              <br>
                                              <br>
                                              <b>It isn’t over, you are
                                                still scared. </b><br>
                                              The biennial was launched
                                              with parallel events
                                              featuring the art of the
                                              capitalists, along with
                                              the opening of debates on
                                              "publicness", the
                                              biennial’s main theme.
                                              They try to tame every
                                              artistic rebellion,
                                              bringing protest art down
                                              to their own level. There
                                              has been an attempt to
                                              remove all meaning from
                                              the artistic images,
                                              figures and methods used
                                              throughout the history of
                                              this country's political
                                              uprisings, and to use them
                                              in art performances
                                              directed by capitalists.
                                              These barbarians are
                                              barbarically killing each
                                              of these images; images
                                              that are the expression of
                                              the dreams, carved into
                                              public memory, of a
                                              “livable world, rights and
                                              equality”. In the past, so
                                              many young people with a
                                              brush and paint in their
                                              hands paid the price for
                                              the slogans they painted
                                              on walls with years in
                                              prison or even with their
                                              life. At that time these
                                              “murals” were capitalists’
                                              nightmare, their biggest
                                              fear; now they announce
                                              that they are no longer
                                              afraid of those young
                                              hands and hearts who used
                                              their dreams to paint
                                              those images on the walls.
                                              Even though nothing has
                                              changed, see how the
                                              capitalists have developed
                                              compassion. Today, instead
                                              of beatings they have
                                              chosen love. And they
                                              declare this love to the
                                              world through the artistic
                                              events of which they are
                                              so proud. Saying “How
                                              wonderful for us, for our
                                              democracy” is naïve and
                                              turns a blind eye to their
                                              hypocrisy. Presented as
                                              nostalgic works of art,
                                              these “murals” are now no
                                              more than the memories of
                                              naughty children who have
                                              been brought to heel by
                                              Doğuş Holding. The
                                              underlying message that
                                              the capitalists who have
                                              brought the economy to the
                                              most brutal level of
                                              capitalism are trying to
                                              give is that they are no
                                              longer afraid of murals.
                                              As though embracing the
                                              philosophy of Rumi, they
                                              say "we may drink your
                                              blood but our arms are
                                              open to your love, whoever
                                              you may be". They say that
                                              important artists give
                                              their names to these
                                              paintings and they are now
                                              mere works of art with no
                                              political meaning left.
                                              Time and again they say
                                              that the people who then
                                              made these murals, now
                                              love money even more than
                                              they do. But what they
                                              have forgotten is that
                                              although the people who,
                                              in another time, made
                                              these paintings became the
                                              money-loving artists who
                                              are today slaves to
                                              capitalism, the dreams
                                              that they abandoned still
                                              colour our nights. They
                                              are a legacy; the belief
                                              in the idea that it is
                                              possible to live humanely
                                              still remains on those
                                              walls. It is these dreams
                                              that have brought us here.
                                              It is the fighting spirit
                                              that is carved on those
                                              walls that has brought us
                                              here. These murals that
                                              speak of equality in the
                                              world, that say that
                                              equality is possible, are
                                              now being presented as
                                              "nostalgia” under the
                                              sponsorship of a bank that
                                              once supported the coup
                                              d'état. We are here
                                              because a living thing, a
                                              song that is still sung,
                                              can never be nostalgia. It
                                              lives on here, in us! That
                                              song is still sung by the
                                              youth of today. The spirit
                                              that is carved into those
                                              walls is not that of the
                                              once naughty, now
                                              well-behaved children of
                                              the capitalists but that
                                              of the artists who value
                                              disobedience. <br>
                                              If a bank that supported
                                              the military coup can open
                                              tactless exhibitions that
                                              say that they are scared
                                              of murals, the reason for
                                              this is the politics of
                                              art that has been taken
                                              from our control. In this
                                              exhibition, the best
                                              example of the idea that
                                              “there can be no art
                                              without money”, those who
                                              supported the military
                                              coup try to downplay their
                                              responsibility. We will
                                              not stand for this! We are
                                              still ruled by the
                                              patched-up constitution of
                                              the coup. Our protest is
                                              against the capitalists
                                              who ensured that this
                                              constitution would destroy
                                              the country's unions, an
                                              act for which they now
                                              deny any responsibility.
                                              Our protest is against the
                                              fact that Garanti Bank is
                                              using art to turn the
                                              political legacy of the
                                              struggle of so many
                                              artists who created these
                                              murals into nostalgia. The
                                              capitalists are those who
                                              are really afraid of these
                                              murals and who hold the
                                              political power; yet today
                                              they have announced that
                                              they are no longer scared
                                              of murals. In light of the
                                              parallel events and
                                              today's event <br>
                                              on the theme of “We were
                                              once organised”, we say to
                                              all the artists involved
                                              that we are still
                                              organised, we are still
                                              here. And we say that they
                                              are still scared of
                                              murals. Today’s curators,
                                              these children of the
                                              neo-liberal system, try to
                                              pay their debts to their
                                              creators by devaluing the
                                              past of those who have
                                              suffered in the
                                              unconfronted history of
                                              this country. We want you
                                              to know that we will not
                                              remain silent. <br>
                                              <br>
                                              ArtHack <br>
                                              Emek Gençliği <br>
                                              Gündoğusu Sanat Ve Düşün
                                              Topluluğu <br>
                                              Öğrenci Kolektifleri <br>
                                              <br>
                                              <br>
                                              <br>
                                              <font
                                                style="font-size:12pt"
                                                size="3"><b><a
                                                    href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W735uhGMT5Q"
                                                    target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W735uhGMT5Q</a> 
                                                  ( 16.3.2013 )</b></font><br>
                                              ---------------------<br>
                                              <a
                                                href="http://www.evrensel.net/news.php?id=51820"
                                                target="_blank">http://www.evrensel.net/news.php?id=51820</a><br>
                                              <br>
                                              <a
href="http://www.sendika.org/2013/03/saltta-protesto-biz-hala-orgutluyuz/"
                                                target="_blank">http://www.sendika.org/2013/03/saltta-protesto-biz-hala-orgutluyuz/</a><br>
                                              <br>
                                              <a
href="http://www.kizilyildiz.org/2013/03/saltanat-yklyor-bitmedi-hala-korkuyorlar.html"
                                                target="_blank">http://www.kizilyildiz.org/2013/03/saltanat-yklyor-bitmedi-hala-korkuyorlar.html</a><br>
                                              <br>
                                              <a
                                                href="https://www.facebook.com/AnneBenBarbarMiyim"
                                                target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/AnneBenBarbarMiyim</a><br>
                                              <br>
                                              ------------------!
                                              ---------<br>
                                              <br>
                                              <a
                                                href="http://2-5bz.tumblr.com/post/42398186787/2-5bz-hostmodern"
                                                target="_blank">http://2-5bz.tumblr.com/post/42398186787/2-5bz-hostmodern</a><br>
                                              <br>
                                              <strong>bu bir dönemeçtir</strong><br>
                                              <a
                                                href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOdPx90bQpY%20"
                                                target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOdPx90bQpY </a> 
                                              <strong>ViDEO (2009)</strong><br>
                                              <a
href="http://gozel.tumblr.com/post/19042452309/begenal-logolu-amade-bienali"
                                                target="_blank">http://gozel.tumblr.com/post/19042452309/begenal-logolu-amade-bienali</a><br>
                                              <strong>--------------------------------------------------------<br>
                                              </strong><br>
                                              <a
href="http://gozel.tumblr.com/post/45886522633/it-isnt-over-you-are-still"
                                                target="_blank"> http://gozel.tumblr.com/post/45886522633/it-isnt-over-you-are-still</a><br>
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