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x0x An Ancient City in Turkey Finds New Life in Modern Art

By ROBYN ECKHARDT

Published: August 19, 2010

ON a searingly hot Saturday in early June, a small crowd of residents and 
tourists stood inside the entryway of the 14th-century Zinciriye 
Medresesi, a mosque and former medrese, or center of Islamic study, in 
Mardin, an ancient town in southeastern Turkey. Hanging in a row on a wall 
beneath the narrow rooms vaulted ceiling were front pages from recent 
issues of Turkish, French and British newspapers. Each was missing a 
headline, and visitors took turns inscribing their own on strips of paper 
stacked beneath the display.

"Obama, We Dont Need You", scrawled a teenage boy, commenting on recent 
friction between the Turkish and United States governments over Israels 
handling of the Gaza aid flotilla. "Antalya Doctors Arrive in Mardin!" 
wrote a smartly dressed medical conference attendee.

"Mansetin", or "Your Headline", by the Turkish artist and graphic designer 
Hakan Irmak, was one of a number of works displayed at Zinciriye as part 
of the first Mardin Bienali this summer. Video, installations, paintings 
and photographs by 63 Turkish and international artists were exhibited in 
two medreseler, an abandoned mansion from the early 20th century, and the 
citys central square. The bienalis title, "Abbara Kadabara", was an 
allusion both to the arched stone passageways, or abbaralar, that link 
Mardins streets, and the almost magical surprise of cutting-edge art in a 
city steeped in history.


Read the rest at: 
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/22/travel/22nextstop.html?emc=eta1