SOCIALLY DISORGANISED

Curator Vasif Kortun
Artists Halil Altindere . Yu Cheng-ta . Jordi Colomer . Daniel Guzman . Minouk Lim . Ahmet Ogüt . Wael Shawky . Kuang-Yu Tsui . Nasan Tur . Matthias Wermke

Opening 6pm Wednesday 18 Feb 2009. 19 Feb until 21 March 2009

Vasif Kortun Talk 2pm Friday 20th Feb

Venue The Iris Cinema at the Media Resource Centre, 13 Morphett St Adelaide. Entry opposite the EAF

Often funny and frequently situationist in character, Socially Disorganised presents video art that activates the city in absurd and novel ways.

"'Social disorganization' means a particular set of conditions that make it easier for crime to take hold in urban contexts. The works in this exhibition 'act out' a kind of delinquency," writes the curator.

Vasif Kortun has invited an impressive array of artists who use a range of strategies that include public performance, tactical collaborations, filmed acts of simple and surreal futility, and the simultaneous use of diverse media.

Image credit: Ahmet Ogüt, 3 spots, 2007, video still. The work reshuffles the huge ‘i love Amsterdam’ sign on the back side of the Rijks Museum.

Total Curating Workshop

16 - 20 February

led by Vasif Kortun
Whilst at the EAF Vasif Kortun led a curatorial workshop that touched upon academic, creative and technical expertise. Total Curating incorporated seminars, a hands-on-workshop, presentations by participants and other events in the broad context of global curatorial networks. Participants included Charity Bramwell independent curator (Melbourne); Lucy Guster Visual Arts Manager, Adelaide Festival of Arts 2008, 2010 (Adelaide); Erin Keys independent curator & jeweller (Adelaide); Brigid Noone independent curator & painter (Adelaide); Melanie Oliver Assistant Curator, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery (New Plymouth N.Z); Karen Paris independent curator & video/installation artist (Adelaide); Elspeth Pitt Assistant Curator, Prints, Drawings & Photographs, Art Gallery South Australia (Adelaide); Dr Melinda Rackham Executive Director Australian Network for Art & Technology (Adelaide); Bree Richards Curatorial Assistant, Contemporary Australian Art, Queensland Art Gallery/ Gallery of Modern Art (Brisbane); Daine Singer independent curator & art consultant (Melbourne); Mercedes Vicente Curator, Contemporary Art, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery (New Plymouth N.Z); Keg de Souza & Zanny Begg independent curators & artists (Sydney); Robert Wuilfe Founding Curator, Landmarks Contemporary Projects, Philadelphia Society for the Preservation of Landmarks (Philadelphia, U.S).

Vasif Kortun Talk

2pm Friday 20th Feb

Venue The Iris Cinema at the Media Resource Centre, 13 Morphett St Adelaide. Entry opposite the EAF

Kortun will also meet with artists and curators in Sydney in a visit organised by Artspace, and Casula Powerhouse.

Media release →

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BIOS

Vasif Kortun (b.1958) is the founding director of Platform Garanti [2001-] a non-profit contemporary art institution with an extensive library, documentation center, artist archives, exhibition space and an international residency program for artists, critics and curators. Platform Garanti was the recipient of the 50th Anniversary Special Grant of the European Cultural Foundation, and has participated in 2004 in Institution2, at Kiasma, Helsinki Museum of Contemporary Art a project devoted to the best 12 institutions in Europe. Platform has recently participated in the Site Santa Fe Biennial. Kortun was also the planner and founding director of Proje4L, Istanbul Museum of Contemporary Art between 2001-2003, where he curated seminal exhibitions of young artists from Turkey. Prior to his return to Turkey, Kortun was the first director of the Museum of the Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College between 1994 and 1997. At the Center, he organized a number of projects as well as the first museum exhibitions of artists like Kara Walker, Nedko Solakov and Boris Mikhailov. Vasif Kortun was the chief curator of the 1992 Istanbul Biennial. He was the co-curator in 2005. Kortun was also one of the curators of the 24th Sao Paolo Biennial in 1998, Tirana Biennial, and 2nd Ceramics Biennial in Albisola [2003]. He has curated the Turkish pavilions for 1994 and 1998 Sao Paolo Biennials, 2007 Venice Biennials and Taipei Biennials [2008]. He was on the juries of the 5th Gwangju and the 48th Venice Biennials, and an advisor for the 1st Johannesburg Biennial. Kortun has been an advisor for many museums including the Walker Art Center; Museum of Modern Art, New York, VanAbbe Museum, Eindhoven; The Israel Museum amongst others. He has curated and co-curated exhibitions at Apex Art, Museum of Contemporary Art Rome, IFA, Berlin & Stuttgart, Saitama Museum of Modern Art, De Appel, Amsterdam and many other places. His texts have appeared in many different books, magazines and exhibition catalogs. Jahresring 51: Szene Turkei: Abseits aber Tor, a book on Turkey co-authored with Erden Kosova was published in 2004. Kortun received the 9th annual Award for Curatorial Excellence given by the Center for Curatorial Studies in 2006.

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Presented by the Experimental Art Foundation, in association with the BAFF2009 (BigPond Adelaide Film Festival), and supported by the Visual Arts Board of the Australia Council. Curated by Vasif Kortun.