Cendere Art, as an inclusive space open to all disciplines of art with a focus on contemporary art, embodies an interdisciplinary approach and opens its doors to make a unique and impressive contribution to the energy, culture and art life of Istanbul.
Cendere Art, created with a vision that prioritizes the vitality, dynamics, transforming forms of expression and interdisciplinary dialogue of contemporary art, aims to be the new culture and art venue of Istanbulites with its programs that will establish relations with its audience as well as national and international exhibitions, panels, conferences and performances reflecting cultural diversity. With its first exhibition “Witness of the Flow”, inspired by its historical texture, Cendere Art aims to bring forward the artists’ pursuit to render physical, cognitive or imaginary spaces their own, through images placed in water as dwellings. Because, just like “Water”, art is the source of life, the basis of vitality and existence, and a means of healing and purification. Curated by Derya Yücel, Ebru Yetişkin and Marcus Graf, the exhibition presents an invitation to where we can co-exist, experience, learn and recall the experience of flow. Focusing on the poetic, architectural, techno-scientific, mythological, political, ecological and philosophical aspects of urban change in Istanbul, invited artists and researchers create a temporary autonomous zone to perhaps make life happier, stronger and more meaningful. While creating this zone, witnessing the flow of life stands before us as an action that requires a lot of attention and is a source of distraction at the same time. In the flow of information, the flow of memories, the flow of time, the flow of traffic, the flow of trade, the flow of energy and our responsibilities, individuals can find themselves floating in these bubbles and as if being carried by a strong water current. The exhibition seeks answers to the following questions: “What can we discover by witnessing the flow?”, “What are those precious little moments made of when we feel like we’re flowing through time without worries, sorrowful thoughts, and sad disappointments?”, “Can we learn and forget about different perspectives and ways of witnessing various life streams?”, “Is it possible to take root and at the same time be swept away by the flow of water heading towards rootlessness?”, “Can we create a decentralized, fluid and shared world?”.
The exhibition title “Witness of the Flow” is used as a reference in reviewing both contemporary art and contemporary life. The artists of the exhibition bring to light the power of the current that shapes our society, in a critical manner. While this strong current flows through the propellers, it also makes way through the streets of the mega city we live in. “Witness of the Flow” exhibition which hosts the works of Alper Aydın, Burçak Bingöl, Çağrı Saray, Dilara Akay, Ebru Döşekçi, Elçin Acun, Elmas Deniz, Fırat Bingöl, Genco Gülan, Gizem Renklidağ, Gözde Mimiko Türkkan, Gökhan Avcıoğlu, Gülçin Aksoy, Gülhatun Yıldırım, Hüsamettin Koçan, İrem Tok, Onur Mansız, Pınar Öğrenci, Silvia Bener, Uğur Cinel, Volkan Aslan, Yasemin Özcan, awaits you
at Cendere Art between 24 October 2022 and 30 April 2023.
FROM PUMPING STATION TO CENDERE ART
Cendere Water Pumping Station, which was built at the end of the Ottoman Period, is one of the few industrial heritage structures in Istanbul that has survived to the present day. The structure which was built during the reign of Sultan Abdülhamid II on the grounds that the main water line of the city, Taksim water facilities, was unable to meet the increasing demand, is part of the Hamidiye Water System, which is the second largest network of the city fed from the spring waters.
It is known that 1200 cubic meters of water is pumped daily to approximately 100 fountains in the city from the Cendere Water Station, where Hamidiye water, which was the “purest and highest quality drinking water” in terms of water quality at the time it was built, was distributed to all districts on the road up to Beşiktaş Yıldız Palace. The building whose 33 meter high brick chimney has been displaced over time has managed to reach today by preserving its original texture to a large extent even though it has undergone changes in certain interior spaces following the transition to electrical system. Although it continued to function as a station until the 1990s, the structure supplied water to only a few fountains of the city, later on. In view of the service areas needed in the city as well as the design of their refunction process, the structure, which was handled within the scope of the works carried out meticulously by İBB Heritage all over Istanbul to protect and reintroduce cultural heritage sites to urban life, was re-functionalized as a contemporary art space and named “Cendere Art” opened its doors to Istanbulites.
