Out of the blue, I was invited by curator Tima Jam and Blue Rhino Art Consultancy to join a three weeks residency in Istanbul, ending with a group exhibition. It didn't take me long to accept.
There were 22 other artists from 11 different countries invited. We were supposed to live and work at Vialand Palace Hotel for two weeks. The last week was dedicated to installing our works at a gallery in the Akaratler building in central Istanbul and for the opening. During the stay, there also were several activities planned for us. All costs were handled by the organiser, but we were expected to donate a minimum of our works to their art collection.
Tima met me at the airport, which was a surprise and a relief. Vialand Palace Hotel is a huge hotel with spacious rooms that we shared two by two. It is located a 30-40 minutes taxi ride outside central Istanbul. On top is a shopping mall, and next to it is an amusement park. It was surreal to stay in such an environment for three weeks, but very enjoyable and interesting.
I loved the terrace outside my room. Often I would sit under the huge pillars looking out of the valley and the buildings on the other side. I also used it as my studio space.
One of the first days, me and some of my new friends went downtown to see the sights.
A large storage room was at our disposal for use as studio space. A few of us instead used our rooms. They were all very close by, and every time I would go to the restaurant for a meal, I passed the studio and chatted with some of the other artists. We got to know each other quickly, thanks to the hospitality and warm atmosphere of Tima Jam and her crew.
The community in the group developed quickly. Maybe one reason for that was that the hotel didn't have a bar or serve alcohol, so we had a lot of parties in our rooms that were almost as big suits. Dancing and singing were strongly encouraged.
But we worked too. Here are images and a video of some of the artists in the studio.
