Ustek Talks about a High-Achieving, Kind, and All-Encompassing Curatorial Practice that is Taking Our Breath Away
Full circle. I didn’t grow up around people who were interested in art, my family was very much working class. But I remember when I was around 16, we were living in Izmir on the West coast of Turkey, I visited Yapi Kredi Sanat Galerisi, an art gallery supported by a bank—many in the ‘90s were supported by banks—and I saw the works of Ergin Inan. I was so inspired by his paintings, his delicate style and inquiry in the essence of human that I used my pocket money to buy the catalogue of the exhibition. Coincidentally, years later, while we were looking to buy an edition for the 60th birthday of my partner’s aunt, with all the cousins together, I did a wide research and found the edition that is now hanging on the wall behind me. This is not the piece we bought for our aunt, but I felt this was a calling for me, I needed to reconnect with my teen-self and with the practice of Ergin Inan. He is very much inspired by Rumi’s Masnavi and this is also what I started reading last year.
Self-exploration. I come from a family of high achievers and from my parent’s perspective, I was to become a computer engineer or work in a bank to secure my future. So until the age of 18, when I started university, I didn’t really have the possibility of questioning that I could choose a different area of work. I went to an Anatolian high school (that was what they were called back then) and all education was given in English, this was followed by Bogazici University (formerly Robert College) in Istanbul. Prior to starting my degree in Maths, I wanted to take an extra year for my proficiency in English. I already had good English levels, hence I was given half a term off by the school before starting my term as a regular student. With that time at hand to roam freely—I signed up to eight different social clubs like fine arts, photography, theatre, mountaineering, etc. And that’s how my inquiry into myself started, finding myself, my voice. And it’s still going on.
Continue to read HERE.
Ustek Talks about a High-Achieving, Kind, and All-Encompassing Curatorial Practice that is Taking Our Breath Away
Full circle. I didn’t grow up around people who were interested in art, my family was very much working class. But I remember when I was around 16, we were living in Izmir on the West coast of Turkey, I visited Yapi Kredi Sanat Galerisi, an art gallery supported by a bank—many in the ‘90s were supported by banks—and I saw the works of Ergin Inan. I was so inspired by his paintings, his delicate style and inquiry in the essence of human that I used my pocket money to buy the catalogue of the exhibition. Coincidentally, years later, while we were looking to buy an edition for the 60th birthday of my partner’s aunt, with all the cousins together, I did a wide research and found the edition that is now hanging on the wall behind me. This is not the piece we bought for our aunt, but I felt this was a calling for me, I needed to reconnect with my teen-self and with the practice of Ergin Inan. He is very much inspired by Rumi’s Masnavi and this is also what I started reading last year.
Self-exploration. I come from a family of high achievers and from my parent’s perspective, I was to become a computer engineer or work in a bank to secure my future. So until the age of 18, when I started university, I didn’t really have the possibility of questioning that I could choose a different area of work. I went to an Anatolian high school (that was what they were called back then) and all education was given in English, this was followed by Bogazici University (formerly Robert College) in Istanbul. Prior to starting my degree in Maths, I wanted to take an extra year for my proficiency in English. I already had good English levels, hence I was given half a term off by the school before starting my term as a regular student. With that time at hand to roam freely—I signed up to eight different social clubs like fine arts, photography, theatre, mountaineering, etc. And that’s how my inquiry into myself started, finding myself, my voice. And it’s still going on.
Continue to read HERE.