M. Özalp Birol: Solidifying a museum’s future
Güncelleme Tarihi:
by Gül Demir - Niki Gamm
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Mayıs 30, 2009 00:00
ISTANBUL -Two years after opening Istanbul’s successful Pera Museum in 2005, the Suna and İnan Kiraç Foundation inaugurated the prestigious Istanbul Research Institute, also run under the steady hand of M. Özalp Birol.
The general manager of the foundation’s arts and culture enterprises, Birol is known for his commitment and discipline, spending 12 to 13 hours a day at work. Just over the last couple of years, his efforts have led to many accomplishments for the two cultural institutions.
"We opened ’Collected Visions,’ an exhibition based on a selection of the most outstanding pieces in the modern and contemporary art collection of JPMorgan Chase, which, as you know, has one of the leading corporate art collections in the world," Birol said. "Initiated by David Rockefeller in 1959, the collection was carried abroad for the very first time and displayed in Turkey."
During the exhibition’s run, Birol collaborated with the JPMorgan Chase Foundation to design a special educational program that introduced more than 1,600 children to the works of contemporary masters, including Joseph Beuys, Cy Twombly, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, Jeff Koons, Cindy Sherman, Bruce Nauman and Nam June Paik.
"This was a very important undertaking," Birol said. After being shown for the first time in the world at the Pera Museum, the exhibition was displayed at the Bronx Museum in New York from March to May 2009 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the JPMorgan Chase collection.Last year was "a spectacular year" for the museum, Birol said. "We renewed the display of our permanent collections and enjoyed the pleasure of introducing more than 100,000 art lovers to a variety of colors and disciplines of art." Exhibitions at the Pera in 2008 included a retrospective of the work of master photographer Josef Koudelka; breathtaking prints, paintings and sculptures by Joan Miro; and the equally striking works of Burhan Doğançay and Jacques Villegl, who mastered the art of collage and dcollage in Turkey and in France, respectively. The museum also celebrated the 30th anniversary of the inauguration of Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University’s Department of Photography with the "Owl’s Frames" exhibit.
Among a year of highlights, Birol points to "The Lure of the East: British Orientalist Painting" as "one of the most significant projects" of 2008. "We had been working on [the exhibition] for over two years in collaboration with the British Council, as well as Tate Britain, one of the oldest and most prestigious art institutions in the world," he said. "As the most comprehensive and outstanding exhibition in its field since the 1980s, ’The Lure of the East’ was widely acclaimed both in Turkey and in the rest of the world. It was, in fact, regarded in art circles as one of the most important art events held in Turkey in 2008." A symposium held at Pera’s auditorium, "Ottoman Istanbul and British Orientalism," drew the participation of many renowned names from academic and artistic circles and aimed to "shed light on Orientalism across a wide spectrum."
Exhibits
This year kicked off with "two vibrant exhibitions," Birol said. "The first was ’From Mekteb-i Sultani to Galatasaray Lyce Painters,’ which narrated the 100-year-old adventure of Turkish painting through artists who studied at the Galatasaray Lyce," he said. "The second exhibition, ’Akira Kurosawa: Designs,’ presented to art lovers the phenomenal imagination of globally renowned director Akira Kurosawa Ğ also known as ’The Emperor’ Ğ who painted his story boards in the production process of his movies. Both exhibitions generated wide interest in art circles." Two new exhibitions have recently opened at the Pera Museum: "Masterpieces of World Ceramics from the Victoria and Albert Museum," which Birol said was two years in the making, and "The Logbook of the Ottoman Navy: Ships, Legends, Sailors."
"The first exhibition sheds light on the history of world ceramics through 115 selected works from the priceless Victoria and Albert ceramics collection." Birol said. "The exhibition is simply breathtaking: The pieces range from works produced in China in 2500 BC to Hebe’s human-sized sculpture, which is known as the largest porcelain figure done in single piece; from the magnificent vase Pablo Picasso made in France in 1954 to contemporary works from the 21st century."Ceramics and tiles are an integral part of Anatolian culture, Birol said, adding that these globally important works "do not receive the attention in Turkey that they rightfully deserve." The Suna and İnan Kiraç Foundation works to shed light on this realm through its Kütahya Tiles and Ceramics Collection, as well publications and audio-visual events. The collaboration with the Victoria & Albert Museum, an institution with a 157-year-old history, coming shortly after the Pera’s work with the prestigious Tate Britain, is "quite gratifying in terms of underscoring the worldwide recognition that the Pera Museum has achieved within a short period as it embarks upon its fifth year," Birol said.
"I believe that through the wide scope of exhibitions and events we have held over the last four years, we have become a competent ’boutique’ museum and house of culture that globally renowned art institutions regard as a young partner," he added. "They can think, ’There is the Pera Museum in Istanbul; we can undertake this project with their collaboration.’ As the Suna and İnan Kiraç Foundation, we are proud of this achievement."As for the second current exhibition, "The Logbook of the Ottoman Navy," Birol explained that it "chronicles the transition from traditional to modern seafaring methods from the 16th to the early 20th century." Curated by Ekrem Isın in collaboration with the Istanbul Naval Museum, the portraits and maps section of the exhibition is displayed in the halls of neighboring Istanbul Research Institute.
Asked how the global economic crisis affected museums in general, and the Pera Museum and the Kiraç Foundation in particular, Birol, who originally came from the business world, replied: "As of the second half of 2008, the global economic crisis came to affect Turkey as well. The crisis began taking a toll on all the profit and non-profit institutions across the world and the problem continues, of course. Some of the leading museums in the world started to cut personnel and budgets; they cancelled a portion of their exhibitions and sought financial support from the state, the private sector and art lovers. Most unfortunately, these institutions have to deal with the economic crisis as well. The crisis hit not only the museums, but also all institutions of the culture industry; it had a major impact on all the players. I find that the current view is not very promising."As far as his own employer is concerned, Birol said the Suna and İnan Kiraç Foundation had also been affected by the global economic crisis, particularly as of last fall. "Due to the problems encountered in the funds and other financial instruments that finance our foundation, we had to adjust our budget," he said. "Nonetheless, our founders are very sensitive toward the continuity of our institutions and have generously granted us support during this difficult time. We were greatly sustained by their generosity. As management and staff, we are learning to economize to the best of our ability to attain our goals and plan our events accordingly."
Birol attributes the museum’s continued ability to undertake high-quality exhibitions and events in the first half of 2009 to "the sensitivity of our founders, as well as our dedication to our cause and the fruitful collaborations with our strategic partners. We all learn new things in our attempt to deal with the crisis."
State of museums
When asked to evaluate the state of museums in Turkey today, Birol pointed out that the Turkish public has not been accustomed to visiting museums. "The increase in the number of privately funded museums in recent years and their considerably noteworthy exhibitions and events has led state museums Ğ and the administrations with which they are affiliated Ğ to question their status quo," he said. "These museums are trying to exhibit their spectacular collections with contemporary methods of display to arouse interest and increase their number of visitors by other means."
One such method is the Museum Card initiated by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, which allows Turkish citizens unlimited access to more than 300 museums and ancient sites or ruins throughout the country for a small annual fee. "We are talking about colossal structures with budget and staff problems; they are quite difficult to manage," Birol said. "There are promising developments, for sure, but there is still a lot to be done, both by state and privately funded institutions to arouse interest and to foster a habit of visiting museums."
The Suna and İnan Kiraç Foundation has sought to take over the Tepebaşı building that currently houses TRT, but the project has been "put on hold," as Birol describes it, for the past four years after the municipality decreased the allocation period from 49 to 30 years and demanded a nearly 100 percent increase in payment. "Then the global economic crisis that began at the end of 2008 was, as you can appreciate, not exactly encouraging! For now, we wait," Birol said. "I have personally witnessed the dedication and sincerity of our founder İnan Kiraç in this matter. I am not certain, however, if he still maintains the same drive despite all the obstacles we have encountered thus far."
The Pera Museum collaborates with institutions that offer art education and provides a setting for young artists to display their work, publish catalogues and hold audio-visual events. "In 2009, we chose to bring to art lovers the projects and works of students across the Atlantic, including those of young Turkish artists," Birol said. As for the Istanbul Research Institute, or IRI, it has already become noted for its academic research. "Though only in its second year, the IRI has become an institution that welcomes hundreds of academics who seek to conduct research on Istanbul," Birol said. "In the field of health care, the foundation not only continues to support medical research though the Suna and İnan Kiraç Neurodegeneration Research Laboratory under the auspices of Boğaziçi University, as well as its collaboration with leading educational institutions in this field, starting with Harvard Medical School, to educate future scientists."
"In short, we have not only shed light on our local culture through the museum’s collections, but we have also brought to life dozens of new projects through our collaboration with internationally acclaimed institutions," he said. "We have adopted the motto ’No stopping despite the crisis’ and continue our efforts with the utmost dedication and speed," he said.
"We opened ’Collected Visions,’ an exhibition based on a selection of the most outstanding pieces in the modern and contemporary art collection of JPMorgan Chase, which, as you know, has one of the leading corporate art collections in the world," Birol said. "Initiated by David Rockefeller in 1959, the collection was carried abroad for the very first time and displayed in Turkey."
During the exhibition’s run, Birol collaborated with the JPMorgan Chase Foundation to design a special educational program that introduced more than 1,600 children to the works of contemporary masters, including Joseph Beuys, Cy Twombly, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, Jeff Koons, Cindy Sherman, Bruce Nauman and Nam June Paik.
"This was a very important undertaking," Birol said. After being shown for the first time in the world at the Pera Museum, the exhibition was displayed at the Bronx Museum in New York from March to May 2009 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the JPMorgan Chase collection.Last year was "a spectacular year" for the museum, Birol said. "We renewed the display of our permanent collections and enjoyed the pleasure of introducing more than 100,000 art lovers to a variety of colors and disciplines of art." Exhibitions at the Pera in 2008 included a retrospective of the work of master photographer Josef Koudelka; breathtaking prints, paintings and sculptures by Joan Miro; and the equally striking works of Burhan Doğançay and Jacques Villegl, who mastered the art of collage and dcollage in Turkey and in France, respectively. The museum also celebrated the 30th anniversary of the inauguration of Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University’s Department of Photography with the "Owl’s Frames" exhibit.
Among a year of highlights, Birol points to "The Lure of the East: British Orientalist Painting" as "one of the most significant projects" of 2008. "We had been working on [the exhibition] for over two years in collaboration with the British Council, as well as Tate Britain, one of the oldest and most prestigious art institutions in the world," he said. "As the most comprehensive and outstanding exhibition in its field since the 1980s, ’The Lure of the East’ was widely acclaimed both in Turkey and in the rest of the world. It was, in fact, regarded in art circles as one of the most important art events held in Turkey in 2008." A symposium held at Pera’s auditorium, "Ottoman Istanbul and British Orientalism," drew the participation of many renowned names from academic and artistic circles and aimed to "shed light on Orientalism across a wide spectrum."
Exhibits
This year kicked off with "two vibrant exhibitions," Birol said. "The first was ’From Mekteb-i Sultani to Galatasaray Lyce Painters,’ which narrated the 100-year-old adventure of Turkish painting through artists who studied at the Galatasaray Lyce," he said. "The second exhibition, ’Akira Kurosawa: Designs,’ presented to art lovers the phenomenal imagination of globally renowned director Akira Kurosawa Ğ also known as ’The Emperor’ Ğ who painted his story boards in the production process of his movies. Both exhibitions generated wide interest in art circles." Two new exhibitions have recently opened at the Pera Museum: "Masterpieces of World Ceramics from the Victoria and Albert Museum," which Birol said was two years in the making, and "The Logbook of the Ottoman Navy: Ships, Legends, Sailors."
"The first exhibition sheds light on the history of world ceramics through 115 selected works from the priceless Victoria and Albert ceramics collection." Birol said. "The exhibition is simply breathtaking: The pieces range from works produced in China in 2500 BC to Hebe’s human-sized sculpture, which is known as the largest porcelain figure done in single piece; from the magnificent vase Pablo Picasso made in France in 1954 to contemporary works from the 21st century."Ceramics and tiles are an integral part of Anatolian culture, Birol said, adding that these globally important works "do not receive the attention in Turkey that they rightfully deserve." The Suna and İnan Kiraç Foundation works to shed light on this realm through its Kütahya Tiles and Ceramics Collection, as well publications and audio-visual events. The collaboration with the Victoria & Albert Museum, an institution with a 157-year-old history, coming shortly after the Pera’s work with the prestigious Tate Britain, is "quite gratifying in terms of underscoring the worldwide recognition that the Pera Museum has achieved within a short period as it embarks upon its fifth year," Birol said.
"I believe that through the wide scope of exhibitions and events we have held over the last four years, we have become a competent ’boutique’ museum and house of culture that globally renowned art institutions regard as a young partner," he added. "They can think, ’There is the Pera Museum in Istanbul; we can undertake this project with their collaboration.’ As the Suna and İnan Kiraç Foundation, we are proud of this achievement."As for the second current exhibition, "The Logbook of the Ottoman Navy," Birol explained that it "chronicles the transition from traditional to modern seafaring methods from the 16th to the early 20th century." Curated by Ekrem Isın in collaboration with the Istanbul Naval Museum, the portraits and maps section of the exhibition is displayed in the halls of neighboring Istanbul Research Institute.
Asked how the global economic crisis affected museums in general, and the Pera Museum and the Kiraç Foundation in particular, Birol, who originally came from the business world, replied: "As of the second half of 2008, the global economic crisis came to affect Turkey as well. The crisis began taking a toll on all the profit and non-profit institutions across the world and the problem continues, of course. Some of the leading museums in the world started to cut personnel and budgets; they cancelled a portion of their exhibitions and sought financial support from the state, the private sector and art lovers. Most unfortunately, these institutions have to deal with the economic crisis as well. The crisis hit not only the museums, but also all institutions of the culture industry; it had a major impact on all the players. I find that the current view is not very promising."As far as his own employer is concerned, Birol said the Suna and İnan Kiraç Foundation had also been affected by the global economic crisis, particularly as of last fall. "Due to the problems encountered in the funds and other financial instruments that finance our foundation, we had to adjust our budget," he said. "Nonetheless, our founders are very sensitive toward the continuity of our institutions and have generously granted us support during this difficult time. We were greatly sustained by their generosity. As management and staff, we are learning to economize to the best of our ability to attain our goals and plan our events accordingly."
Birol attributes the museum’s continued ability to undertake high-quality exhibitions and events in the first half of 2009 to "the sensitivity of our founders, as well as our dedication to our cause and the fruitful collaborations with our strategic partners. We all learn new things in our attempt to deal with the crisis."
State of museums
When asked to evaluate the state of museums in Turkey today, Birol pointed out that the Turkish public has not been accustomed to visiting museums. "The increase in the number of privately funded museums in recent years and their considerably noteworthy exhibitions and events has led state museums Ğ and the administrations with which they are affiliated Ğ to question their status quo," he said. "These museums are trying to exhibit their spectacular collections with contemporary methods of display to arouse interest and increase their number of visitors by other means."
One such method is the Museum Card initiated by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, which allows Turkish citizens unlimited access to more than 300 museums and ancient sites or ruins throughout the country for a small annual fee. "We are talking about colossal structures with budget and staff problems; they are quite difficult to manage," Birol said. "There are promising developments, for sure, but there is still a lot to be done, both by state and privately funded institutions to arouse interest and to foster a habit of visiting museums."
The Suna and İnan Kiraç Foundation has sought to take over the Tepebaşı building that currently houses TRT, but the project has been "put on hold," as Birol describes it, for the past four years after the municipality decreased the allocation period from 49 to 30 years and demanded a nearly 100 percent increase in payment. "Then the global economic crisis that began at the end of 2008 was, as you can appreciate, not exactly encouraging! For now, we wait," Birol said. "I have personally witnessed the dedication and sincerity of our founder İnan Kiraç in this matter. I am not certain, however, if he still maintains the same drive despite all the obstacles we have encountered thus far."
The Pera Museum collaborates with institutions that offer art education and provides a setting for young artists to display their work, publish catalogues and hold audio-visual events. "In 2009, we chose to bring to art lovers the projects and works of students across the Atlantic, including those of young Turkish artists," Birol said. As for the Istanbul Research Institute, or IRI, it has already become noted for its academic research. "Though only in its second year, the IRI has become an institution that welcomes hundreds of academics who seek to conduct research on Istanbul," Birol said. "In the field of health care, the foundation not only continues to support medical research though the Suna and İnan Kiraç Neurodegeneration Research Laboratory under the auspices of Boğaziçi University, as well as its collaboration with leading educational institutions in this field, starting with Harvard Medical School, to educate future scientists."
"In short, we have not only shed light on our local culture through the museum’s collections, but we have also brought to life dozens of new projects through our collaboration with internationally acclaimed institutions," he said. "We have adopted the motto ’No stopping despite the crisis’ and continue our efforts with the utmost dedication and speed," he said.