For the first Mardin biennial,
curator Döne Otyam has asked French artist
Bertrand Ivanoff to design a specific light installation for this historical
and ancient city.
The artist came several times in
order to get acquainted with the population and the urban landscape. Ivanoff
has chosen to work with a building located in the city center on the Cumhuriyet Meydanı (Republic Square). Even though this city has been
almost untouched for centuries, this building is a typical 70’s concrete
structure that was once a hotel.
« In various cities this kind
of very banal building can be found. I wanted to use this former hotel because
this concrete neutral architecture is a real time signature in the Mardin
historical urban landscape »
Regarding the multi-cultural and
multi-religious heritage, the artist turned the building into a support for a
universal symbol of peace, tolerance and eternity.
On the facades, long broken branch
like lines are wrapping the architecture in a green glowing color that reflects
in the city center square after sunset. Going around and inside balconies, the
neon lights seem to grow like an organic material.
Ivanoff has planted a tree of
light that brings a poetic and fresh dimension in the heart of the city. It
operates like magic as the title of the biennial suggests.
The challenge for the biennial
team and the artist was also the complete such a large-scale project in a
context no so familiar with public art.
« This has been the most interesting
part of the project, which required a lot of collaboration and solidarity.
People in Mardin showed tremendous availability and will to make the all thing
possible. Because such project is completed on site, it creates a local dynamic
which confirms that public art, whatever the context is, can be a fabulous
vehicle for exchanges and human encounters » says the artist which
conclude by expressing his faith that all the human commitment and collaboration
is carried out by the project and therefore noticeable by the viewers.
