Being an artist in Turkey. Interview with Mustafa Nazif
Daniela Piesco
At the moment the political situation is really complicated. Artists have more difficulties than galleries. They try to raise public awareness of political and social problems. In Turkey, most artists produce political works. If you look at their body of work, you understand their political vision. Their goal is to influence the unwary public to be more open to the tragic or difficult realities of the region. In Anatolian cities such as Çanakkale (since 2012), Sinop (since 2006) and Mardin (since 2010) there are biennials of sustainability. Mardin is the last city before the border with Iraq. Small towns invite artists to stop for a few days and interact with the local population. This helps the population to see that there is a different production in the world, which is critical and visual. And this visual production shows a different reality and a vision that counteracts the post-truth.
Turkish contemporary art is very lively and dynamic, but unfortunately there are no contemporary art museums, so it is difficult for the public to be able to touch and perceive this energy. There is the Istanbul Modern, which is not an official museum but a collection museum belonging to the private sector. There are huge collections owned by about fifteen collectors active in the last thirty years. But the general public cannot see these works, so the artists are organizing themselves. They find their own resources and open exhibits in empty buildings. This is their way of reaching the general public. There are also municipalities that make their cultural centers available to artists’ initiatives.
The interview
1) Turkey is undoubtedly one of the most interesting areas with the greatest prospects for development in contemporary art thanks exclusively to the support of individuals, often passionate collectors themselves. If the lack of support from the state has led for many years to a great void in the establishment of art institutions, since the beginning of the 1980s the commitment of the three main banks, namely Yapi Kredi, Garanti and Akbank and some industrial groups gave a “generous” boost to the development of the visual arts mainly in the city of Istanbul, which has become the Turkish capital of contemporary art.
How does your artistic activity fit into this reality?
Mustafa Nazif: The subject we are talking about is not a new subject. Although modern arts and classical arts are clearly separated from each other, art in general is a whole. In this holism, both art and the artist are trying to find a place for themselves. Aside from the fact that the state’s contribution is not very large and even the art is crushed under the chain of official procedures, it is not possible to ignore the aids made by some banks and institutions to the main branches of art. Definitions of “truth” or “reality” do not fit with real life or our utopias since the earth has existed. Poet, writer, artist live with their utopias and dystopias. Although we make art by trying to escape from reality with our utopias, when we look in the mirror, all we see is “truth itself”. I also held exhibitions abroad with sponsorships and gave live calligraphy shows. But the thing is, the investment in modern art is not made in “underground” or “living with utopia and dystopia” artists like me. We tried to convey art to people with very limited means, with very minimal steps. This is what we call the reality.
2) Why did most of the great Turkish artists, before being famous in the mother country, intrigue Western economies, such as the United States, France, Germany?
Mustafa Nazif: First of all, you have to prove to yourself that you are doing something well. And then you have to get people to see it. It’s easier to be “known” when these two walk together. Of course, with today’s technology, the world has become very small, but the difficulty level of things to be done has increased a little more. For this, it is necessary to introduce much newer things. I can say that I somehow increased my awareness by introducing new things both in terms of photography and in other branches of art, and I showed myself and my art to more people with my overseas experiences. But I would like to say that the name of Mustafa Nazif has become more known abroad. Almost 99% of my sold works, we can say all of them, are now made in Europe. It is more appreciated by Europeans than by the people I live in my own geography… This is the question, but this question also contains hundreds of questions and problems in itself. and it hurts people.
3) Tell us about yourself, your beginnings, your academic studies, your career and your current job, the most important projects you have participated in.
Mustafa Nazif: I have been gifted with art since my childhood. After high school, I started working as a graphic designer. After a very short time, I reached the level of Creative director. Part of my professional life has been spent working in newspapers and agencies as a Creative Director. I am still the Creative director in the publishing sector, I have the creative responsibility of a monthly literary magazine. In addition, I am a professional consultant and director of documentary films. At the same time, I do the behind-the-scenes and editing professionally. In short, I can say that I am not only in the art of photography, but in all the arts from A to Z. I have my name in 13 different exhibitions abroad, including group and personal exhibitions. The catalogs I made on Istanbul were brought to the desk of the President of the Republic of Turkey, and my work is currently standing in both the Turkish History Institution and the Presidency library. However, from time to time, I do interviews on photography and art. I have a poetry book published in 2008, my second poetry book will be published before the end of 2021. Also, in addition; I give private courses on photography art, Creative Design, Filmmaking techniques, effective camera use, creative writing.
4) Who is the artist who has most influenced your art?
Mustafa Nazif: Maybe I can make you happy by writing five or ten names in this question, but according to my understanding of art philosophy, I do not have the luxury of collecting names. To me, an artist is like a “bee”… if you think that a bee lands on hundreds of flowers for one gram of honey, it is difficult to list the sources that the artist feeds on. At least that’s how it is for me. We can take the parts of the works that are useful to us in terms of technique and meaning from the people whose works we like. But blindly becoming a copy of a person does not get you anywhere, it means imprisoning yourself in a way. For me, the concept we call art is an endless, indescribable freedom movement. If you can take 20 different meanings from 20 different people in this freedom movement and create a new meaning with your own unique style, then you are doing something in the name of art.
For example, calligraphy is a branch of art that has very strict rules and does not have much flexibility. Each letter has a point value. Studies that seem to be very different, in a sense, technically have the same blood. I also started the art of calligraphy by doing classical studies. But after a very short time I wanted to go my own way and stopped writing in the classical style. At least, my Public works are mostly works that reflect my own style. There is something I always say about this. If you want to break a rule, you must first learn that rule and then you can create your own freedom.
5) What is photography for you?
Mustafa Nazif: If we need to define photography first, we can say “life itself”. Some people use definitions like “hobby” for photography. You may be taking good photos, or you may not be technically good. You may be taking pictures occasionally, not constantly. After all, you are somehow involved in life. Photography is not included in the definition of “stopping time, life” for me. Photography is rather the art of “making life and moments live”. In short, when you photograph a historical artifact professionally, you somehow give it a soul, and your perspective and technique play an important role in this. With this definition, we can say that every photograph has a story, and every story has a photograph. Since I am also a poet, I can easily use such a definition. Every poem is a photo, every photo is a poem, and thousands of meanings can be hidden in them. Although life is painful at times, it has a poetic side, and photography is a poetic mirror of life. There is an old saying about redheads. “If you want to steal the soul of something, paint it”. I can say that I somehow capture the spirit of life with photography. A word in a poem can sometimes have a thousand meanings. In photography, a photo can become a thousand meaningful words. While time is running at full speed, can the photograph be standing still? Photography is, in a sense, the flying carpet of the artist with concerns.
6) There is so much things about istanbul in your photos and poetry? Could you tell us something about this?
Mustafa Nazif: Most of my projects were related to Istanbul. Almost many of my works have been published in magazines and catalogues. More than 1000 of my works, mostly historical artifacts, found their place in catalogues. I’m still thinking about big projects. The intense Istanbul breeze in my poems and works stems from the love I have for Istanbul. You cannot easily describe this magnificent city where east and west meet. You have to have a great love inside you to tell. And if you believe in love, you never want it to end.
7) Leave us with a reflection on the future of art
Mustafa Nazif: Although I am worried about many things, I have no worries about the future of art. There are always different paths in art and even literature. In other words, both art and literature find a way, and while finding this way, they invent something new according to the values of the age. For example, the poems of the Ottoman period had a somewhat strict line. It went through a big change a hundred years ago. The poem said that something can be expressed in much simpler words. In fact, we can say that it is more public. But while doing this, he did not stray from the unique values of poetry and created a new language for himself. In other words, art certainly creates a free language for itself in the period. A very famous poet says why not write a poem for space, and he writes a poem called “space pilot”. A hundred years ago it was not possible to write a poem called space pilot.
In a sense, the era scatters its unique instruments. According to your artistic point of view, what you take from those scattered things and how you use them is a matter of your talent and artistic concern. In short, it is very difficult to say what will happen a hundred years from now, even 20 years from now in today’s postmodern culture. If you were teleported to the era of Van Gogh and you said to him, “One day people will paint with the tablet and sell it,” the first question he will ask you is, “What is a tablet?”
In short, I’m looking forward to what will happen in the future!
Gallery of the author
Personal images of the artist
Daniela Piesco Vice Direttore Radici
