SALT Beyoğlu, one of Istanbul’s main contemporary art institutions, has been closed since the beginning of the year. Vasif Kortun, the institution’s director, invokes ‘technical reasons’, saying the renovations planned on the 19th century building were carried out without the required authorisation but the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung suggests government pressure could be behind it. According to the report, the Turkish government — which turned particularly conservative with president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan — is pushing for the location’s closure.
Kortun has denied the rumours, reminding that exhibition programmes were still running in the two other branches of the institution, SALT Ulus and SALT Galata; however, he expressed concerns about recent incidents happening in liberal arts centres in the region (see Christine Tohme’s recent confiscation of her passport), and said he is ‘deeply worried that the worst is yet to come’.
27 January 2016.
