Following the resignation of Vasif Kortun as director of Istanbul’s cultural centre SALT, it has been announced that SALT’s associate director of research Meriç Öner has been appointed director of research and programmes, Artforum reports.
Having originally trained as an architect, Öner was exhibitions organiser for the XII World Congress of Architecture, before working as a curator at Istanbul’s Garanti Galeri. Öner curated several exhibitions for SALT’s Galata and Beyoğlu venues between 2012 and 2016.
Öner’s appointment was widely expected, following Kortun’s announcement that he would be resigning in the wake of the closure of SALT’s Beyoğlu venue in early 2016, ostensibly due to issues with the renovation work on the building. Suggestions that political pressure had led to the closure of the venue have been denied by Kortun.
3 January 2017
