Curatorial issues in public space in Turkey after the 1980's

The concept of public space, which has been known since the Ancient Age by sociologists such as philosophers, researchers, sociologists and whose meaning diversify in different cultures and communities, has begun to come to the agenda with various social movements and administrations after the 17th century. When Jürgen Habermas discussed the concept of Public Space in his doctoral thesis, the state and public and the boundaries of public space have begun to be rethought. According to Habermas's thesis, the public space is the negotiation space, in other words, conciliation space between the state and societies. The public space is an open space where everyone is united under equal conditions regardless of religion, language, race, thought and gender, where people have the same idea gather, be organized on the common decisions for the benefit of everyone rather than the personal benefit and have freedom of expression. The state's sole duty in the public space is to protect the fact of organizing, gathering and expressing opinions in the public sphere without restricting the right and freedom of citizens. When we examine the etymological origin of public space, the word "public", it means folk in English while it means state or state-owned in Turkish. This use of the word in Turkey stems from the state's desire to keep the control of public space, rather than the protection and assurance that the state is obliged to provide the public in the public sphere. When we examine the Ottoman Empire, we observe that there were no public spaces such as squares, streets, parks and gardens like in Western societies, and the act of publicity was divided into two as men and women by gender and conducted in small groups in Turkish baths, coffeehouses, mosque courtyards and bazaars. Today in Turkey, even though the public spaces are directly open areas such as squares, parks, gardens, roads and beaches, the indirect state control always exists. It is forbidden to be organized in public places without the permission of the state. If civil societies are organized, march, or pronounce a different view or opinion, the security forces intervene to the public for providing the state control. In terms of art and culture environment, today's Istanbul Biennial was held in 1987 under the title of Istanbul Contemporary Art Exhibitions. Biennials have been important elements in Turkey contributing to the shaping of public space and the concept of the curator. The curated exhibitions in the public space, which started with the Istanbul Biennials, continued with the STATION exhibition in 1995 and increased its speed with the growth of the art scene after 2000 and continued with exhibitions such as Sinopale, Çanakkale Biennial, Istanbul Pedestrian Exhibitions, Under Construction, Mardin Biennial, Red Bull Art Around and Cappadox. This thesis explores the curator's position in the public sphere and the production practice through curated exhibitions in the public space after 1980. The study is described as field analysis and consists of interviews and observations with curators of public exhibitions. The formal and contextual structure of the exhibitions has not been decomposed in any case in the thesis and has been indicated as alternative exhibition models. Curatorial strategies, conceptual approaches and empirical productions of curators in the public space have been handled indefinitely.