© 2012 | amberTXT / BIS ISBN 978-605-88807-7-1

that exploit new technologies;
▸ To provide visibility to the artworks
and young artists working in the field of
art and technology in Turkey
▸ To present international artworks to
the young artists and Turkish audience
▸ To bring the critical topics in art and
technology to the public attention
▸ To improve young generations’ perception
of technology by encouraging active
and creative use of it
▸ To create a new international art and
technology network between East and
West in Istanbul
amberFestival realized these objectives
in the past years and created a
new international scene in its locale in
the conjunction of art and technology.
The themes for the past 5 festival were
“Voice and Survival” “Interpassive Persona”,
“Uncyborgable?”, “Datacity”, “Next
Ecology”; each with references to local
as well as international panorama. This
year the theme is “Paratactic Commons”.
In the five editions of amberFestival
up to now, 192 artists and researchers
presented their works; Stelarc, Bill
Vorn, Marcel.li Antunez Roca, Mladen
Dolar, Robert Pfaller are some names to
be mentioned among them. More than
136 installations exhibited, 21 workshops,
17 performances, 14 lectures, 52
artists presentations realized. From
the first installment of the festival to
present the work of the local artists has
been an important issue. amberFestival
encouraged young artists and tried to
make sure that a quarter of the exhibited
works to be the creation of local
artists. 43 local artists have exhibited
their works at amberFestivals. For most
young artists it was the first international
presentation of their work and a
certain chance for networking.
amberFestival helped to create awareness
about the art and technology field
and brought critical topics into the public
attention. The themes of the festival
helped to deeply and widely discuss the
important topics related to the technology
and society. Starting from 2009 with
amberConference the topics became
even more visible and elicited the participation
of a larger audience.
The first international “amberConference”
held in conjunction with the amber
Art and Technology Festival in 2009,
in collaboration with İstanbul Modern
and with the support of “Sabancı University”.
amberConference aims at
creating a platform of discussion and
dissemination for the various themes
and topics in which science, art and
technology converge. This is its fourth
year. amberConference is continuing in
close collaboration with İstanbul Technical
University, Sabancı University and
University of Southampton.
amberPlatform also created or collaborated
other projects abroad and exhibited
works of artists who live and work
in Turkey. Luna Park was a collaboration
with Dortmund based Artsceneco;
the exhibition-performances realized in
Munich, İstanbul and Dortmund. Intercult
Playface was another exhibition in
Museums Quartier in collaboration with
Interface Culture Masterprogram. Right
after Commons Tense in the Haag, we
will be exhibiting some of the works in
Saarbrucken in collaboration with HBK.
BIS also runs several projects in the conjunction
of art, technology and society
which are not mere artistic projects. It
continues to be one of the important actors
that shaped and continue to shape
the art and technology scene in Turkey
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