Turkey’s arts and culture sector ‘may become its soft power’

It is a fact that Turkey's growing arts and culture area may become its most important soft power, according to Ali Güreli, founder and chairman of Contemporary Istanbul.

Speaking at a panel that took place at EMITT fair at Raffles Hotel in Istanbul on Jan. 28, Güreli added that the notion of "soft power" is an important asset for all governments in the 21st century in order to develop in terms of economy, hence, he believes, why we need to talk about the perception of arts and culture.

The panel, included speakers Professor Hüsamettin Koçan, founder of Baksı Museum; Erol Tabanca, founder of Odunpazarı Modern Museum in Eskişehir; Görgün Taner, the general director of the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV) and Melih Fereli, the founder director of Arter Museum. While all panelists discussed how to ameliorate arts and culture and especially contemporary art's presence in Istanbul and Turkey, the power of fairs, biennials and museums have come to the fore in terms of developing tourism.

According to Koçan, three main things are important in cultural development. These are, he said, geography, which also stands for scene and setting, history and cultural heritage as well as century, which means being in accordance with contemporary culture. "The most important thing is to create harmony between tradition and quality. We need to think twice when we create value in arts. We need to create things that are both contemporary and in harmony with the cultural heritage. That's what we are doing in Baksı Museum."

Koçan also added that Baksı Museum is contributing to the people's lives in the area and this is the best way to develop the power in arts and culture. "Creating a contributing museum is a must and we need to create everything...