yenisehirmektupculari

2009-03-31T15:30:00.000-07:00

“Yenisehirmektupculari” (Newcityletrists)
Aylin Kuryel, Bob Pannebakker, Zeyno Pekunlu

Yenisehirmektupculari (neo city lettrists) is an Istanbul-based art collective that has conducted several projects around the theme of urban identity and public space interventions since 2006, and organized three exhibitions in Istanbul, Amsterdam and El Prat. It mainly consists of three artists: Aylin Kuryel (Cultural Analysis, Istanbul), Bob Pannebakker (Urban Geography, Amsterdam) and Zeyno Pekunlu (Fine Arts, Barcelona). Main themes that Yenisehirmektupculari deal with is urban identity of different cities in comparison with each other, collecting signs and details of everyday life in the city, preparing interactive elements for the city dwellers, making playful and confusing public interventions.

Towards the end of the Ottoman Empire a new genre of literature appeared: Şehir Mektupçuları, meaning people writing letters to -or about- the city, City Lettrists. This genre consisted of writings about the city, its habits and characteristics, everyday life in the streets and moralistic behavioral rules to follow. It emerged at the same time as the Europeanization started to be a significant concern in the society and the influence of European culture became a more active cultural dynamic. Şehir Mektupçuları have written about urban life and culture especially in Istanbul, mostly comparing it to their beloved European cities. The general climate of their writings was based on the idea that Istanbul is still in a slow development process whereas European cities have already moved along in the path of modernization. While everything was ordered in European cities, in Istanbul it was very likely that your eye will get hurt by the umbrella of an irresponsible person or your shoes will become muddy while walking on premodern roads at an ordinary rainy day. This genre disappeared in 70’s.

As Yenişehirmektupçuları (Neocitylettrists), deriving its name from this history, we try to revive this genre by capturing urban life and culture in our very own way. The history of Şehir Mektupçuları and their naive and almost dangerously simplificatory example is our inspiration for a new subversive attempt. Since the bipolar perception of European and non European identity never ceased to exist until now, it still provides a rich playground for us. Şehir Mektupçuları looked at these concepts by putting daily life experiences in the center, which is also the methodology we follow. Yet, they still followed the big narrative of Eurocentricism, while one of our aims is to find ruptures in it. In this international art project, we are collecting signs of urban culture and existing codes in public space, by making thematic photo series of daily life details such as a lost shoe in Istanbul, a political stencil shouting from the wall in Amsterdam or "wild animals" in the streets of El Prat. We believe that they reveal the urban reality in a much better way than the spectacles in a shiny tourist guide..

Through a sociological analysis disguised as art, Yenişehirmektupçuları looks at the details that inhabitants read the city through, how similar or different two cities can be by showing them together in photo series. By focusing on urban details and comparing them with each other, Yenişehirmektupçuları aims to create space that will provoke an alternative thinking about cities and a more active participation that stimulates a more bottom-to-top and political understanding of the environment. In these various other forms we are aiming to push inhabitants to interact with their own city in different ways.

Another way to reach the aims of our project was exploring the effects of decontextualizing city-specific features through interventions in public space. Taking particular characteristics from one city and replacing them in another shows the complicity of given and unquestioned features to cultural and social codes existing in the city. A sacred element such as sayings of the founder of Turkey turned to an absurd one on an El Prat wall, an Amsterdam style gay and lesbian information point caused more than just surprised faces when it suddenly appeared in the centre of Istanbul or the translation of stickers encouraging the use of Catalan into minority languages in Istanbul that made a voiceless phenomenon visible. By comparing cities in this very direct way and exposing the inhabitants to the paradoxical character both within and between the cities, the everlasting concern of the city identity will be open to further discussion.

A sacred element such as sayings of the founder of Turkey turned to an absurd one on an El Prat wall, an Amsterdam style gay and lesbian information point caused more than just surprised faces when it suddenly appeared in the centre of Istanbul or the translation of stickers encouraging the use of Catalan into minority languages in Istanbul that made a voiceless phenomenon visible. By comparing cities in this very direct way and exposing the inhabitants to the paradoxical character both within and between the cities, the everlasting concern of the city identity will be open to further discussion. Next to this, we collected sound fragments from Istanbul, Amsterdam and El Prat, created alternative visual and auditory city maps, wrote provocative letters to authorities, created an opportunity for visitors of our exhibitions to send postcards displaying their favorite urban details to unknown inhabitants of their city and made interactive street walks and performances. Altogether the project is a playful get together of three completely different cities in different parts of Europe. It provides the possibility of an alternative reading of the cities’ identities by exploring their differences, communalities both within and between the three cities.

el prat-barcelona-istanbul

2009-03-31T14:44:00.001-07:00

garbage mouths-istanbullers
can the recycle system of El Prat cope with trashed istanbullers?

De ysm

tarlabasi trashed- shadows
are the gosts of abandoned houses of istanbul look like the gosts of abandoned streets of El Prat?

De ysm

holes-small doors
is the life behind the small doors of El Prat more fascinating than the life behind the holes of istanbul?

De ysm

foot steps-train tickets
can we read the histories of the voyagers looking at the footsteps on wet cement in istanbul or the thorn tickets in El Prat?

De ysm

pipes-pipes
are the pipes of El Prat share the destiny of being trashed with the pipes of istanbul?

De ysm

mailboxes-door numbers
the postmens of istanbul wish their life can be as easy as the ones in El Prat.

De ysm

Postcards

De ysm

El Pratization of Istanbul:
Can you sell a Parking Place in Istanbul as they do in El Prat?

El Pratization de Istanbul:
Would it be possible in Istanbul to use the languages of minorities inevery ambit?
“We want to see the movies in our language” in Kurdish, Armenian and Ladino

Istanbulization of El Prat
Imagine that from every corner fascist slogans are calling you to be a perfect citizen:
How content for someone who says I am Catalan .

Istanbulization of El Prat

imagine that street sellers of istanbul invading the streets of El Prat

sound movies

2009-03-31T14:18:00.000-07:00

istanbul sound movie

el prat sound movie

amsterdam-istanbul

2009-01-15T03:58:00.001-08:00

Istanbulization of Amsterdam
Suddenly the founder of the Netherlands, Willem van Oranje, starts watching you from every corner in the city through the eyes of sculptures.

Istanbulization of Amsterdam
May Allah protect the bikes of Amsterdam!

Istanbulization of Amsterdam
Suddenly dirty oily hands of Amsterdam 'snackbar' visitors are cleaner than every before by the magical touch of Turkish eau de cologne

bugs- dogs
The biggest problem of Amsterdam and the most unproblematic inhabitants of Istanbul...

thrown shoes-fridges
What does a lonely shoe from Istanbul tell to a deserted fridge of Amsterdam?

bike bells- pipes
Reckless cars of Istanbul and loud bike bells of Amsterdam remain unstoppable...

locks
Whatever you do, the city will not let itself be locked up!

OK-will not
I will not draw as I am told...Ok...I will not draw as I am told...Ok...

Prohibitions
Then forbid the city!

stencils

2009-01-15T03:11:00.000-08:00

Stencils of Istanbul
Istanbul, 2007-2008
Aylin Kuryel, Bob Pannebakker

wall writings

2009-01-14T02:40:00.000-08:00

yenişehirmektupçuları
Aylin Kuryel, Bob Pannebakker
Istanbul 2007-2008