‘Work in Progress’ exhibition opens at Arter

ISTANBUL

Arter celebrates the 100th anniversary of the Vehbi Koç Foundation with "Work in Progress," a landmark exhibition curated by Emre Baykal that chronicles the evolution of the institution’s contemporary art program, from its 2010 inception on Istiklal Avenue to its 2019 move to Dolapdere.

Featuring more than 300 works supported by Arter, some of which are part of the Arter Collection, the exhibition is presented as the first phase of the “Work in Progress” book, while also including new works created specifically for this occasion.

The first chapter of the exhibition presents 39 works by 27 artists, reflecting on 15 years of the institution’s commitment to fostering creativity, supporting artistic production as a collaborative process and bringing together artists, cultural practitioners and audiences across disciplines.

The show includes works by artists such as Nermin Er, Murat Akagündüz, Volkan Aslan, Can Aytekin, Fatma Bucak, Aslı Çavuşoğlu, Cevdet Erek, Ayşe Erkmen, İnci Furni, Babak Golkar, Deniz Gül, Eric Hattan, Emre Hüner, Gözde İlkin, Ahmet Doğu İpek, Šejla Kamerić, Esen Karol, Ali Kazma, Lucia Koch, Hans Peter Kuhn, Nuri Kuzucan, Füsun Onur, Yasemin Özcan, Sarkis, Serkan Taycan, Canan Tolon and VOID.

Initiated as a “space for art,” Arter has positioned the support of artistic production at the core of its mission, embracing diverse media and practices and developing tailored support models for artists. The exhibition revisits works from both past and recent exhibitions, repositioning them within new contexts to generate fresh dialogues and connections.

Spanning multiple areas of the building from the exterior façade to entrance and lower-ground galleries and other publicly accessible spaces, the exhibition creates a spatial experience that guides visitors through different levels, extending down to the performance halls.

The entrance gallery explores themes such as leaving traces, reshaping nature and constructing historical narratives, while the lower-ground gallery reflects on architectural processes, cultural and spatial memory, spatial organization and dualities such as inside and outside, public and private.

Conceived in two chapters, the exhibition emphasizes the evolving and multidimensional nature of artistic and intellectual processes. In its second phase, set to open in October 2026, several works from the first chapter will be replaced and new works produced within this context will be added.

Baykal noted that the exhibition is presented simultaneously with a publication of more than 300 works. “As part of Arter’s core mission in art publishing, this volume, joining a catalogue of more than 100 books, offers a retrospective look at the journey of an art institution and the diverse production processes shaping its multidisciplinary program,” he said.