Rainbow in the Dark
Exhibition at SALT Galata, Istanbul
Rainbow in the Dark opens an investigation into contemporary art from a post-secular perspective, and aims to challenge the outdated opposition of the religious and secular, while looking for the divine and irrational beyond the horizon of modernity. It considers the power of popular religious imagination and how artists relate to the influence of its symbols and materialisations in everyday aesthetic and political life.
Examining the unexpected alliance between the Roman-Catholic Church and avant-garde artistic practice during the Martial Law period in Poland in the 80s, a core group of works, tackling issues related to religion and spirituality, were selected from the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw. The inquiry expanded to address the recent growth of populism in religious movements, resulting in further invitations to artists practicing in Turkey and internationally.
Opening in tandem with Rainbow in the Dark, Paweł Althamer’s ongoing project Draftsmen’s Congress invites visitors of SALT Beyoğlu and local activists to communicate through image rather than words. The edition in İstanbul is dedicated to the spiritual, irrational and religious aspects of producing images; touching upon how one can transmit an experience which is beyond representation. The gradual accumulation of drawings and paintings will become an open-ended collective artwork that in its final phase will be cut into pieces and offered to participants.
Rainbow in the Dark and Draftsmen’s Congress are realized in collaboration with the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw.
Artists: Kader Attia, Fayçal Baghriche, Mirosław Bałka, Fatma Bucak, Köken Ergun, Nilbar, Güreş, Jonathan Horowitz, Gülsün Karamustafa, Paweł Kwiek, Virgínia de Medeiros, Mujeres Públicas, Teresa Murak, Walid Raad, Zofia Rydet, Wael Shawky, Slavs & Tatars, Zbigniew Warpechowski, Artur Żmijewski
These events are co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland, as part of the cultural program celebrating the 600th anniversary of Polish-Turkish diplomatic relations throughout 2014.
