How would you describe AICA? Is it academic or not? How would you evaluate the differences in between? 

AICA is an organization connected to UNESCO and means International Association of Arts Critics. It has 4800 members all around the world. There are membership criteria defined by the international center in Paris. There is no rule to be an art critic in order to be a member according to its criteria. It is enough to be a director in an art institution or a teacher in an arts school. Also, it is necessary to write in a paper or a magazine for three years. Therefore, although AICA means International Association of Arts Critics, not every member is an art critic. We can't talk about a rooted, matured art criticism in Turkey; but the number of our members is over 70. Academically here is an Art History department; this department hasn't got much to do with contemporary art. A differentiation is made in between art history department and contemporary art department in most of the art history departments of Turkey and the world. Because, none can be sure if the contemporary - the moment you live in- can get into history or not. The syllabus of Art History Department in Mimar Sinan was up until the end of 2nd World War - 50s-60s  Pop-Art- up to ten years ago. However, contemporary art is also being in the curriculum in the last couple of years; because we thought it would be a contradiction not to mention any thing on contemporary artistic expressions while we were encouraging them 'to visit galleries, museums since you are Art History students in Istanbul -one of the most artistically dynamic cities in the world' and we started to talk about contemporary art in our courses as well. Yet there is nothing such that art history departments in the world involve contemporary art in any case. Therefore, being an AICA member and being a lecturer on Art History are two different things.

The universities in the world can open new departments. Here on the other hand, one cannot find a place to study on contemporary art.  Art History doesn't include contemporary art; other disciplines do require another infrastructure etc. one can't do any academic research due to these reasons.

In fact contemporary art can be studied in our department. For instance my doctorate thesis is on contemporary art in Turkey. There is Art History programme in ITU. There these kinds of thesises are accepted there, yet there is no transfer of knowledge on contemporary art in the curriculum of BA students. There is a difference as such in between contemporary and art history. Art History dicipline has been first established in Germany in 19th century and it hasn't been developed much since. Theatre, music and literature are not involved in art history. It contains only painting, sculpture and small handicrafts. Contemporary art, on the other hand, contains cinema, video art, performance and these are the means of expression that are traditionally outside the art history discipline. Art history departments do need to open themselves and exceed the limits that they have narrowed down in order to add these mediums. 

When there is no reading of contemporary art in education, then the environment for critical point of view do not form.

I think there is a more important reason for that than academic education. Art criticism in foreign countries is an area that has been effected and fed by sociology and philosophy especially since 60s and 70s. We can see philosophy and sociology a lot in the criticism especially against modernism in 70s. Yet, the texts written in these periods are being translated into Turkish only in 90s. If I am not mistaken, the first book on post-modernism was published in Turkey in 1991: A compilation made out of three articles of Necmi Zeka. Also Ali Akay published a couple of books. Since corpus criticising modernism was not in Turkish, there hasn't been an opportunity to have a mature and developed contemporary art criticism in Turkey. There was only an out-of-date art criticism towards painting and sculpture with a highly traditional point of view. There were people, who can read in foreign languages and follow those articles, and they were the ones writing; but there is a primary difference in the sense of proliferation.  

How did you get effected by this during your doctorate thesis? Have you had difficulties in your research period?

Not much; because my thesis titled as 'Factors Shaping The Contemporary Art In Turkey' did not have a conceptual or philosophical point of view. It was rather an assessment of situation.

Do you give conceptual lectures here?

My lectures here have got nothing to do with contemporary art. I have European History lecture for the 1st grades. This course, which is the political and economical history, forms the historical basis for their upcoming courses.  I sometimes refer to theatre, literature, which are not in our curriculum. I teach 2nd grade students Assessment in Plastic Arts. I mention contemporary art in that class briefly; but it is a course majorly on how to read art and sculpture.  I have 20th century Modern and Contemporary Art classes for painting, sculpture and photography departments. I also have a course titled as History of City in Art History masters programme.

Do you have a publication that you regularly write to?

Recently I am writing to Istanbul Artnews. Rather than that I only write if it is proposed. For instance I will be writing an article titled 'First World War and Cubism' for Sanat Dünyamız.

It is a bit of an issue to write monthly articles: how do you find ideas for topic?

Yes, it really is. This happened to me during Istanbul Biennial in 2005. Radikal newspaper was giving an additional paper on every Friday called '2 Yılda 1 (Once In Every 2 Years)'. I had to write an article on that biennial every Friday for 6 weeks. It was quite hard.

Do you mostly write articles focued on Turkey ot do you also write about other parts of the world, from other period and maybe on things you haven't seen?

Up until quite recently, I used to write on historical issues -on 20th century art history- by blending it with up-to date issues. I touch on contemporary issues recently. For instance I wrote on Yazlık exhibition in Salt. I am more interested in writing on general issues rather than exhibitions.

How do you reach resources when you are writing? There is not many books written on contemporary Turkish art.  Do you have resource that you majorly refer to?

There is not much resource; yet we are all in it. All the artists are alive and so we have first hand resource. We do have such an opportunity. Since contemporary art is rather a new area, the people, who have started, developed and produce, are still with us. One can refer to a first hand resource any time. But yes, there are not written resource except a couple of books.

Do you write by conferring artists and curators?

Yes, I do meet them if I am writing on a contemporary exhibition. But, I didn't have to ask the curator on 'what he meant there?' for the last exhibition I have written on since it wasn't a exhibition open to interpretation - it was a documentary exhibition. When I go to a curator exhibition, I sure would love to meet with the people and the artists that I write upon.  There might be a point of view I am missing and they will feed me on that. I would understand what they really are trying to say and I might add my personal opinion on if they have managed to do what they have aimed to do.

It is harder to do a research directed to past since there might not be first hand resources there. Exhibition catalogues, magazines rather than books are quite important in this sense. Surely, magazine publications were much better then. So, art writers do have a responsibility as well.

There is something like that for sure; but art writing, art criticism has changed a bit in the recent years. Art criticism is now on explaining what art is doing rather than writing a critical text on an artefact or artist. There is an issue like explaining what artist is trying to present with a clear language rather than writings containing aesthetic, private judgements. This has started to become the main purpose of art writing especially abroad. Therefore catalogue writings can have this kind of aim as well. It can be based on explaining artist's production process, his/her problems or worries on life better and this can be a valuable writing.  So, it doesn't have to be looking at an artist from a distance and assess from outside.