Arts and Culture Writing Workshop
The British Council organised an Arts and Culture Writing Workshop for emerging art writers who focus on visual arts.
This workshop was the first of a series of workshops on arts and culture writing organised by the British Council during major artistic events, and covering a wide range of art forms.
This edition, organised with the support of Mixer, aimed to develop the professional skills of art writers from Turkey and help them expose their works on Visual Arts to wider audiences, locally and internationally.
How to write about contemporary art?
With the field of the contemporary art now covering everything from performance and dance to experimental music, how is it possible for criticism to remain both expert and accessible?
This intensive, practical programme focused on developing the skills required to write about art today. The course took the form of lectures, workshops, writing exercises, and group discussions. Participants visited exhibitions including the Istanbul Biennial in the company of the course leader, write reviews, discuss the results during focused workshops, and learn the tools required to develop their writing, critical, and editing skills. They were introduced to different modes of critical writing, taking into account the intended site of publication and audience.
The course was led by Ben Eastham, the London-based art critic and editor with The White Review, art-agenda and documenta 14. He offered individual guidance to each participant and undertook to edit and provide feedback on a new piece of their writing.
The workshop was run in English and offered the possibility of consecutive translation in Turkish-English.
Participation was free of charge.
Arts and Culture Writing Workshop Book
At the end of the workshop, the collection of edited articles were published by Mixer.
Reviews by the participants on the 15th Istanbul Biennial were compiled into a book. Please read the e-book here.
Writing Through the Visual
Speakers: Ben Eastham and Merve Ünsal
Time and date: 15 September 2017, 16.00-17.30
Language: the talk will be held in English with simultaneous translation into Turkish
Hosts: British Council and Mixer
Venue: Pera Museum
Ben Eastham, the London-based art critic and editor with The White Review and the art-agenda was in Istanbul to lead the Arts and Culture Writing Workshop for emerging visual art writers that The British Council organised with the support of Mixer during the Istanbul Biennial.
Ben Eastham was also in a public talk with artist Merve Ünsal who was also the founding editor of the artist-driven online publishing initiative m-est.org. Eastham and Ünsal talked about art writing as a professional practice and as an entrepreneurial approach. This talk was a part of the 15th Istanbul Biennial Neighbour Events.