Description
“Beyond Borders and Prejudices” — A Collection Work by Beral Madra
ArtDog Publications’ first book, Beyond Borders and Prejudices, brings together a selection of curator and critic Beral Madra’s writings and conference talks from 1990 to 2020. The work, published under the ArtDog Publications label, presents Madra’s 30 years of experience to readers in a single volume.
“We in the art field will hopefully fill the empty book with the illuminating ideas, concepts, and deeds of many artists of the 20th century without making concessions; particularly by not forgetting that there is a certain co-dependence between the ideas and behavior, between the theory and practice. After speaking/preaching about collective concepts, ideas, creativities, and consciousness, we have to be ready to produce collective projects with collective aims and to celebrate collective victories. Expectantly, we will be prepared to perform a kind of reciprocity that became almost impossible to achieve in politics and the economy”
Publisher
ArtDog Publications
Editor
Sinan Eren Erk
Texts and Photos
Beral Madra
Cover Design
Berke Cem Sönmez
Printer
Promat Basım Yayın San. Tic. A.Ş.
Supported by
Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi
Special Thanks to
Mark & Nedret Butler, ArtRedCo
ISBN: 978-625-92704-0-1
First Edition: October 2025
Language: English
Pages: 220
Cover Type: Hardcover
Paper Type: Coated paper
Dimensions: 21,6 x 28 cm
No part of this publication may be used in whole or in part without the written permission of the copyright holder.
All rights reseved.
Beral Madra, a critic and curator, directed Gallery BM (1984-1990) and directing BM Contemporary Art Centre (since 1990), partner and artistic director of BM Suma and Kuad Gallery (2005-2016). Lives and works in Istanbul. She coordinated and curated the 1st (1987) and 2nd (1989) Istanbul Biennials, curated exhibitions of artists from Turkey in the 43rd, 45th, 49th, 50th and 51st Venice Biennales, co-curated the exhibition Modernities and Memories: Recent Works from the Islamic World in the 47th Venice Biennale, curated the Central Asia (2009) and the Azerbaijan (2011) pavilions in Venice Biennales. Worked as artistic director and curator of the first four Sinopales, the 3rd, 4th and 5th (2012-2016) Çanakkale Biennales and Alanica (Ossetia) 2013 and the 8th Bucharest Biennale (2018). She is also one of the founders of the International Association of Art Critics (AICA) Turkey, which was re-established in 2003, and serves as the honorary president of the association. Since 1984 she has organized more than 500 local and international artists in her art centers and in other art spaces in Turkey, EU, South Caucasus and Middle East. Mentored Istanbul Scholarship of Berlin Senate with 60 artists (1995-2013). Founded and lectured in the Art Management Department of Design in Yıldız Technical University (1998-2002). Her previous publications include Çağdaş Sanatın Kimliği [Identity of Contemporary Art] (1987), Post-peripheral Flux: A Decade of Contemporary Art in Istanbul (1996); İki Yılda Bir Sanat [Essays on Biennale] (2003); Neighbors in Dialogue (2005); Maidan: Essays on Contemporary Art in South Caucasus and Middle East (2007); Home Affairs: Essays on Contemporary Art in Turkey (2009).
Sinan Eren Erk was born in Istanbul in 1985. After graduating from Galatasaray High School, he completed his undergraduate studies in Economics at Marmara University and his master’s degree in Curatorial Studies and Visual Arts at NABA, Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti Milano. He worked as an assistant curator at the 12th Istanbul Biennial, as a participant/speaker at Documenta 13, and again as an assistant curator at the Istanbul Design Biennial in Milan under Adhocracy. He has curated or co-curated various exhibitions in Türkiye and abroad, and from 2020 to 2022, he served as President of the International Association of Art Critics (AICA) Turkey, of which he is still a member. In addition to curating, Erk writes for artist books, catalogs, and various print and online media, works as an editor and translator, and participates in talks as a speaker or moderator. From 2021 he also produces the podcast and newsletter titled Sanat Dedikleri Tuhaf Şey [The Strange Thing They Call Art].