Salt presents a new e-publication, Montage or Synthesis: Texts of Özer Kabaş, as part of the institution’s ongoing research focusing on art in Turkey from the 1950s to the present. Gathering a selection of texts written by the artist, educator, and writer Özer Kabaş (1934-1998), the publication can be accessed in Turkish (Sentez ve Montaj: Özer Kabaş Yazıları) in PDF and EPUB formats via saltonline.org.
Montage or Synthesis is the first output of Salt’s archive and research study on Özer Kabaş, initiated in the fall of 2021. The publication carries its title from the artist’s 1969 essay on aggregations of Western formats and local content in Turkish painting. His texts written between 1966-1997 cover various subjects, ranging from art, design and cinema to social, political, and environmental relations. Montage or Synthesis also includes transcripts of a gathering commemorating his contributions and an article by Vasıf Kortun on Kabaş’s writings. Kortun’s text The Man from Yale: Özer Kabaş Writings discusses Kabaş’s lesser-known facets as an educator and art thinker. The roundtable discussion with Kabaş, Onat Kutlar, Ömer Uluç, Sezer Tansuğ, and Yılmaz Zenger explores the relationship between cinema and painting. In the gathering commemorating Kabaş, organized by Zeynep Rona shortly after his passing, Ali Teoman Germaner, Cevat Çapan, Engin Cezzar, Gülriz Sururi, İclal Erentürk, Jale Erzen, Mete Yalçın, Oya Başak, and Süleyman Saim Tekcan look back on his contributions and his approach to art education.
The updated version of the publication also includes transcripts of two panel discussions organized by Robert College’s Student Union in 1969. In the first session moderated by Faruk Pekin, Kabaş together with Aziz Nesin, Kemal Tahir, and Selahattin Hilav discuss the relationship between art and politics, while in the second session moderated by Sezer Tansuğ, Kabaş and Adnan Çoker, Cihat Burak, Orhan Taylan, Ömer Uluç offer an insight into the trajectory of painting in Turkey from the 19th century to the late 1960s.
Kabaş’s archive on local crafts, design, and cinema, his work on Basic Design education, his artworks and academic practice contain many topics to be researched and analyzed. The research initiated with Montage or Synthesis will continue to be developed through the recently discovered archival material, offering an insight into the local art scene during his time.
