BASE 2024: A Showcase of Young Turkish Artists, Including 15 Supported by Bir Adım Var Foundation
BASE 2024, Turkey’s joint graduation exhibition, has opened its doors for the eighth time. Carrying the mission of discovering new artists, the exhibition features works by 15 young women artists supported by the “Bir Adım Var Foundation.”
Hosted by Şişli Municipality, with main venue sponsorship from Bilgili Holding and in collaboration with Bilgili Sanat, BASE 2024 brings together 132 young artists, graduates of 40 universities from 33 cities, with art lovers. Featuring approximately 150 works produced in various disciplines such as painting, photography, ceramics, glass, sculpture, video, new media, graphic design, and traditional Turkish arts, BASE 2024 also includes works by 15 young women artists supported by the Bir Adım Var Foundation (BAV), founded by İpek Ilıcak Kayaalp, Chairperson of the Board of Directors of Rönesans Holding. The BASE Istanbul exhibition can be visited free of charge until December 1st.
“For me, the most important aspect of art is its ability to connect people”
Student Deniz Depecik, who was able to participate in the exhibition thanks to the Bir Adım Var Foundation, said, “As someone studying animation, this is my first time participating. The foundation provided both financial and moral support. I also worked with instructors I had not had the opportunity to work with before. This year’s theme is ‘What Does Art Do?’ I decided to create a work that explains what art means to me. For me, the most important aspect of art is its ability to connect people. So I collected materials from both my daily projects and my school projects and created a collage on a figure. This figure, which I tried to create last year, leaned back and closed itself, but this year it can open its chest and show the energy within itself. My goal is for people who see this figure, which combines the works, pieces, and things I love, to be able to connect with it.”
Another student, Esin Nisa Akgünay, whose work consists of a heart symbol, said, “There is a maze inside. This actually represents my journey. There are difficulties, beauties, dead ends, and a journey to success in my life. The piano keys inside each maze represent that I am with my piano in life. The Bir Adım Var Foundation is a special foundation for me. They provide me with great support. I am very grateful to them for that.”
Inspiring works by young artists
The original works of 15 young women artists exhibited with the support of the foundation bring together art and creativity. The names of the works and the artists are as follows: Arin Gözükara: Veganism in a Parallel Universe, Büşra Çırak: Judgment, Damla Akyüz: Invisible Court, Defne Hadiş: After XII, Trimming Time, Lucifer Match, Biomechanics, Eight-Pointed Star, Deniz Depecik: A Piece of Me, Dilek Bozkaya: Untitled, Elif Yıldırım: Self-Reflection, Esin Nisa Akgünay: My Journey, Melis Sürüç: Golden Strings, Öykü Özcan: Allegory, Papatya Biter: Tears Of Nature, Ümran Aydın: Formation, Yağmur Aydemir: Missing, Zehra Öztürk: Reunion, Fog, Farewell.
Bir Adım Var Foundation has been supporting BASE since 2021
Having first participated in BASE in 2021 by supporting the works of four young women under the theme of “women,” the Bir Adım Var Foundation continued its support this year under the theme of “What Does Art Do?”, supporting students from different cities, including Istanbul, Ä°zmir, and Batman.
Founded in 2020 with the aim of supporting successful young women students with scholarships during their education, encouraging them to take the right steps for the future they dream of, providing the right guidance, and mentoring them in their career choices, the foundation has supported the education and personal development of 119 students since its inception. The foundation, which also provides 12 months of uninterrupted scholarship support to students, holds the title of being one of the civil society organizations that provides the most financial support and supports successful young women students in all areas in Turkey with its regular monthly scholarship support provided to young women students.
The foundation also has a program that supports long-term international learning mobilities such as education, internships, competitions, congresses, and exhibitions that young women will participate in abroad in any of the branches of academy, science & technology, entrepreneurship, art, and sports. Through the program, it is aimed to develop the competencies of young women and enable them to express themselves abroad as global citizens. The Bir Adımla Dünyaya Genç Kadınların Uluslararası HareketliliÄŸini Destekleme Fonu (Supporting Young Women’s International Mobility in the World with One Step Fund) can be used by young women who are Bir Adım Var Foundation scholarship holders and graduates. Another program stands out as competency-based expert programs. Programs are organized with experts according to the needs and demands of young women in the foundation by experts in their field.
