SAHA Association is a non-governmental organization established in 2011 by a group of art enthusiasts who gathered with the common aim of supporting contemporary arts from Turkey. SAHA offers support to artistic projects and to the training of curators, artists, art historians and art critics with the aim of contributing to the presence and visibility of Turkey’s contemporary art in the international realm.
The Istanbul-based association directly collaborates with institutions for the implementation of projects that have been either commissioned or approved, raises funds and acts as a facilitator. Through the support it provides, SAHA aims to improve the production and education infrastructure of artists, curators, art historians and critics, and enhance their interaction with international networks.
Since its foundation, SAHA has supported the participation of artists from Turkey in international exhibitions by covering the production costs of their projects. The exhibitions SAHA has so far supported include the 12th Istanbul Biennial (Istanbul, Turkey, 2011), Performa 11 (New York, USA, 2011), La Triennale (Paris, France, 2012), dOCUMENTA 13 (Kassel, Germany, 2012), Manifesta 9 (Genk, Belgium, 2012), the 2nd Mardin Biennial (Mardin, Turkey, 2012), the 53rd October Salon (Belgrade, Serbia, 2012) and Commons Tense | New Media Arts from Turkey (Den Haag, Holland, 2012). Another project SAHA supported in 2012 is the participation of a curator from Turkey in this year’s Creative Summit, which took place in New York on 12 and 13 October 2012.
SAHA also aims to establish long-term partnerships with international institutions in order to contribute to the international visibility of Turkey’s contemporary art. In this regard, three-year partnerships have been established with the public art institution Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art (Rotterdam, the Netherlands) and with the New York based non-profit institution Independent Curators International (ICI).
SAHA has recently initiated a curatorial research program offering an opportunity for international curators to deepen their research on Turkey’s contemporary artistic production. The program provides short-term accommodation for curators interested in doing field research in Turkey.
For more information on SAHA’s programs and applications, please visit www.saha.org.tr.