Diyarbakır Sanat Merkezi
CETINJE BIENNIAL 5 – DIYARBAKIR LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT
2-21 October 2004
Curator:
Rene Block

Speakers:
Halil Altındere, Şener Özmen

Place:
Diyarbakır Arts Center

Balkan Trilogy’ project was launched by Kunsthalle Fridericianum in 2003 with the ‘In the Gorges of the Balkans’ exhibition and continued with events that spanned over two years. The ‘Love it or Leave it’ exhibition is a part of the same project and was on show at Diyarbakır Arts Center October 2-21, 2004. The exhibition was organized as part of the 5th Cetinje Biennial, and as the closing event of the project started in the Balkans. The ‘Balkan Trilogy’ project aimed to develop new approaches to both the problems in cultural politics and art production, and the ongoing social and political issues. Cetinje Biennial, on the other hand, focused on the cultural and political developments in the Balkans and the Middle East and aimed to shake the dominant perspectives towards these regions by tracing the relations between the cultures living in these regions and politics. The works of artists from different cities, from Beirut to Sarajevo, from Sofia to Istanbul, reflected the issues of their regions with a new perspective. Şener Özmen and Halil Altındere, who took part in the exhibition, held a public conversation on October 2, 2004. Özmen and Altındere both talked about their approach to art in general and evaluated the relationship of the works in the ‘Love It or Leave It’ exhibition to ideology, culture, and politics.