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TANAS

TANAS, non-profit art gallery in Berlin, entirely funded by the Vehbi Koç Foundation (VKV). When written backwards it spells, SANAT, the Turkish word for art. The gallery tracked developments in contemporary art in Turkey and provided an international showcase for the work of relevant artists. Directed by René Block, TANAS opened in 2008 on Heide Street, in the area containing Berlin’s contemporary arts centres. TANAS, which provided another important international platform for Turkey’s artistic output, was seen as a means of ensuring ongoing communication and regular interaction between artists and curators from Turkey and German and international audiences.

It was envisaged that TANAS would be in operation for five years as one of the important phases of the VKV’s series of contemporary art projects. A total of 22 individual and group exhibitions were organized, predominantly featuring artists from Turkey. These were accompanied by artist talks, panels and special exhibition tours guided by different art professionals. With a focus on contemporary art in Turkey and bringing together artists, curators, writers and students, TANAS provided a diverse platform for producing and discussing art in Berlin’s lively international art scene.

The gallery opened with Kutluğ Ataman’s “Küba” exhibition on April 5, 2008 and its final exhibition, “The Unanswered Question. İskele2”, took place between September 8 and November 3, 2013. Curated by René Block in partnership with Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, the exhibition brought the gallery’s five years of activity to a close as planned from its inception.

Küba (April 5–June 1, 2008)
Kutluğ Ataman
Mahrem (June 15–August 10, 2008)
Curator: Emre Baykal
Artists: Kutluğ Ataman, Samer Barkaoui, Samta Benyahia, Nezaket Ekiçi, Shahram Entekhabi, Bruna Esposito, Parastou Forouhar, Shadi Ghadirian, Mandana Moghaddam, Ebru Özseçen 
Quartet – Graphic prints from 4 biennials (September 6–November 09, 2008) 
Curator: René Block
Komunismus Sozialismus Kapietalismus (Communism, Socialism, Capitalism) (January 3–March 14, 2009)
Nasan Tur
Unemployed Employees – I found you a new job! (April 4–May 30, 2009)
Aydan Murtezaoğlu and Bülent Şangar
Red Thread – Entry to the 11th International İstanbul Biennial (June 16–August 8, 2009)
Curator: What, How & for Whom/WHW
Passengers (September 8–November 28, 2009)
Esra Ersen
Not Easy to Save the World in 90 Days – Turkey’s young art stage (December 14, 2009–March 13, 2010)
Curator: René Block
Artists Halil Altındere, Fikret Atay, Köken Ergun, Ali Kazma, Servet Koçyiğit, Ahmet Öğüt, Erkan Özgen, Şener Özmen, Cengiz Tekin, Nasan Tur
Things We Do – 8 works from the video series titled “Obstacles” (March 24–June 5, 2010)
Ali Kazma
Kısmet (June 12–August 7, 2010)
Ebru Özseçen
Tactics of Invisibility (September 11, 2010–January 15, 2011)
TANAS/Berlin, Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary/Vienna and Arter/Istanbul collaborative exhibition project
Curators: Daniela Zyman and Emre Baykal
Artists: Nevin Aladağ, Kutluğ Ataman, Cevdet Erek, Ayşe Erkmen, Esra Ersen, İnci Eviner, Nilbar Güreş, Hafriyat, Ahmet Öğüt, Füsun Onur, Sarkis, Hale Tenger, Nasan Tur, xurban_collective
Dim the Lights, 6:07 min (May 28–July 30, 2011)
Nevin Aladağ
The Speed of Colors (February 1–May 14, 2011)
Films, 1996-2010 
Sarkis 
To Multiply Is Human (September 10–November 26, 2011)
45 Years of Edition Block, 1966-2011
Zwölf Im Zwölften (Twelve in Twelfth) (December 10, 2011–March 10, 2012)
Artists: Nevin Aladağ, Vahap Avşar, Ergin Çavuşoğlu, Nezaket Ekici, Şakir Gökçebağ, Nilbar Güreş, Servet Koçyiğit, Ahmet Öğüt, Ebru Özseçen, Anny-Sibel Öztürk, Canan Tolon, Nasan Tur
iBerlin (March 27–May 12, 2012) 
Vahap Avşar
Turkish Art New and Superb (May 23–July 28, 2012)
Artists: Mehtap Baydu, Bashir Borlakov, Banu Cennetoğlu, Aslı Çavuşoğlu, Cevdet Erek, Ha Za Vu Zu, Nuri Kuzucan, Ali Miharbi, Yasemin Özcan, Serkan Özkaya, Güneş Terkol, Vahit Tuna, Shiri Zinn 
Infinity Has No Accent (September 8–November 24, 2012)
Halil Altındere
Prefix & Suffix (December 8, 2012–March 2, 2013)
Şakir Gökçebağ 
New Kids of the Block (March 16-May 11, 2013)
Artists: Ayşe Erkmen, Melanie Bisping, Bo Hee Choi, Sunah Choi, Dani Gal, Stephanie Gudra, Özlem Günyol-Mustafa Kunt, Jonas Hohnke, Sun-Hwa Lee, Michaela Meise, Esther Mittermeier, Nadia Pereira Benavente, Michael Pfrommer, Sascha Pohle, Stephanie Regenbrecht, Mandla Reuter, Jihun Song, Anne Staab, Dino Steinhof, Samuel Treindl, Nasan Tur, Birgit Wichern, Adrian Williams
Agoraphobia – Entry to the 13th Istanbul Biennial (May 25–July 27, 2013)
Curators: Fulya Erdemci, Bige Örer and Kevser Güler
Artists: Jimmie Durham, Freee (Dave Beech, Andy Hewitt and Mel Jordan), LaToya Ruby Frazier, Amal Kanawy, Lux Lindner, José Antonio Vega Macotela, Cinthia Marcelle, Şener Özmen, Proyecto Secundario, Liliana Maresca (Liliana Maresca Ortaokulu Projesi), Christoph Schäfer, Mierle Laderman Ukeles
The Unanswered Question. İskele2 (September 8–November 3, 2013)
Curator: René Block
Artists: Adel Abidin, Johanna Adebäck-Merve Ertufan, Nevin Aladağ, Halil Altındere, Fikret Atay, Maja Bajević, Rosa Barba, Claus Böhmler, Candice Breitz, Jae Eun Choi, Sunah Choi, Braco Dimitrijević, Maria Eichhorn, Ayşe Erkmen, Andrea Faciu-Florin Bobu, Asta Gröting, Mona Hatoum, Pravdoliub Ivanov, Christian Jankowski, Annika Kahrs, Gülsün Karamustafa, Ali Kazma, Kimsooja Jarosław Kozłowski, Alicja Kwade, Jonas Mekas, Olaf Metzel, Bjørn Nørgaard, Ahmet Öğüt, Şener Özmen, Dan Perjovschi, Sonja Rentsch, Mario Rizzi, Michael Sailstorfer, Anri Sala, Sarkis, Superflex, Cengiz Tekin, Hale Tenger, Raša Todosijević, Endre Tót, Thu Van Tran, Rosemarie Trockel, Nasan Tur, Lawrence Weiner, Maaria Wirkkala
Abadan Unat, Nermin

Political scientist who received the Vehbi Koç Award for education in 2012.

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