When I first met Filiz and heard her presenting her work, I remember I smiled. Although quiet and rather reserved, she seemed to be bursting with ideas and looked like if she didn´t know how to deal with them all, what to do about them. In this post she writes about her work at the Is Sanat Concert Hall, funded by the Is Sanat Bank. Balances are not easy to maintain, especially at times like this, but Filiz is creating a path, constantly learning, constantly experimenting, clear about her goals. mv
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| Buika Symphonic on 24 May 2013 (Photo: Ilgın Yanmaz) |
Financial difficulties in cultural institutions are an ever-present
topic in our business. Especially in countries where cultural philanthropy is
still a matter of private institutions mostly, with scarcely any support from
the government. Even the most successful pioneers of the art profession are not
always economically eloquent. We often tend to forget we run a business, even
though, as nonprofit organizations, we need to keep our institutions moving.
Just recently we witnessed a forerunner in the culture and arts scene of Turkey
almost losing their building due to a big hole of depths. Saved by their
founders – a large family corporation – at the last minute before losing a
wonderful building, the question being how much involvement economic
institutions should have in the culture and arts: should they remain as the
provider or directly interfere into our work?
The increasing involvement of corporations directly into the cultural
institutions doesn’t seem so far-fetched. No longer acting as the sponsor, kept
as a distant friend invited to join the party, but as an essential part of our
strategic planning and decision-making. In an environment of a booming
cultural industry with huge investments in different art genres, from modern
art galleries to museums, multi-stage concert and performance spaces to arenas,
the question is if arts professionals have enough know-how in economic,
sociological and marketing issues? Do we need to?
Yes, indeed. I see a model where the direct involvement into the
economic and marketing strategies is a vital point and a great advantage. Being
sponsored by a large corporation, and at the same time being part of their
internal structure, does bring along a stable sustainable structure of marketing
and communication strategies that strengthen and allow to adapt to the changing
environment, sociologically, strategically and economically. Although this may
include a dependency on certain corporation doctrines and expectations, I think
we can make a compromise as long as our artistic wok can flow freely. These
doctrines do not have to be restrictive necessarily. There are excellent
examples, such as the successfully delivered International Istanbul Biennial
which, no doubt, acts among the most courageous, most innovative and
forerunning in its field at an international level. Already addressing a
delicate socio-cultural topic, especially the last edition has faced a very
difficult socio-political reality and Zeitgeist in Turkey.
Still I would separate a mere sponsoring relationship from an
interacting business relationship. I would see the sponsoring kind as an
external support into an existing artistic viewpoint, whereas within an
interacting business relationship a coherent artistic vision is developed. By
no means should this be based on any kind of commercial success related
principals, although we have to oversee our feasibility. Since it takes time
and patience, especially if the artistic institution is build up at a time and
within an environment that has not yet proven itself as a proper ground for
anything, but a profitable space for a business center. A new initiative, with
no guarantee of success, needs patience but above all a vision based on a solid
mission. Although we can not record very large numbers, luckily there are a few
examples in different fields, such as art galleries, museums and performance
spaces.
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| L.A. Dance Project, 10 May 2013 (Photo: Ilgın Yanmaz) |
Adopting a long-term vision based on principles of sustainability
results in a stable institution that is rooted on a solid commercial and
artistic ground. If this could be combined to go hand in hand with creativity
and artistic freedom, we would be in a perfect world of artistic Utopia. But
still, there are working models. Is Sanat was founded in 2000 as a concert
space that would gather different culture and arts genres under one roof. Since
then, it has hosted a large variety of artistic genres, from classical music to
jazz, world music, children’s activities, poetry recitals, traditional Turkish
music, pop, acoustic rock concerts, a series for young emerging artists and
more. The space also includes an Art Gallery hosting four retrospective
exhibitions each year. As a forerunner in an area, which has become one of the
most popular business and shopping districts in the city, with emerging new
arts institutions and a variety of cultural events, it remains the only
institution of its kind in many ways until today.
Based on certain principals that were set out during the foundation of
our institution, in coherence with our patron’s doctrines of sustainability and
long livedness, being the artistic team, we develop a package, an artistic
‘cocoon’ around these principles, which we offer our patrons as a suggestion,
which they are kind enough to accept. In return we develop the right strategies
for our ‘artistic cocoon’ including marketing, communication. It is a mutual
interacting, a model of giving and taking from each other. In this respect,
openness to change is an important factor of our work. We re-invented ourselves
in many ways during the years. Witnessing the changing demography of our
audiences led us to include new genres into our program, such as children’s
theatre, a Rising Stars series or acoustic Rock concerts, which proved
successful after a certain period of time. But again, they needed time to
evolve and set. Together we embrace a changing artistic, economic and social
environment year after year. Staying true to our principals we evolve and grow.
Next year Is Sanat is celebrating its 15th
year within this model of collaboration. As we are constantly evolving, we
never know if this will not change. But for us it has proven successful for the
last 14 years and we can only hope that there are many years to come.
Note:
When reviewing this article, my dear colleague and
friend Maria, who kindly asked me to write for her blog, rightfully asked: “If
we as arts professionals need to gain interest and know-how in economics, do
the corporations which participate into our work need to know about art?” I
would argue that an understanding of the artistic content is required for sure.
But if communicated thoroughly and correctly by the artistic team, this should
not cause a problem. As mentioned above, as our artistic work has flown freely and we have been working around
the artistic concept, in our case we have witnessed that most of our strategies
work well. It has not been flawless and within the years we have faced
obstacles in understanding each other. After 14 years, however, we have grown
into a unity.
Filiz Ova-Karaoglu is the
artistic director of Is Sanat Concert Hall. Is Sanat is a 800 capacity concert
and performance hall hosting a 7-month seasonal program providing a wide range
of performances, from classical music to jazz, world music, Turkish music,
modern dance, children activities and many more. Working as Is Sanat’s
Assistant Director since 2008, Filiz Ova-Karaoglu was appointed Artistic
Director in January 2013. She holds an M.A. in Art History and American Studies
from Eberhard Karls University Tubingen, where she continues to pursue her
Ph.D. studies. She is currently also a Summer Fellow at the DeVos institute of
Arts Management at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
