Talk: Omar Berakdar

SALT Galata, Workshop IV

Photographic Archiving and Contemporary Art Practice

Omar Berakdar’s talk will focus on the importance of the practice of archiving and making archives available to the public. He will use his own work Analogies completed and exhibited in Damascus in 2010 to illustrate the need to encourage institutions to maintain archives and offer residency programs with this purpose. İstanbul and its potential will be discussed as a case study. Berakdar will also introduce Middle East Photograph Preservation Initiative (MEPPI) and his aspirations for the Hamisch Syrian Cultural House İstanbul, as one of the founders of this initiative.

Originally trained as a chemist, Omar Berakdar is an artist and freelance photographer. He has participated in numerous exhibitions including VIIème Journées de la photographie in Damascus, Syria (2007); The Athens Photo Festival (2008); and the project Reloading Images (2008 – 2009) which comprised an exhibition and two publications. This was followed by an exhibition in 2010 of the Analogies project in Damascus. He co-curated the Damascus Visual Arts Festival in 2010 and is currently working on a Master’s degree in Media Art in Austria (MediaArtHistories - MAH).

The talk will be held in English.