Field Trip: Ankara
By HG Masters
Ankara gets a bad rap. From the Istanbul perspective, the Turkish capital is often considered a dull, functionary-filled, landlocked Anatolian city. But Ankara has its own charms and historical interest. In order to fully comprehend the project of the Republic of Turkey (declared in 1922) and Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s ambitions to modernize the country (for better and worse), you have to see the city’s unique neo-classical and Bauhaus-inspired buildings, its wide boulevards, and the state institutions that were established there. Whereas Istanbul is steeped in Ottoman culture, Ankara boasts of its ancient Hittite and Roman roots, as well as its Modernist history. On the contemporary art front, the city is home to many artists as well as a pair of 30-year-old galleries, the state art museum, and the one-year-old SALT Ulus, alongside the artist-run space Torun.
HG Masters is editor at large at ArtAsiaPacific.
