Regional Ties within an Emerging Art Market Area: Positioning Istanbul as a Hub

The objective of this paper is to analyze Istanbul art world’s recent positioning as a point of attraction for neighboring countries’ art scenes, in the context of the debate on Turkey’s soft power. Drawing on critiques made on Nye’s concept, this paper takes the focus out of state actors and of tools promoting national interests abroad. Instead, it emphasizes urban elites’ role in promoting their city’s international attractiveness and complex regional independencies resulting from complementarities and competition among neighboring cities. The emergence of new artistic polarities in Gulf cities in the years 2000 has pushed Istanbul art scene to develop ties with the Middle East, in order to appear as part of this rising art market area. First, I show which actors were involved in this process, stressing the role of external intermediaries such as international auction houses and international art fairs, which created a channel for exchange and a sense of common interest. I also point out the role of leading foundations and commercial art galleries and present the variety and extent of these new ties. Second, by analyzing discourses from artists and curators involved in this process, I suggest that these international links may influence reciprocally the local art scene. Thus, as opposed to Nye’s conception of soft power as a unidirectional influence, this paper stresses reflexivity and mutual influences resulting from the rise of transnational links in the region.