The Black Wednesday Artist Project at Ashkal Alwan

As part of the Home Works 6 Platform, Ashkal Alwan is hosting an artist project by Dilek Winchester called “The Black Wednesday”.

The Black Wednesday is a board game that is based on an auction that took place on December 12, 2004 in Istanbul. The auctioned-off artworks previously belonged to banks that went bankrupt during the biggest economic crisis (The Black Wednesday) in the history of the Republic, triggered by the “postmodern coup” in 1997. More than 20 private banks filed for bankruptcy between 1998 and 2001 and were taken over by the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF). TMSF auctioned off over 300 artworks that are acclaimed to be part of the art historical canon.

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism made an attempt to acquire the collection as a whole; however, this failed and instead the new and blossoming art institutions of Istanbul such as Istanbul Modern and Pera Museum acquired many of the important works. Inspired by this dramatic turn of events which marks a milestone in the expansion of the art market and the rapid institutionalization of art in the first half of the 2000s, the board game brings together the artworks, the institutions and different “what if scenarios”.