Reflections from a Matt Surface

Abstract

The relatively short history of the modern art education in Turkey inevitably mirrors the constitutional predicaments that the young nation undergoes for nearly a century. The article aims to survey the pivotal implementations, starting from the early days of the Republic, and brings close together an evaluative reading about what has been done to keep the Turkish higher education in fine arts relative and up to date. Consequently, the main focus has been on and about the manifold complexities that arose as a result of such pitfalls like the absence—and in some cases, also the presence—of mandatory legislative frameworks, art's and art education's assumed role and promise in the university context and the both mutual and separate motives of academics and students in the field. It can be said that the symptomatic qualities put forward a set of associations in-between those issues, causing a similarity among the key problems. Most apparent of those are about to be on the difficulty of translation—from one expression, structure, history, modality, experience or body of knowledge into another. Thus, the futility and dulling caused by the widespread institutional and individual custom of metaphrasing could be identified as a core issue whereas the necessity to paraphrase and to contextualize gains critical urgency. The concept of artistic research discussed in this context is a possible mode of structuring and programming the art education itself that could, it is hoped, be antidotal to the existing alienating and anaesthetic practice—which becomes especially significant today in a public institutional education environment that is expected to assure a free, relevant and worthy higher arts education that still has a chance to avoid the distorting restraints faced extensively by the private sector.

Notes

1 There were fifteen years between the Dewey’s report and its first Turkish translation.

2 Based on a transformed, sterilized and industrialized version of Johannes Itten’s vorkurs at the Bauhaus. Itten’s ‘utopian pedagogy’ extensively shaped the programme of what was then called the Middle School Teacher Training Institute (1926) at Gazi University, Ankara, Turkey.

3 The French word dessin transferred to Turkish as desen, which obviously implies something else and different from drawing.

4 Fine arts faculties commonly consist of painting, sculpture, graphic design and ceramics departments. In some exceptional cases, departments perform exams customized according to their special needs, but most commonly a joint exam is practiced where applicants make a list of their choices by preference among the programmes mentioned above.

5 The title is mandatory according to the law of Higher Education no. 2547 issued in 1982 by the Higher Education Council (HEC), which had been established following the military coup in 1980. Although the content and application may show minor changes, example illustrates the common practice.

6 Despite the name, the assessment for this exam is mainly based on perspectival accuracy and the ability to generate figures in a variety of poses. Drawing Exam Courses are known to spread photocopied pamphlets of collections of poses similar to digital figure and pose stocks.

7 According to the Higher Education classification of the Bologna Accord.

8 A considerable amount of the male applicants’ motivation is primarily defined by the need to avoid the compulsory military service following the graduation from high school. By their special entrance exams, faculties of fine arts provide a relatively easy way to become a university student, thus delaying the twelve months long military service.

9 The ‘Transition to Higher Education Examination’ (Tr.: YGS) by the ‘Student Selection and Placement Center’ (Tr.: ÖSYM).

10 Painting programmes seem to be far more popular for the title appears to be relative to the painting classes in primary schools.

11 It is not uncommon to see unassigned painting teachers working in irrelevant state departments. The Police Department is one of the most recruiting at the last decade. ‘Recruited university graduates receive a basic police training that lasts six-months.’ (Turkish National Police 1996)

12 The study one has to complete in order to qualify for a PhD equivalent degree is obscurely defined as either a thesis/a project/an exhibition and/or a text– or a report explaining the works.