Babayan Culture House; Cappadocia, Turkey

The Babayan Culture House offers many possibilities for art–making including, painting, drawing, photography, video, sound, new media, sculpture, installation, and performance. One can carve in the local tuff and hard stones, and practice local techniques as pottery making and ceramics, and weaving in nomad style. The making of environmental and landscape art; and 'in situ' / site–specific art installations is particularly stimulated and supported. One can work in caves of 1500 years old or in the tufa stone shaped valleys.

Artistic Mission

The Babayan Culture House AiR is Cappadocia's first and only independent contemporary art residency, organized for artists by artists. Its mission is to build bridges of understanding between East and West by nourishing art and providing space for artistic experimentation; encouraging cross–cultural dialogue, and collaborating with regional and international arts networks. The Babayan Culture House AiR is a micro–residency type and presents a diverse range of artistic projects, programs and events.

Residency Program Objectives:

• To provide artists with unrestricted time and space to research, develop and produce ongoing or new body of works/projects.
• To introduce visiting artists to Cappadocian peoples, cultures and landscapes.
• To provide the Cappadocian/Turkish community with exposure and access to a diverse range of contemporary international arts practices and theories.
• To provide outreach activities such as talks, workshops and exhibitions, intended to promote interaction, awareness and professional development within the community.

Aims:

The Babayan Culture House Foundation initiates and organizes art projects and stimulates inter–cultural exchange between artists of all nationalities.
There fore, an environment of concentration and inspiration is created to enable art to be made. Artists can withdraw to their private studio apartment with its own kitchen and bathroom, but also choose to join the communal meals, art workshops and meetings. An artist needs to be able to work independently. 

Expectations:

The Babayan Culture House is managed by professional artists with a more then 20–year working experience in Turkey and stimulates a colleague atmosphere. An attitude of independency in project development is expected, besides an open mind towards the inter–cultural aspects of the stay. The Babayan Culture House provides any support to create this independency and the co–operation of the artists with local inhabitants and handicraftsmen to share practical wisdom.
The Babayan Culture House acknowledges that some of the most creative strategies live in the intersections of disciplines, cultures and generations. 

Target groups:

The target groups for the residencies are International and local artists interested in fine art, contemporary art, environmental art, exploratory site–specific art, public art and community based arts. An artist should have an adventurous attitude and be open to research within new approaches, experiences and meetings.