Art International (AI) Istanbul at the Haliç Kongre Merkez, September 5-6 2015, kicked off the Fall Art Exhibition season bringing with it new visual experiences and ideas to a very old city. The gathering of Contemporary Art Galleries and Artistic works from around the world showcased a variety of mediums, ideas, and cultures that mirror the unique location of the event in the city that straddles two continents. 
By the Waterside was an outdoor sculpture exhibition. The signature mosques of the Golden Horn line the opposite shore of the Haliç Congress Center and reinforced the greater historical significance of these new artworks. Javier Pérez's bronze sculpture, Rosario (2009) sent shivers through my spine as I walked around and over this extraordinary work. With the alternate title, Memento Mori, I was struck by the open chains leading to the water. Considering the current Syrian refugee crisis, with images of children who have drowned in the sea while fleeing for freedom from war, the meaning of Pérez's artwork shifts with mercurial opacity across culture and historical context. I find this ability for an artwork to hold multiple interpretations is what distinguishes the good from the bad and strengthens the power of contemporary work.The thing I noticed most about the exhibition halls, was the overwhelming presence of texture in the artworks on display, whether they were 2D or 3D. There were textured paintings, low relief/reverse relief panel sculptures, shiny metallic ribbed paintings, textile works, recovered construction material sculptures. Every artwork seemed to scream, "TOUCH ME". It was a very stimulating experience. I witnessed children and adults alike reaching out and touching the work.
Taking into account that the vast majority of the work was created in the past seven years, and that artwork responds to the life and times in which it is created, then what does this emphasis on texture say about contemporary society? I was feeling saturated from looking at so much art at once, I took a break and carried this thought with me to the water closet. In this convention building, as in many modern facilities throughout the developed world, I encountered automatic revolving and sliding doors, automatic faucets, soap dispensers, and hand dryers. Our modern life is constantly seperating us from our sense of touch. Flattening our experience to smooth, flat touch screens that we control with as little contact as possible. When do we use our hands? When is it ok to touch something or someone? How do we do it if we hardly use our sense of touch to engage with the world? What kind of information are we missing out on? What does our sense of touch tell us about ourselves and the world?
I left the Art International Istanbul cool air-conditioned exhibition hall for the warmth of the Mediterranean sunshine. The evening breeze blew, as I sat by the waterside and watched the sunset behind the Golden Horn. Boatmen cruised by while I drank a chilled glass of red wine. My bum and hands were warmed by the sun-soaked concrete. I felt inspired, uplifted, and recharged from the incredible array of artworks that Contemporary Artists around the globe had made for us to see and contemplate. This is what Art is suppose to do, to have us stop and contemplate our world. Sometimes we understand it and sometimes we don't. I think at the end of the day we are lucky to have experienced Life at all.
