Stimmen, Nachtdurchwachsen, Strange The title Voices, Growing Through The Night is developed in inspiration of a verse line ("Stimmen, nachtdurchwachsen, Stränge") in Paul Celan's Sprachgitter. Known for his unique "hermetic images," Celan (1920-1970) wrote his poems in German although this was not his native language. Because the language he introduces in his poetry bears revelations that are different from the meanings of its daily usage, it is defined as a hermetic language which illuminates concepts that also include their opposites. An atmosphere that is shaped by "obscurity" and "silence" is seen in the foreground of Celan's poetry. While on one hand he ruptures the syntax of the German language with these concepts, on the other hand he creates frameworks for specific "pictures" (images) through paradoxical departures that drag meanings into meaninglessness. The reader is not oriented in how to interpret these frameworks. The radical attitude, which the poem assumes in transforming this image, plays an important role in Celan's axis of creating.

In Paul Celan's poems, which are closed to regular reading, the point that comes forth as leitmotif is the "search for truth" that stands between Yes and No, that does not know which direction to go. ("Wirklichkeit ist nicht, Wirklichkeit will gesucht und gewonnen sein.")

Despite the attempts to gather international current art activities around certain topics, subjects, and themes since the 2000's, young artists seem to proceed in pursuit of a Celan-like truth. This situation, which reveals itself firstly in the descriptions of the works, now suggests that definitions like installation, 'three dimensional wall works', or 'interactive video', are also inadequate. It is now known for a long time that young artists, rather than developing strategies that can be gathered under common denominators, now pursue certain sounds, formations, and proceed with "open-ended" projects, without bonding with definite concepts or movements. It is possible to gather the works of the young artists, who, in order to define the hard shell which individuals are compelled to develop under the tough living conditions of the metropolis, look at the social, political formations by transcending the limits of (black) humour and irony, and through a magnifier, firstly under the denominator of a new "search for truth." I have written a separate text on every artist's work on the following pages of this catalogue, therefore I do not want to repeat the basic characteristics of the works here.

The exhibition Voices, Growing Through The Night shows the new works of the artists, who proceed in pursuit of "different" interpretations, by carrying into their works those topics that can be regarded within this framework. The notion of "nachtduchwachsen," which constitutes the conceptual framework of the exhibition, brings itself forth in the artists' projects particularly in the approaches that refer to the dynamics of Istanbul. The fundamental aspect that this exhibition, which includes works that do not allow comprehension at the first sight, but that shape themselves and construct their meanings in the memory of the viewer afterwards, is to inquire the strategy the young artists followed at the phase of finding or losing their own "voices," and how they transformed their thoughts.

After having constructed the conceptual framework, when setting up the exhibition in Istanbul, considering the characteristics of the space, my aim was to provide that the works shown do not enter a dialogue with one another and simplify themselves as if they stand in rooms where they can only hear their own voices.

In the symposium held at the Goethe Institut Teutonia building on 11 January 2005, the art projects that were organised in public spaces in Germany and Turkey in the recent past were discussed with the participation of Prof. Jale Erzen, Dr. Hans Günter Golinski, Harald Kunde, and Vasıf Kortun. I would like to indicate that the symposium is also an organic part of the exhibition since most of the works shown bear dynamics that open to spaces outside of the gallery they are displayed.

I would like to thank all who have contributed to the preparation of the exhibition, the artists who produced new works in regard of the exhibition conditions in İstanbul, and the speakers who participated in the symposium.