ISTANBUL.- ​Anna Laudel Contemporary​ opened its doors for the first time in a new location on Bankalar Street, Karaköy, Istanbul, launching with an inaugural group show ​‘​When Did We Stop Playing?’, curated by Isabel Bernheimer of Bernheimer Contemporary, Berlin.

The new, five-story gallery space also hosts an ​Artist in Residency​ programme, an ​Art Shop​ and a ​jewellery concession​.

Anna Laudel Contemporary, formerly ART350 gallery, was founded in 2012 by the German textile magnate Anna Laudel with the aim of supporting the work of Turkish and international artists by providing a prominent contemporary exhibition platform and through developing a greater understanding of and closer appreciation for contemporary art within the Turkish region​.

The gallery’s new identity and re-location to the old finance district of the late Ottoman Empire in Karaköy, within a historic building boasting a vast exhibition space spanning five floors, marks an exciting new chapter for Anna Laudel Contemporary.

Anna Laudel commented:​ “We see the gallery as a bridge through which to stay connected with the international art world, to support art production and to show the outcome by displaying great art. I wanted the gallery’s artists to exhibit in a larger space and organize events where people could meet, exchange ideas, and stay in touch with the international art scene. That’s also why we changed our name to Anna Laudel Contemporary because a new space and a new name will create a new identity that presents our aim as a gallery, it is like a sign of a new concept and a bigger project.”

As well as hosting a dynamic exhibitions programme, Ferhat Yeter, Gallery Director, ​will develop the space into a centre for public art discussions, workshops and interdisciplinary readings. The gallery will also represent Turkish artists at an international level by showcasing their latest projects at leading international art fairs.

Running in tandem with the exhibitions programme, the gallery also launches a new ​Artist Residency Programme​, nurturing the nascent talent of local, regional and international artists.

The spacious new gallery building also features an ​Art Shop​, offering democratically priced prints, photographs and art journals, aimed at supporting a new generation of art buyers and emerging collectors.

Visitors are also able to explore the latest collections of luxury Danish jewellery brand Monies,​ through the first commercial outlet of this acclaimed design label within Turkey.

‘​When Did We Stop Playing?’
Curated by Isabel Bernheimer, founder of Bernheimer Contemporary, the group show ‘​When Did We Stop Playing?’ marks the first exhibition at Anna Laudel Contemporary’s new gallery space.

The multi-artist show features the work of artists including ​Peter Alasztics, Blue and Joy - Daniele Sigalot, Alexander Deubl, Swaantje Güntzel, Felix Höfner, Sebastian Klug, Jan Kuck, Milana Schoeller, Ludovic Thiriez and Johannes Vetter. Through framing the question ‘When did we stop playing?’, the exhibition aims to explore the great, universal game of life in our shared, contemporary existence.

Isabel Bernheimer said ​“Sometimes we make the rules of this game, but most of the time we are being ruled by it. As we deem our lives to be more important and more serious, we begin to a sense of playfulness. Yet a life without joy is not worth living. That is why I felt it was time to ask ourselves, in all seriousness, when did we stop playing?”

Johan Huizinga defines play in his book ​Homo Ludens as the central activity in flourishing societies. According to him, games offer a fundamental mechanism through which to determine meaning in human life, and our cultural systems are raised out of this game. Inspired by Homo Ludens, ​When Did We Stop Playing? deals with the intriguing dichotomy of play being at once both genuine and joyful but always responsible and suspenseful.

The exhibition will be on display until ​12 February 2017​.