On the 11th of September, 2009 the British Council announced the names of the artists from Poland, Finland, Germany, UK and Austria and the Turkish cities taking part in a major public art project, My City, which is funded by the European Commission and British Council.

Egemen Bagis, Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator; Tibor Varadi, Deputy Head of the Delegation of European Commission to Turkey and David Codling, My City Director gave the opening speeches and the names of the artists from EU and Turkey were announced with the presence of Vasif Kortun, Director of Platform Garanti Contemporary Art Center and Osman Kavala, Director of Anadolu Kultur.

My City brings five prominent artists from Europe to Turkey to experience for themselves the cultural diversity and richness of the country in the 21st Century. At the same time, six leading artists from Turkey will exhibit some of their newest work at leading European cultural venues. The creative exchange facilitated by My City will be a chance to forge a deeper cultural understanding between Turkey and Europe.

The five artists who have been invited to Turkey to develop a unique new piece of public art are:

			Mark Wallinger, UK, in the city of Canakkale
			Andreas Fogarasi, Austria,in the city of Istanbul
			Joanna Rajkowska, Poland, in the city of Konya
			Clemens von Wedemeyer, Germany, in the city of Mardin
			Minna Henriksson, Finland, in the city of Trabzon

The cities and organizations that artist from Turkey will have residencies:

			Caner Aslan, Berlin, Berliner Künstlerprogramm
			Isil Egrikavuk, Dortmund, Hartware MedienDunstVerein & Künstlerhaus Dortmund
			Leyla Gediz, Helsinki, Näyttelyvaihtokeskus FRAME
			Gunes Terkol, London, Gasworks: Exhibitions, International Residencies & Studios
			Can Altay, Warsaw, Centrum Sztuki Wspólczesnej Zamek Ujazdowski
			Gulsun Karamustafa, Vienna, Akademie der bildenden Künste Wien

My City was conceived by the British Council together with partners from Turkey Anadolu Kultur and Platform Garanti Contemporary Art Center. Artists from Europe have been nominated for My City by a panel of acclaimed international curators; Andrea Schlieker (UK), curatorial adviser for My City and Curator of Folkestone Triennial, Brigitte Franzen (DE), Director, Ludwig Forum for International Art, Aachen, Mika Hannula (FI), University of Gothenburg/ freelance curator, Sebastian Cichocki (PL) Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw and Silvia Eiblmayr (AT) Co-curator Austrian Pavilion, Venice Biennale 2009 and selected together with British Council and Platform Garanti Contemporary Art Center.

For details you may visit http://www.mycity.eu.com/
For your questions, you may send an email to mycity.arts@britishcouncil.org.tr