SALT Galata’s Open Archive is a project space which “explores possible relationships between archives, democracy, and transparency,” in line with SALT’s belief that in order to be of value, archives must be available to all.

O Zamanlar Konuşuyorduk (It was a Time of Conversation) is SALT’s second Open Archive project. It was a Time of Conversation deals with the art scene in Turkey in the early-mid 1990s, a time when, according to the project’s organizers, “institutionalization was still at a minimum.” The documents, videos, and other sources in It was a Time of Conversation focus specifically on three exhibitions from this period: Elli Numara / Anı/Bellek II (Number Fifty / Memory/Recollection II), which ran briefly at Akaretler’s #50 before being closed when the exhibition’s banner was replaced with a poster for the Democrat Party; GAR (Railway Station), which ran for just a single day in 1995 at the Ankara Train Station before being closed by the Station Directorate on grounds of immorality; and Küreselleşme - Devlet, Sefalet, Şiddet (Globalization – State, Misery, Violence), a parallel exhibition of the 4th Istanbul Biennial in 1995, dealing with individual and state violence.

When: February 8 – April 22

How much: Free