Montag Residency met with students from the Faculty of Fine Arts at Balıkesir University as part of the theme “Local Dialogues.” The program, which took place at the invitation of the Head of the Painting Department, Prof. Dr. Duygu Sabancılar Iştın (@duygusabancilarstudio), featured a presentation by co-founder Eda Emirdağ on independent art spaces, collaboration processes, and community-focused art practices.
As part of the program, Montag Residency’s themes, international collaborations, and work developed with local communities were shared with the students. Additionally, a visit was made to @mekanblogspot, an independent art space operating in Balıkesir.
The second part of the event, @edaemirdag’s workshop “The Necessity of Art – Collage Workshop,” was inspired by Ernst Fischer’s book, The Necessity of Art. The workshop, which involved re-evaluating exhibition catalogs and magazines collected from the contemporary art scene in Istanbul, focused on creating collective collages exploring concepts such as art and capitalism, representation, censorship, and reality. The workshop was developed through dialogues with the workshop facilitator, dear student @senasildir, from the 2026 Montag group.
Prof. Dr. Serdar Yılmaz (Graphic Arts he department was attended by @serdaryilmazstudio, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Fergana Kocadoru Özgör @kocadorufergana. We also extend our thanks to Lecturer Dr. Mehmet Mengü @mehmet_mengu10 for his contribution of reading the reference book. Many thanks to our professors, our school, and our students for their hospitality.
Montag Residency’s activities until 2026 are supported by the @sahadernegi sustainability fund.
