GROUP

Kurye Video Organization is the sole independent, international organization operating in the field of video art. Through the concept of "Kurye" (Courier in Turkish), it takes the side of the image, which is ever circulating and accessible in our day, and develops a stance against the system of curators and galleries that separates the art world into those who chose and those who are chosen. Kurye Video Organization operates as an archive,meaning that rather than using theme specific works for one event only, it opens its doors to videos of every style and content, archiving videos coming from various countries and organizes events suitable to the works it has in its archive. Currently, the archive includes more than 620 videos by 250 artists from 42 countries and this number is increasing by the day. Kurye organizes international festivals, film screenings, exhibitions, web exhibitions, visual events in live music venues and live AV performances. Kurye also works as an agency in representing some of the artists and works in its archive.

Kurye Video Organization has been organizing Kargart International Video Festival for the past three years; the festival presented more than 200 videos by 110 artists from 23 countries in those three years. Kurye also organized special screenings and live performance events in some of the top venues of Istanbul, including Babylon, Studio Live, Indigo and The Hall.
Kurye will continue organizing its international festival, started with its forth edition in 2009, in Akbank Sanat (one of the most prestigious art venues in Istanbul ideally located at the very heart of the city, near Taksim Square), santralistanbul and Istanbul Bilgi University.
The primary aim of Kurye International Video Festival is to promote Istanbul as a world-class festival center by focusing on video and new media –new super-stars of the contemporary art scene. The festival focuses on different video genres each year, as well as highlighting works from certain countries and presenting selections from numerous notable video festivals. Largely extended by the inclusion of parallel events, the program of 2009 included Stelarc as guest of honor, a live performance by French dance company Mulleras, a panel on “Body, Technology and Art” and animation workshops by representatives of Czech Film School Zlin.

www.kuryevideo.org