Every fountain is an artifact. Perhaps one of the first interventions made into nature. Always choosing the vicinity of water sources for their settlements, humans counted water as sacred and attributed special importance and meaning to fountains, which they placed in public areas. Fountains appear as an indispensable element in the ancient civil and religious architecture of Anatolia, and have inspired practitioners of other branches of art as well.

Indeed, painstakingly built sculptural or monumental fountains have their place in the miniatures and paintings of various ages, as well as on vases and in works of literature. It is not unheard of for them to upstage the performers in shadowplays, ballets, operas and even films. A common feature of fountains are the inscriptions carved on them in stone. Apart from their religious content, such inscriptions usually give the name of the philanthropist responsible for the fountain’s erection and the date when it was installed, thus indicating that it was a charitable work.Water is the most basic requirement for life in all forms, and has accompanied humans, in various guises, throughout their existence. In the mother’s womb, babies develop in water before they are born; it is used in Christian baptism; at Hıdrellez time wishes are left in the water, while (also among the Muslims) water is used in the ritual of washing the dead. Thus water means nourishment, the imparting of growth, cleansing and purification. And fountains are where the water charged with these differing worldly and holy significations is shared among rich and poor, wanderers and the settled, young and old, male and female, proliferating as it is shared.The fountain and its vicinity have always been known as the place where social activity takes place and people come together. In the year 2010, when Istanbul is more than ever on the agenda as a Cultural Capital, Galeri Apel has elected to offer art lovers an exhibition with “fountains” for its theme, as the gallery’s opening show for the 2011 season. Dating back thousands of years, and what’s more constituting a watery paradise, this city can also be cited as having a rich tradition in the matter of fountains. In an exhibition to run for six weeks, the gallery will display current art that has a connection with fountains, and each artist will be represented by his/her own take on this phenomenon. Contributing artists are: Bayram Candan, Şakir Gökçebağ, Can Göknil, Aslımay Altay Göney, Yücel Kale, Kurucu Koçanoğlu, Suzy Hug Levy, Canan Pak, Tuğrul Selçuk, Maria Sezer, Yıldız Şermet, Y.Bahadır Yıldız