ARTVITAL International Interdisciplinary Mixed Exhibition

This catalog is a valuable record of the ARTVITAL International Interdisciplinary Mixed Exhibition, held as part of the ISLC2020 International Sustainable Living Conference from December 24-26, 2020. Curated by Assoc. Prof. Evren KARAYEL GÖKKAYA and published by Holistence Publications , this work centers on the vital role of art and its invaluable contribution to the "sustainability of life" during the societal crisis created by the global COVID-19 pandemic. As the curator emphasizes in the preface, art often arises not from happiness, but from "unhappiness, limits and depression," emerging as a primary "need to self-heal" and uniting society against common challenges. In this context, the exhibition positions artworks as the "only tools" with the power to cope with the coronavirus on its own terms. The exhibition's main theme is the idea that art, much like the virus itself, can "pass all boundaries" and influence all people, regardless of language, "bring[ing] back the awareness, the hope... the compromise, the sustainability of life and its colors". This online mixed exhibition gathers the interdisciplinary works of numerous artists from Turkey and around the world (such as Astrid Zwick, Maria Luisa Fazio, Leo Tecosky, and Keith Wallace Smith ), documenting how art serves as a source of hope and awareness in challenging times.