A Letter From Bak
The story of Bak started back in 2005 when, I was a university student.
The main objective was to build a bridge among young artists, artist candidates, and masters from all around the world. Further, Bak had to be a helpful tool for employers searching for the most talented visual artists as well as for young talents yearning to be discovered.
Bak had to be bilingual... English, for global artists to enjoy its content, and Turkish for locals to be able to understand. Bak had to be beneficial for young artists. It must have helped them showcase their work. Being featured in Bak had to be a privilege, providing them more visibility and giving them job opportunities. Bak had become one of the most popular online magazines on the web, being downloaded by millions of people from all over the world. And more importantly, all of those should be done without any expectation for profit. Bak should always be free.
Every single one of the above objectives has been achieved. All 17 issues of Bak, containing more than 5,000 pages of visual art content, have been downloaded by more than 2 million people, absolutely for free.
First issue of Bak was released in January 2006, and the last one in August 2012. During the span of 6.5 years, I interviewed 138 artists from dozens of countries. With some of them I established close friends, and with others, I had the privilege of collaborating on some great projects. Most importantly, I happened to get to know wonderful people.
Just like Bak, I, too have evolved.
Today, Bak no longer releases new issues. Yet, it continues its existence on its Blog and Facebook page. And it's waiting for me to realize my last dream. Certainly, it has to wait a little bit more. That said, when that day comes, my hometown - if it could make it to that day - is going to be a slightly brighter and more colorful place.
I would like to thank all of my friends who contributed to this magnificent journey. Every single person, who submitted his/her artwork to Bak... Every single artist, who accepted my invitation and shared their valuable visions and incredible art from all over the world: United States to France, Chile to San Marino, Sardine Island to Hong Kong... Every single reader, who still keeps on asking for new issues, three years after the release of its last issue...