"Is Turkey Europe? Viennese weigh in New Feature
By Carter Dougherty International Herald Tribune
Thursday, March 24, 2005
Kunsthalle takes a provocative look
VIENNA When it blanketed its fa�ade with dozens of red-and-white Turkish flags, the Kunsthalle Wien was pushing every button it could to feed an already contentious debate in Austria about Turkey's place in Europe.
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The contemporary art gallery in the center of the city titled the installation 'Kanack Attack,' using a slang German label for a Turk that is crudely insulting or highly playful, depending on who is doing the talking. The display's subtitle, 'the third Turkish siege,' evokes centuries-old images here of the Islamic empire that almost succeeded in conquering Vienna.
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And the gallery's proclamation that it was 'transforming the Kunsthalle into a Turkish tent' implied that unlike past sieges of Vienna - when vast Turkish armies pitched camp on the outskirts but never got in - this time will be different."
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