Saturday 12 December 2015

Exhibiton: Alien Self Disorder

Exhibition: “Alien Self Disorder” Tranås, Sweden Participants: Eda Emirdağ, Gözde Robin, Eda Gecikmez, Gökçe Sandal, Seher Uysal Opening: 13.11.2015 / 18:00 Adress:Tranås Stadsbibliotek, "Smatten",Tranås, Sweden Five women artists and activists invited to Sweden by a collaborative project designed by Kultivera, Uppsala Literature Center and Turkey-Europe Foundation within the Creative Force program of the Swedish Institute, are now creating a collective exhibition at the end of the one month residency program. With particular emphasis on the rights of women and minorities; the participants came together with local artists and activists to discuss freedom of speech, equality, human rights and democracy. The artists, each coming from different disciplines and backgrounds, are creating this exhibition in the context of “alien self disorder” as a collective experience of emotions and reflections. Coined to diagnose a mental disorder among African Americans, Na’im Akbar defines the term as “that group of individuals who behave contrary to their nature and survival. They are a group whose predominant behavior patterns represent a rejection of their natural and culturally valid dispositions. They have learned to act in contradiction to their own life and well being. As a consequence they are alienated from themselves.” After having experienced working geographically away from the political climate of Turkey, the participants chose this concept as a common meeting point for their works. The exhibition can be visited in the Tranås city library’s exhibition hall between the dates 13 November-12 December 2015.

Monday 9 November 2015

Alternative Postcards From Turkey

When I first arrived in Tranås, my first attention was about postcards that every shops have about the city itself, Sweden, Småland, birthdays, Christmas, Halloween... It can be a gift, entertainment, spectacle, advertisement or ideology that reflect to the viewer as very innocent object. So with this inspiration, I started to create alternative postcards about cities from Turkey that this year made the headlines on social media.


Exhibition : " Alien Self Disorder"



Utställningen i Tranås stadsbiblioteks utställningshall mellan 13 November och 12 december 2015.

Deltagare: Eda Emirdağ, Gözde Robin, Eda Gecikmez, Gökçe Sandal, Seher Uysal

Vernissage: 2015/11/13 / 18:00

Tranås Stadsbibliotek, "Smatten", Tranås,

Fem kvinnliga konstnärer och aktivister är inbjudna till Sverige i ett samarbetsprojekt mellan Kultivera, Uppsala Litteratur Center och Turkiet-Europe Foundation inom Creative Force-programmet av Svenska institutet. Nu skapas en gemensam utställning i slutet av enmånadsresidensprogrammet. Med särskild betoning på kvinnors rättigheter och minoriteter; kom deltagarna för att möta lokala konstnärer och aktivister och diskutera yttrandefrihet, jämställdhet, mänskliga rättigheter och demokrati.
Konstnärerna, kommer från olika discipliner och bakgrunder, skapar denna utställning: “alien self disorder”, en samlad upplevelse av känslor och reflektioner. Skapad för att diagnostisera en psykisk störning bland afroamerikaner, definierar Na'im Akbar begreppet som "denna grupp av individer som beter sig i strid med sin karaktär och överlevnad. De är en grupp vars dominerande beteende mönster utgör ett förkastande av deras naturliga och kulturellt giltiga dispositioner. De har lärt sig att agera i strid med sitt eget liv och välbefinnande. Som en följd av de alienerade från sig själva."

Efter att i sitt arbete här upplevt det geografiska avståndet från det politiska klimatet i Turkiet, valde deltagarna detta koncept som en gemensam utgångspunkt för sina verk.

_____________
Sergi: “Alien Self Disorder”, Tranås,

Katılımcılar: Eda Emirdağ, Gözde Robin, Eda Gecikmez, Gökçe Sandal, Seher Uysal
Açılış: 13. 11. 2015 / 18:00
Adres:Tranås Stadsbibliotek, "Smatten",Tranås, İsveç

İsveç Kultivera, Uppsala Literature Centre ve Türkiye Avrupa Vakfı işbirliğiyle, İsveç Enstitüsü’nün Creative Force Programı dahilinde Türkiye’den davet edilen beş kadın sanatçı ve aktivist bir aylık residency programı sonunda kollektif bir sergi gerçekleştiriyorlar.

Azınlık ve kadın haklarının vurgulandığı, ifade özgürlüğü, eşitlik, insan hakları ve demokrasi gibi konuların tartışıldığı bu program çerçevesinde katılımcılar yerel sanatçı ve aktivistlerle bir araya geldi.

Her biri farklı alanlardan gelen katılımcılar ortak bir duygu deneyimi olarak bu sergiyi “alien self disorder” kavramı bağlamında oluşturuyorlar. Daha çok Afro Amerikalılara yönelik bir tanı olan bu kavramı, Na’im Akbar, bir grup insanın doğalarına ve sağ kalma içgüdülerine karşıt davranışları olarak tanımlar. Bu grubun baskın davranış biçimleri doğal ve kültürel eğilimlerini reddetmeye dayanır. Kendi yaşamlarına ve iyiliklerine ters yönde hareket etmeyi öğrenmişlerdir ve de bunun bir sonucu olarak kendilerine yabancılaşırlar.
Türkiye’nin politik coğrafyasından uzak bir mesafede çalışmayı deneyimleyen katılımcılar, üretimlerinin ortak noktası olarak bu kavramda buluşuyorlar.

Sergi 13 Kasım - 12 Aralık 2015 tarihleri arasında Tranås Kent Kütüphanesi sergi salonunda görülebilir.

_________________

Exhibition: “Alien Self Disorder” Tranås, Sweden

Participants: Eda Emirdağ, Gözde Robin, Eda Gecikmez, Gökçe Sandal, Seher Uysal
Opening: 13.11.2015 / 18:00
Adress:Tranås Stadsbibliotek, "Smatten",Tranås, Sweden

Five women artists and activists invited to Sweden by a collaborative project designed by Kultivera, Uppsala Literature Center and Turkey-Europe Foundation within the Creative Force program of the Swedish Institute, are now creating a collective exhibition at the end of the one month residency program.

With particular emphasis on the rights of women and minorities; the participants came together with local artists and activists to discuss freedom of speech, equality, human rights and democracy.

The artists, each coming from different disciplines and backgrounds, are creating this exhibition in the context of “alien self disorder” as a collective experience of emotions and reflections. Coined to diagnose a mental disorder among African Americans, Na’im Akbar defines the term as “that group of individuals who behave contrary to their nature and survival. They are a group whose predominant behavior patterns represent a rejection of their natural and culturally valid dispositions. They have learned to act in contradiction to their own life and well being. As a consequence they are alienated from themselves.” After having experienced working geographically away from the political climate of Turkey, the participants chose this concept as a common meeting point for their works.

The exhibition can be visited in the Tranås city library’s exhibition hall between the dates 13 November-12 December 2015.

Monday 2 November 2015

days 5,6,7..19

Yes, days are passing and my adaptation has been just become about Tranas and residency. Actually we had abundantly free time here and I never got used to have it. So it was great challenge with my habits and working process.
Last Saturday we were at Jönköping for a gallery meeting and we had our presentations that are about around the topic of art and activism. Also Ragıp Zarakolu was invited there and he had his presentation about free speech&public art of Turkey.
When we came back, we visited the graveyard because of Halloween tradition. it was great experience. Also at that night I had my first experience to go to a bar finally after two weeks!
Anyway, I understand that being social inside the city with the public is one of my great essential necessity and also it is great inspiration for my working process. At least I got this idea strongly after this residency.
Today we met Peter from Cultural Office and we talked about our final exhibition and visited the place where is just near the public library. It is going to be interesting because of the space has just 5 show windows and we will use them for installation our works. We have already started thinking what we are going to do, posters ..etc and got motivation to work seriously.




The photos are dark but it was touching experience being inside all those candles with the silence of crowds at graveyard.

Swept away

Since day one, refugee crisis was the "issue" to discuss in Turkey, the sudden surge of the refugees continued everyday, and they were considered as "guests". There was no plan for their future in the country, or their lives in camps and shelters, no education and health insurance was provided. So after a while the "guests" started to move on and leave the country, using it as a bridge or a gate to Europe. And suddenly the refugee problem that European countries chose to ignore for so long was at their door. Their lives in camps, on the roads were filmed and photographed by the photojournalists. The figures on the leaves are copied from daily magazines and newspapers showing their real life experiences and struggles. And the leaves are collected everyday from the streets of Tranas.

detail

Book of Fallen Leaves

Book of Fallen Leaves is part of an ongoing cumulative project  consisting more than a dozen (at the moment) categorized books. The categories are countless, though the pages of a book is numbered. Infact it's an epicly pointless project of categorization showing the unnecessary attempts to categorize one's mind. It shows pictures of dry, fallen and brushed away leaves, with their changing colors which is quite a common sight to see for the idle wanderer. They're all drawn and painted during the residency programme and simply provided a base for another work.