Tarlatan

Why do we look at family photographs? What role does family memory play in the formation of individual identity? What do individual stories from the past mean today? What is the relationship between personal memory and collective history? While even memory can be seen as a field with a questionable relationship with reality, is it possible to establish a connection with reality beyond subjective experience?

Considering family and personal memory as the space where the first steps are taken regarding the lifelong dynamics of our relationships, how much say do we have in our own life story? What is the relationship between family as a common living space and our bodies as personal spaces? Is it possible to open the space of awareness that protects our personal space while existing in a public space?

The works prepared within the scope of the PhD course ‘Memory and Identity in Contemporary Art’ conducted by Nezaket Tekin at Dokuz Eylül University, Department of Photography, were shaped around the above questions. The artists, who shared the idea of creating an exhibition within the scope of the course, decided to create a collective exhibition design. The conceptual framework, the selection of works, all curatorial choices, including the exhibition theme, diversified on the partnerships that the artists spontaneously developed between their personal perspectives. Thus, within the scope of the exhibition, the permeability between the personal and public spheres was created on a structural level by going beyond the conceptual framework.

In 2019, within the scope of the project titled Constructing Collaborations organised by A Corner in the World, the exhibition was titled Tarlatan after one of the researchers tried to get on the subway during rush hours with a tarlatan and the artist Canan Yücel Pekiçten’s comment that ‘this way you can protect your personal space during rush hours of public transport’ was recalled by the exhibition participant Şafak Ersözlü. The relationship between the conceptual framework of the exhibition and Tarlatan was left open to different readings.

*Photograph: From Nezaket Tekin’s family album

 

Opening 15 June | 18.00

Exhibition Duration: 15-19 June 2022

K2 Performance

 

Artists:

Dilara Şentürk

Melis Yenici

Nezaket Tekin

Nilay Uluğ Bakış

Pınar Boztepe Mutlu

Sarp Keskiner

Şafak Ersözlü 

 

Adress : Cumhuriyet Bulvarı, No:262 Alsancak-İzmir