On Solitude and Water
10 January-9 February 2020, Depo, Istanbul
17-18 December 2018, bomontiada ALT, Istanbul
7-31 December 2018, Amed Şehir Tiyatrosu, Diyarbakır
4-11 December 2018, Çetin Emeç Sanat Galerisi, Izmir
Artists: Hüsamettin Bahçe, Serdar Bayram, Fatma Çelik, Lezgin Kâni, Aylin Kızıl, Serpil Polat
Curators: Refik Akyüz, Serdar Darendeliler
'On Solitude and Water' brings together four stories about people, life, and water—an element that forms part of the essence of human existence and, at times, accompanies us through it. The exhibition features work by members of the NarPhotos collective based in Diyarbakır and its surrounding region. Two of the stories focus on migration, on those who leave and those who remain, on lives that are built and left behind, and on experiences of becoming—or being made—alone. The other two take water as their starting point, exploring an element that shapes both human and natural life.
Migration is a concept almost as old as human history itself. It encompasses displacement, settling in a new place, belonging, longing, separation, solitude, and adaptation. Water, meanwhile, is fundamental to human existence and has shaped human life through its effects on the landscapes we inhabit. Today, it is also a resource increasingly consumed through human ambition and subjected to attempts at control, often at the expense of the ecosystems and other forms of life that depend on it. The watersheds explored in these works belong to the Turkish stretches of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, in a region where agriculture first emerged and where some of the earliest major civilisations took shape.
First exhibited in the final days of 2018 as part of the year-end events presenting projects produced during the first year of Kültür için Alan, the new version of 'On Solitude and Water' brought together expanded presentations of works from the original exhibition, two talks addressing Türkiye’s migration and water policies that provided a context for the works, a reading area, and a photography workshop led by NarPhotos collective members Serra Akcan and Kerem Uzel.
The production of the works presented as part of 'On Solitude and Water', as well as the exhibition, catalogue, and accompanying public programme, was supported by Kültür için Alan.
[Click here to view the exhibition catalogue, featuring all the works as well as texts by Deniz Yükseker and Akgün İlhan.]
