The Crown

Exhibition:
8th Çanakkale Biennial
MAHAL
01.10.2022 – 05.11.2022

2019
Zilberman Gallery
21.09.2023 – 25.11.2023
Curated by Yekhan Pınarlıgil

Furkan Öztekin produces new works in the memory of the late artist and activist Ceyhan Fırat in relation to the theme “How Do We Work Together?” of the 8th Çanakkale Biennial. One of the works Furkan Öztekin produced for the biennial titled The Crown is a photograph from Fırat’s archive and a rhinestrone adorned crown. The crown once worn by Fırat in the 90’s who lived in Ülker street, becomes a collaborative production project with reference to the biennial theme. Although The Crown appears to be a farewell, it simultaneously explores the ways to reorganize the past and consider the past as a breathing structure.

Furkan Öztekin, “Birlikte Nasıl Çalışırız?” teması altında şekillenen 8. Çanakkale Bienali için geçtiğimiz yıl kaybettiğimiz sanatçı ve aktivist Ceyhan Fırat’ın anısına yeni üretimler gerçekleştiriyor. Furkan Öztekin’in bienal kapsamında ürettiği eserlerden ilki olan Taç, bir zamanlar Ülker Sokak’ta yaşayan sahne sanatçısı Ceyhan Fırat’ın 90’larda kullanmış olduğu taca referansla kolektif bir üretime dönüşüyor. Ceyhan Fırat’n arşivinden eski bir fotoğraf ve parlak taşlarla süslü bir taçtan oluşan yerleştirme, her ne kadar bir veda gibi görünse de, geçmişi yeniden örgütlemenin ve geçmişi nefes alabilen bir yapıda düşünmenin yollarını araştırıyor.

This work was produced with the support of SAHA Association.

*Are Projects, 8. Çanakkale Bienali 2022 (written by Furkan Öztekin & Translated by Ecem Ümitli)

“Are Projects, bienal öncesinde yürüttüğü online tartışma programıyla üretimlerinin altyapısına derinlik katarak bu sürecin dokümantasyonunu da sergiliyor. 2015’ten beri Ülker Sokak üzerine çalışan Furkan Öztekin, 90’larda sokaktan sürgün edilen translardan 2021’de yaşamını yitiren Ceyhan Fırat’la bir diyaloğa giriyor. Hayatındaki dönüm noktalarını taktığı taçlar üzerinden anlatan Ceyhan Fırat’ı anmak adına, onun tacını referans alarak ekip arkadaşlarıyla birlikte yeniden üreten Öztekin, birinin geride bıraktığı arşivle nasıl çalışabilirim sorusu üzerinden ilerliyor bu işinde. “

📌Özlem Altunok, Birlikteliğin imkânları ve yıkıcılığı üzerine: 8. Çanakkale Bienali, Argonotlar, 25.10.2022

“After Ceyhan Fırat’s unexpected death, I was invited to the 8th Çanakkale Biennial as part of Are Projects, an Antalya-based art initiative. For the Çanakkale Biennial, which posed the question ‘How can we work together?’ to the artists and initiatives, I decided to turn to the archive that Ceyhan Fırat entrusted to me when she left us. As I was going through Ceyhan’s old photographs following her death, my eyes were fixated on a studio photograph which I think was taken in Ankara between 1995 – 1996. In this photograph, which can be described as nostalgic, somber, and queer at the same time, Ceyhan is wearing a stage dress with red pailettes. She has a theatrical and painful expression on her face; a tulle hangs down from her red gloves. During the photoshoot, she wears a kitsch but flamboyant crown decorated with shiny stones. Based on the theme of the 8th Çanakkale Biennial, I pondered the questions “How can I work with an archive left behind by someone who is no longer alive?” and “How can I respond to this archive through contemporary art practices?” I decided to reproduce the crown of Ceyhan, who worked as a stage artist in Istanbul and Lausanne. With the support of my workshop friends in Tekirdağ, I finished the crown in two weeks. Standing alone on a black pedestal, The Crown, insinuating a farewell, explores the ways of reorganizing and thinking about the past in a structure that breathes.”

📌 Furkan Öztekin, Meeting and sharing in an archive on the verge of being forgotten, Feminist Tahayyül, February 2023, p.178

Photos: Gül Yavuz & Emirhan Tuğrul & Furkan Öztekin & Kayhan Kaygusuz (2022 – 2023)