Anny and Sibel Öztürk
Lido
13 - 27 November 2005
Kunsthalle Düsseldorf
Grabbeplatz 4, D-40213 Düsseldorf
Opening Times: Tue Sat, noon 7pm,
Sundays and public holidays 11am 6pm
The Kunsthalle Düsseldorf is funded by Landeshauptstadt Düsseldorf
As part of North Rhine-Westphalias cultural project »der neue orient« (The New Orient) to be held in the cities of Bonn, Cologne, Düsseldorf and Duisburg, the Kunsthalle Düsseldorf hereby invites the artists Anny and Sibel Öztürk to realize a temporary installation comprising a programme of events lasting for two weeks.
The play on cultural identity is the heart of the works by Anny and Sibel Öztürk (born 1970 and 1975 respectively). Originally from Turkey and now resident in Offenbach, the work of both artists examines the influences and structures of cultural background, more than just as a national culture or set of traditions, more than merely as a geographical locality. They emphasize the diversity of cultures and highlight the superficiality of stereotypical projections. Their works, drawings, objects, films and installations maintain a strong narrative character.
The artists will present a two-part installation in the Kunsthalle entitled »Lido«. The exhibition opens with a series of drawings some of them multi-part in which pictorial and textual narrative supplement one another. In numerous individual stories, the artists tell of childhood memories, in which their parents tales about Turkey became a counter world to the everyday world of the Federal Republic. Here the parents tell first of all in Eberbach and then in Offenbach of the 70s of their migration to Germany, that is to say, they tell of 1950s and 60s Turkey. This counter world can be discovered in holidays at the grandparents or aunties houses and holds in all its differing perceptions, customs and aromas, but also social traditions and received value judgements, its own formative fascination for the artists.
Having followed the course of the drawings in the first part of the exhibition, one arrives at a door above which the illuminated sign »Lido« hangs resplendent; next to it, a text which recalls a (remembered) scenario of a place. The text is about Turkish lakeside confectionery shops, of ice cream, open-air film screenings, grandfathers hand, being a child in the summer. All of this authenticates the place captured in the installation as a pictorial refabulation of individual memories. Armed with this information, the observer carries it with him/her into the space and is able to feel the palpable subjectivity of these memories. It is dark and warm behind the door and smells of summer. A path illuminated by late 50s style spherical lights meanders through the greenery past a tea garden to a lake with a wooden jetty. The moon hangs above the water, cicadas are chirping, strange aromas waft through the air, colourful lanterns glow brightly and the sound of Turkish hits from the 50s and 60s can be heard in the distance. Visitors are confronted by the description of a diversity of specific cultural determinators, which appear to mark a particular place at a particular time. However, in so doing the installation is in no way diminished by this illustration of a private sphere. In quotations and associations from film images, such as scenes from Hollywood films like »Roman Holiday« or »Houseboat«, the overall design of the place takes on a more generalized tenor.
The tradition of Turkish hospitality, which Anny und Sibel Öztürk stress in their pictorial narratives as the most important aspect of Turkish culture as transmitted by their parents, is brought to the forefront in a variety of ways in the installation. Several artists have been invited to present their films, performances or audio pieces in the exhibition, including works by Ayse Erkmen, Sandra Mann and Takagi Masakatsu. On the final day of the exhibition (27th November 2005), visitors will be personally received by the artists as their guests with homemade Turkish dessert specialities and Turkish live music. (Text: Rafael von Uslar)
As part of »der neue orient«
Sponsored by the Kunst- und Kulturstiftung der Stadtsparkasse Düsseldorf
Accompanying programme of events
Saturday, 12th November 2005, 8 pm, Opening
From 10 pm Music: Klangkombinat »motif mash«
A network of sound events and image manipulations subjective abstractions of the idea of identity stitched in real-time by Michael Junck (moving images & electronics) and Stefan Greiner (stringed instruments & sound effects).
Sunday, 13th November 2005, 3 pm
Film performance:
Fatih Akin »Crossing the Bridge The Sound of Istanbul«
Germany 2005, 90 mins.
Alexander Hacke, member of the band EINSTÜRZENDE NEUBAUTEN for over twenty years, came into contact with the musical world within the Turkish metropolis Istanbul whilst working on the music for Fatih Akins film GEGEN DIE WAND (»Against The Wall«). In his film Fatih Akin accompanies Alexander Hacke with his camera and films a portrait of Istanbuls lively music scene in which music is omnipresent and fervently loved by the citys inhabitants. In the company of Andreas Thiel, film producer and Fatih Akins artistic consultant.
Friday, 18th November 2005, 7 pm
Debate:
»Blondies and Brownies. What is German?«
Racism, The Inability to Integrate and Art: a Disputation.
With Prof. Adrian Rifkin (London) and Rafael von Uslar (Cologne)
In English.
Saturday, 19th November and Saturday, 26th November 2005, 5 7 pm
Film programme:
With amongst others: Paola Anziche, Aysun Bademsoy, Christoph Blum, Sunah Choi, Ayse Erkmen, Shahram Entekhabi, Jeanne Faust, Masaki Fujihata, Rainer Ganahl, Tamara Grcic, Wiebke Groesch/Frank Metzger, Özlem Günyol/Mustafa Kunt, Laura Horelli, Marko Lehanka, Sandra Mann, Takagi Masakatsu, Ayse Polat, Barak Reiser, Adrian Williams, Jun Yang.
Sunday, 20th November 2005, 4 pm
Sound performance:
Christoph Blum »Bird Cage Variant«
John Cages Bird Cage (12 tapes to be distributed by a single performer in a space in which people are free to move and birds to fly), for four tape recorders and four loudspeakers performed using tapes with just bird song. Duration 26 mins.
Thursday, 24th November 2005, 5 pm
An Evening of Stories:
Konstantin Adamopoulos »Das heimatliche Fremde« (The Familiarity of Foreign Lands)
An evening of stories with the artists Anny and Sibel Öztürk and the curator Konstantin Adamopoulos featuring childhood memories on the passage between two cultures. It is viewed from the perspective of children experiencing a foreign country as something homely and familiar. Visitors are invited to bring their memorabilia, photographs, super8 films of family holidays along with them and talk about their first impressions of culture.
Friday, 25th November 2005, 5 pm
Live Stream Lecture:
Sascha Büttner »Von der Notwendigkeit, sich nachhaltig über den grünen Klee loben zu müssen.« (»On the necessity of sustained praise for the green, green clover«)
A server-happening in two separate locations.
Sunday, 27th November 2005, 6 pm, Closing party
Anny and Sibel Öztürk will bake »Lokma«, a Turkish sweet, to the backing of classical Turkish music. From 8 pm Music: Love is here
Johannes Leis (saxophone/piccolo flute), Lennart Nevrin (piano) and Peter Thoms (drums), jazz standards
Participation in the events on respective days is included in the entrance fee.
At the same time in the Kunstverein für die Rheinlande und Westfalen: Fikret Atay
Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, Grabbeplatz 4, D-40213 Düsseldorf, www.kunsthalle-duesseldorf.de
Opening Times: Tue Sat, noon 7pm, Sundays and public holidays 11am 6pm
The Kunsthalle Düsseldorf is funded by Landeshauptstadt Düsseldorf