Cevdet Erek: ÇIN

ÇIN, a new work by Cevdet Erek, will be presented in the Pavilion of Turkey at the 57th Venice Biennale, to be held from May 13 through November 26, 2017. Organised by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV), the Pavilion of Turkey is located at Sale d’Armi, Arsenale, in the main venue of the biennale. 

At the press conference, that took place at Salon İKSV on Monday, February 27, Cevdet Erek illustrated some of the methods and concepts that he has experimented with since the end of the 2000’s. Work series such as “Room of Rhythms,” ”Rulers and Rhythms Studies” and “Sound Ornamentations” were discussed by Cevdet Erek through sounds, images and drawings which he made during his presentation. The artist gave examples of the studies conducted for the preparation of the work ÇIN, which is created as a site-specific work for the Pavilion of Turkey at the 57th Venice Biennale, and shared through various media.

About his new work Cevdet Erek said: “Instead of trying to describe a work that is meant to be experienced on-site, and is still in the phase of formation, I propose to imagine a scene together as an exercise: there is a fenced ruin in the distance with a guard inside of it who should not leave during the day. The guard, while walking in silence, notices a visitor who carefully peeks around and the concert of thousands of crickets thanks to the visitor. This duo who try to talk to each other at a distance, briefly cry out at the same time from the ear pain caused by a violent noise that occurs out of the blue. Then, at night, in another place as the guard tries to suppress the ringing in her ears by opening the window two fingerbreadths and the noise a notch, enters an alarm sound: ‘viyuviyuviyuviyu.’ Then she tries to imagine again in the same order by going back to the beginning.”

Cevdet Erek, who told various anecdotes from his working process in Istanbul and accompanying short trips, introduced the core project team and stated that the work would allow for new participants and collaborations. The project team includes project coordinator and memory Yelin Bilgin, architect and soft tone Gürden Gür, architect and smiling face Elif Tunçel, art historian and sibling Ayşe Erek and visual identity designer Yetkin Başarır. A new publication accompanies the exhibition and will be available at the launch of the Pavilion of Turkey at the biennale.

The exhibition in the Pavilion of Turkey at the Venice Biennale is sponsored by Fiat, realised with the contribution of Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey, under the auspices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and with the production support of SAHA Association. The Pavilion of Turkey will be located in the Arsenale at Sale d’Armi where the exhibition takes place. The long-term venue was secured by İKSV for the duration of 20 years from 2014 to 2034 and supported by generous contributions of 21 supporters.

For international media inquiries, please contact:
IKSV Media Relations: media [​at​] iksv.org
Gair Burton, Pickles PR: gair [​at​] picklespr.com