Koç University’s Research Center for Anatolian Civilizations (ANAMED), in collaboration with Performistanbul, will host Nazlı Gürlek’s “ONE” performance on Saturday 23 September. The performance, in parallel with Istanbul Biennial and “The Curious Case of Çatalhöyük“, will take place from 17:00 to 20:00, on the third floor. The proceedings are curated by Simge Burhanoğlu.
From the organizer:
In collaboration with Koç University’s Research Center for Anatolian Civilizations (ANAMED) and Performistanbul, Nazlı Gürlek’s performance entitled “ONE” will be presented on Saturday, September 23, between 5.00-8.00 pm, at ANAMED in Istanbul. The performance is inspired by a wall painting dated around 6500 BC, discovered in Building 80 at Çatalhöyük.
The performance is organised parallel to ANAMED’s exhibition entitled “The Curious Case of Çatalhöyük” that celebrates the 25th excavation season of the Çatalhöyük Research Project.
“ONE” by Nazlı Gürlek is a performance project, inspired by a wall painting dated around 6500 BC, discovered in Building 80 at Çatalhöyük. The wall painting is considered to have been created as a part of a ritual. Gürlek brings the 9000-year-old Çatalhöyük archaeological find back to life and presents it to the audience from an artistic point of view.
The project is also an attempt at an artistic adaptation of the archaeological methodology of the Çatalhöyük project based on “reflexivity, interactivity, multivocality, and contextuality”.
Gürlek re-creates the ritual by bringing three different ways of expression including painting, documentation and movement together: two 9-metre rolls of paper with drawings inspired by the Çatalhöyük painting; visual documentation of the excavation process showing the unveiling of the painting and a live performance based on bodily movements of a performist. The performance will take place at the terrace on the 3rd floor of ANAMED for 3 hours, saluting the sunset and will be open to the public for free.
Nazlı Gürlek comments on the performance: “Archaeological finds show that in Çatalhöyük, all the buildings were being used for residential purposes and that the society was organised by routine rituals including a rich production of wall paintings that were also conducted in these buildings. Çatalhöyük paintings feature abstract patterns composed of repetitive geometrical forms drawn with almost mathematical sharpness. However, the painting that I am referring to in this performance is different from the others. In this one the repetitive geometrical forms are replaced by untidy, flowing patterns and gaps. This painting reminds me of continuously flowing rivers, the energy of life seen in nature and in the human body, the power of creation and the limitless power of life. In this sense, “ONE” investigates the meaning of this painting and what it tells us today, and it invites the audience to explore the meaning of the painting in their own terms.”
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For more information, check out the official ANAMED page.
Featured image: Nazlı Gürlek, ONE, mixed media on paper, 2017, courtesy of the artist
Istiklal Caddesi No: 181
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