All the Mornings, 2010, 4 screen video installation
"Lives and Works in Istanbul" Project, Istanbul 2010 European Capital of Visual Arts, Antrepo, Istanbul
I left the place that I call “home” for a long
time. Then, I missed home when I was abroad, and abroad when I was home. And
then, it became ambiguous what home was. I was in peace only when I was
moving, when I was going from somewhere
to another… In time, I left all the roots, all the nationalities, all the
memorized histories and commitments. It wasn’t rejecting an identity, but
rather rejecting an identity defined by
a nationality or a religion, a flag or a piece of land.
I belong, not to my government or my country,
but to my homeland; and my homeland belongs
to the World.
I always watch the birds. Because they fly
away, they can fly away… Because they don’t have borders or barriers. Because
they don’t need any Visa or Permit of
Stay. Because they are never “citizens”.
Istanbul, where I was born, where I grew up,
that I once called “home”, that I love and hate; unites and divides two
continents. Deletes and rewrites cultures, civilisations and histories… loves, pains,
mistakes, and folksongs variant and alike…
In between the two continents, birds go back
and forth. The seagulls flow.
And I watched those. Again.
My concern is the poetry of a moment. I want
to slow down and breathe.
To see, to remember and to care.
I have thus created a skysphere… where you can
enter.
The respirations heard belong to an Armenian,
a Greek, a Jewish, a Roma, a Kurdish, an Alevite citizen of Turkey; and to me.
Because “All the Mornings” are and have always been the same.
