Geography is not Destiny İstanbul | 2016
Curator: Barış Seyitvan
For a long time, there is a social chaos and war in Middle East. In this age, socio-cultural, politic and economic relationships should be maintained without the borders and under the pluralistic democracy conditions, however, international powers and their interests with the regional status quoist states causes human life to become unimportant and this brings the worst consequences to the societies like slaughter, pillage, war and migration. Hundred of thousands of displaced people migrates to the new places with their incurable injuries and traumas so that they can cluch onto the life. Life-or-death struggle in the borders and migration routes appears as a different consequences of the tragedy. Geography is not destiny.
This tragedy was written by Edward Said long time ago. The “Displaced Person” concept sounds meaningful especially in today’s world. Items brought after the war, the money paid to the human trafficke, the effort to cluch onto the life, new tragedies faced in the places they migrated… Of course, while all this happens, can the scieties of the states ,who explain themselves as the modern civilisation, show the emphaty towards these people ? Or, Do the governments whose states are migrated think whether their policies have any responsibilities for these wars broken up in Middle East ? Then, we remember the very sentence of Theodor Adorno: “ (…) History can not be written until anyone feels the same injuries taken by someone else. During this war envirionment, I do not think anyone show the emphaty towards a geography where thousands of bomb explode daily, where hundred of thousands bullets are fired and where people die.
Especially, at this point, under the shade of war, what is need to be done and how to resist in a geography where people dies and are slaughtered, and where the cities are destroyed. How to cluch onto the life or how to live ? asıl yaşamalı? Under this depression, how someone can start a new life ? Or is that possible ?
Thanks to the exhibition “The Lands of The One Not Expected” which is coordinated this year by the Art İstanbul, approaches of artists about migration theme and their works from different mediums will provide an opportunity for observing-thinking. I hope, this opportunity of thinking will enhance the reflex with a democtaric consciousness against the war and migration phenomenon and refugee policies.