Yeni projem “Toplayıcı” Contemporary Istanbul kapsamında Halka Sanat Projesi bünyesinde sergilendi.Projenin hikayesi Nadire Kabineler ile başladı.Tarihi 1500’lü yıllara kadar dayanan Nadire Kabineler’de dünyanın herbir köşesinden, keşif veya ticaret yolculuklarında toplanan farklı hayvanlar, masalsı varlıklar, egzotik bitkiler ve akla gelebilecek türlü garip objeler bulunuyordu.Bu buluntular birtakım meraklı soyluların evlerinde birçok gözü olan dolaplarda sergileniyordu.Tabii yolculuklar esnasında buluntuların hikayesi dallanıp budaklanıyor, bitkiler hayvanlara, hayvanlar masalsı varlıklara dönüşüyordu.
Halka Sanat Projesi Nadire Kabineler’i yeni zamanda farklı bir şekilde ortaya çıkartmak istediklerinde ben de bu konuya dahil oldum.Proje hazırlık aşamasında çeşitli antropolojik ve etnografik yolculuk kitapları okuyarak o zamanki uzun gemi yolculukları sonucunda karşılaşılan yeniliklere nasıl tepkiler verildiği, batılı meraklıların kendi halinde yaşayan küçük toplulukları nasıl etkilediği ve gözlemlediği konusunda bir takım fikirler edindim. Bu kitaplar archive.org sitesinden bedava olarak indirilip okunabilir:
-Growing up in New Guinea; a comparative study of primitive education,Margaret Mead
-Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World, Mark Twain
-Idle Days in Patagonia, William Henry
-Eskimo Life, Fridtjof Nansen
-My Life With Eskimo, Vilhjalmur Stefansson
-Cortés and Montezuma,Maurice Collis
http://theappendix.net/issues/2013/7/inside-the-museum-of-natural-historys-hidden-masterpiece ( daha yakın zamana ait,ama aynı amaçlar için modern Nadire Kabineler yani müzelere toplayıcılık yapan kişiler hakkında bir makale)
My new project “The Collector” was exhibited in Contemporary Istanbul, Halka Art Project pavillion.
The story of this project has begun with Cabinets of Curiosities which dates back to 1500s. The aristocrats and monarchs at the time would sponsor overseas voyages in search for exotic plants, unseen animals, mythical creatures and every kind of little object one can imagine.These findings were exhibited in cabinets with lots of drawers,shelves and hidden compartments.During the voyages stories of these findings were changing and becoming fictionalized.
When Halka Art Project initiated a project of revitalizing and adapting Cabinets of Curiosities in current time, I was involved in the project and began working immediately.
Reading various anthropological and ethnological voyage books, I had many ideas about how people reacted to the unseen environments and cultures, how the curious westerns affected and/or observed indigenous people who were living serenely on their own. You can read and download these books from archive.org and gutenberg.org :
-Growing up in New Guinea; a comparative study of primitive education,Margaret Mead
-Idle Days in Patagonia, William Henry
-Eskimo Life, Fridtjof Nansen
-My Life With Eskimo, Vilhjalmur Stefansson
-Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World, Mark Twain
-The Appendix : http://theappendix.net/issues/2013/7/inside-the-museum-of-natural-historys-hidden-masterpiece ( an article about gatherers who worked for modern Cabinets of Curiosities that are Museums).
In addition: Cortés and Montezuma,Maurice Collis.
The result was a costume of a strong,open-minded and mobile expeditioner woman who lived in early 1900s. Her costume is full of pockets filled with specimens of plants,seeds,stones,small tribal artwork,exchange material,moss,animal teeth etc. The pockets are detachable making the ingredients easy to access for further research.
