New exhibition on performance art questions its evolvement in Turkey. The show’s curator Dr Marcus Graf speaks to Hürriyet Daily News on sociological, educational, economical reasons of slow development of performance art and how his latest exhibition reflects on them
When Turkey’s history in art has been scrutinized it is possible to discover there is very few things written and also done for performance art discipline. The question ‘why’ opens a new page for the Turkey’s contemporary art era. According to Dr Marcus Graf, who is curating shows all around the world, Performance Art is currently the least developed discipline of contemporary art in Turkey. That’s why he tries to open a new angle and a new dimension with a new exhibition he has been curating on performance art. The exhibition at Plato Sanat titled ‘Performing Memory, reviews the state of performance art in Turkey by bringing together eight artists, of whom some are important representatives of life-performance while others use performative acts of themselves or other people in their video works. Graf said: ‘The show wants also to support the discussion of performance art in order to propel its development.’
Besides presenting great artists, the show also discusses the recording, presentation and archiving of performance art. Graf said: ‘That is why next to traditional ways of its documentation via video, and photography, relicts and objects that were used during a performance are exhibited.’ In this context, Performing Memory critically reflects upon the possibility of causing an immediate experience and authenticity of the artistic moment in an exhibition, where everything is represented and symbolic. Graf said: ‘There is no real life in the white cube. That is why consequently the show at Plato Sanat neglects any live performance, and solely focuses on its storage for discussing the mediation of artistic authenticity in the context of its representation in an exhibition.’
Graf added that the problems that Turkey encounters in the development of the performance art are mainly sociological, educational, economical reasons. ‘First, as the Turkish society in general is still rather conservative regarding issues around body, nudity, sex, gender or feminism, the environment for performance artists, which always use their bodies radically as form, content and media is not as positive and productive as in developed Western countries,’ said Graf adding that secondly, art history. ‘There is just a very young tradition of artists doing performances,’ he said.
Graf gave the example of other parts of the world saying that in the West, since DADA, and especially since the 1960’s performances and performative acts became common in the art world. In Turkey, since the end of the 1990’s, a few artists like Şükran Moral or Nezaket Ekici began to concentrate their art practice on performative acts. Third, the art market does not support the collection of documentations or relicts of performance art, as it is still mainly based on painting, and sculpture. Even photography and video art still play a minor role in the art market.’ The current evolvement of performance art The performance art progresses, according to Graf. ‘More and more young artists became since the Millennium interested in this field. They got inspired by their Turkish forerunners, but especially follow the developments in the international art world, in which performance art is an important.’ Noting that the number of artists that deal with performances has increased strongly in the last ten years, Graf said performance art is taught in some seminars at art faculties, and art institutions. According to the curator, the Turkish art scene is still dominated by the traditional art disciplines, and a strong academism. Young artists increasingly try to break away from that. But it is difficult and takes time. In the same way, our art market is conservative, as collectors focus mostly on traditional fields and disciplines. Graf also reminds us not to forget that the art market for performance artists is difficult everywhere, as they do not produce art works in the traditional meaning. These artists work mostly process orientated, as well as time and space orientated. ‘In the end of a performance, mostly a document, a photo or only a video documentation might remain. These have often not an aesthetical but conceptual value, which makes it difficult to communicate it to the collector,’ he said. How to archive performance art It is possible to create an archive, but it I nearly impossible to truthfully reconstruct, revive or even only mediate a formerly done performance in an exhibition, said Graf on creating an archive for performance art. An archive of and for performance art should have photos, video documentations, written texts by the artists, drafts, and sketches, as well as relicts and objects of the performance. So, a multimedia and multilayered archive should be constructed, in which the visitor experience various facets and dimensions of the performance in order to get as close as possible to the real act. Video Performances of course are simple to archive, as the work is from the beginning designed for being recorded by a camera. So, a simple video record is enough.
Performing Memory exhibition includes artists, Burak Delier, Nezaket Ekici, Didem Erk, Genco Gülan, Erdal İnci, Hacer Kıroğlu, Burçak Konukman and Ferhat Özgür, will continue until Sept 20.