Commagene Lar, Land and River Biennial opened inKahta district on Sept. 23. Curated by Nihat Özdal, the biennial showcases artworks of 13 artists, Shirin Abedinarad, Vahap Avşar, Murat Cem Baytok, Anna Laura Cantera, Yalda Jamali, Odmaa Uranchimeg, Cengiz Tekin, Mariko Hori, Zaid Saad, Meltem Şahin, Mert Kocadayı and Kim İncheol.
The curator Nihat Özdal said, this will be Türkiye’s first Land and River Art Biennial around the Euphrates River. Özdal also said, that this geography is an exclusive one giving all the artistic needs that one can reach. “That’s why we must take care of this geography, especially after the earthquake. That’s why we must continue doing art events in this geography,” he added.
The biennial is centred around three islands situated across from the historical Nevali Çori’s flooded areas. These islands are free from settlements and agricultural activity and are currently used exclusively for art-related activities. Other notable places in the region include the Karakuş Tumulus, Cendere Bridge and Nemrut Peak, significant in the region’s archaeology and history. The biennial theme “The Value of a Metaphor” is based on a text written by Ismail Ertürk, a professor from the University of Manchester.
The biennial team also held a panel before the opening. The Sustainability, Economy, and Environment Panel focused on land art, and how art can change society’s perception of economy and sustainability. Moderated by İsmail Ertürk, the panel featured talks by Betül Bildik, Fatma Çolakoğlu, Burak Delier, Sabahnur Erdemli, Bahadır Kaleağası, and Argun Okumuşoğlu as speakers. Irini Papadimitrio gave a speech titled “Money and Environment,” Sophy King spoke on “Anthropocene Age and Our Relationship with Nature,” and Becky Lyon discussed the “Relations between Art and Ecology.”
Artworks from the biennial
Odmaa Uranchimeg- The Movement is Equilibrium
The work of Uranchimeg focuses on the simplest metaphor: Just as when you look into the water and see your reflection. This means that your current attitude toward your environment is your future destiny. Everything is created by movement. There are unseen movements, changes, and shifts happening all around us. Environment, society, and tradition all things move and change. In modern times, everything moves so fast. Industrialization brought us global warming and we are trying to find ways to counter the warming and survive with it.
Yalda Jamali- A Souvenir of Life
Jamali’s colored tree trunks are in the color of chakra systems, green for heart chakra, blue for throat, and red for root chakra. The artwork reminds us of how we live and exist in life.
The work is based on a poem by Abbas Kiarostami, poet and filmmaker of Iran.
“At the beginning of the spring
I went out of the house.
In the middle of summer,
I slept under the tree,
and in the autumn,
my head went to the wind”
Cengiz Tekin, The Road
The Road deals with the complexity of man-made asphalt roads, one of the hallmarks of the modern world. While these roads enable people to travel quickly and easily, they also interrupt the traditional paths followed by nature. At this intersection point, man’s relationship with nature is questioned. While asphalt roads represent civilization and progress, the roads followed by water in nature symbolize natural balance and continuity. Tekin carries the typical patterns of bureaucracy, causing people to ignore the beauty of nature with standards, procedures, and rules stuck in human lives. The pattern of the road (the carpet that Tekin created as the road) becomes the symbol of the chaotic world.
Shirin Abedinirad- Reflective Journey
The land art installation consists of two primary elements: a trio of doors from the aftermath of the February 2023 earthquake and three mirror panels. These components combine to create an immersive experience that challenges and transforms the viewer’s perspective. Those standing on the right side encounter a linear arrangement of three closed doors, evoking a sense of barriers and limitations. Conversely, individuals approaching from the left are met with a distinct viewpoint- a harmonious alignment of three mirror panels that seamlessly reflect the beauty of nature. The installation encourages viewers to reflect on their interpretations of reality and their dynamic role in shaping perspectives. It also serves as a metaphor for the resilience and adaptability of those who experienced the earthquake in Adıyaman.
Ana Laura Cantera- When Forces Meet
According to the artist, we are going through a period of constant asymmetrical assemblages between human and non-human entities due to anthropocentric economic activities. Humanity is transforming bodies of water, soils, and air compositions. This artwork is a performative installation that evolves, which implies three symbolic gestures of current territory transformations. The aim is to stimulate asymmetric entanglements between non-human entities from the area of Adıyaman through technical devices and symbols of human activities.
Zaid Saad- Concrete o
Saad’s work is about refugees and the hardships they face in the world. According to the World Migration Report 2022, published on the IOM, the number of migrants globally has reached 281,000,000 humans. Saad wonders about the help offered to the refugees and questions this with a concrete life buoy.
Murat Cem Baytok – Ungleichhewicht (Imbalanced)
According to Baytok, we are way too relaxed towards climate change. The relaxed sitting pose of the Stick Man (his trademark) resembles humanity’s general situation on the climate crisis. On one side, there is gold, which symbolizes the profit humans make from damaging nature and on the other, found objects near the river. This tells the story of endless consumption and problems of the environment we are facing right now. The artist suggests we must get out of our comfort zone and not only face but solve the environmental damages caused by human activities.
Vahap Avşar – Shelter
The work of Avşar aims to create a shaded area where people and animals can take a break by producing the bird’s eye silhouette of an F-16 aircraft from an iron profile and installing it on a hill that can be seen from Nemrut with iron legs to form a 3-meter high roof. This area will be used by Biennial visitors to rest, as well as by other living creatures after the biennial. This project emerged due to Avşar’s experiences and memories during the five days he spent in this geography in August 1986, when he got lost while searching for Mount Nemrut.
Kim İncheol – Stinging Coexistence
The work Stinging Coexistence is made of bamboo and ropes that are connected to a stone. The work tells about the force of attraction, objects of different shapes do not have a subjugated relationship but transition to a new world encounter while each one is wary of and accepting each other. The artwork is a metaphor that metaphorizes the journey. The work encourages viewers to experience crossing the boundaries between each other.
Mariko Hori – Reflections on the Flow
The installation of Hori takes the form of a small island floating on the reservoir formed by the Atatürk Dam on the Euprates River. On its surface, there is a layer of natural clay symbolizing the inherent connection between land and water. As the clay dries out on the water’s surface during the biennial, it serves as a symbolic reflection of the changing nature of the world influenced by human activities, where these abundant water bodies can be related to scarcity elsewhere.
Meltem Şahin, Mert Kocadayı – Potnia Theron
The work aims to challenge a historical reduction by presenting different archetypes of Artemis beyond her fertility symbolism. Goddesses should not be reduced to symbols of fertility and abundance; there is much more to this history, suggests Meltem Şahin. On the other hand, the music coming from the environs of the sculpture is nymphs singing in chorus. It is a hymn written for Artemis in the Classical Period. Mert Kocadayı created the sound using artificial intelligence.
