The exhibition titled Unbinding Histories opened at ‘Ka Space for Visual Culture and Artistic Thinking’ features works created by 8 artists from around the world who met through the 2022 edition of Studio Vortex Residency Program in Arles, France, led by Magnum Photos photographer Antoine d’Agata.
Çağla Demirbaş, one of the artists and exhibition coordinators, said: “These are the bodies of work we produced in Arles. Looking back at the results, we realized that all of our images revolved around either personal or social histories, or in some cases, their intersection. There is an effort to reclaim these histories through the photographic medium. Hence, ‘Unbinding Histories’ was born.”
Arles, located in southern France, has been captivating photography enthusiasts for the past 50 years with the festival Les Rencontres d’Arles, earning its prestigious title of the ‘Capital of Photography’. Since 1970, the festival has showcased over forty exhibitions each summer at the city’s exceptional heritage sites, significantly influencing global photography and putting young photographers on the map.
Demirbaş continued: “We were supposed to do the residency in April 2020. Then the pandemic happened, and it wasn’t until July 2022 that we were finally able to participate. In a way, though, the delay turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Having the residency coincide with the festival gave us exposure to the photography scene and a chance to visit exhibitions by some of the most promising curators and artists of our time.”
“We founded the collective 2 years ago, following the residency. Our first exhibition is here in ‘Ka’, Ankara. In July, we are going to have our sophomore exhibition at ‘A Space for Photography’, also in Arles where our paths crossed two years ago, and in August at Cape Town’s ‘AVA Gallery’. For 2025, ‘Zemin Berlin’ awaits us during the European Month of Photography.”
“As this is our first exhibition, it also acts as a love letter to the city of Arles and perhaps the legacy of Studio Vortex Residency, where our predecessors looked to the same streets for inspiration,” she said.
“For example, Veronica Lósantos centered on the oldest, and apparently the most accurate, bust of Julius Caesar found in Arles. Meanwhile another artist, Ronja Falkenbach, traced Van Gogh‘s footsteps in the city by introducing a touch of documentary-style to her exploration. I would say that my work is more of a conceptualization of personal history, on the distance and closeness of human connections through the nature of Arles and the nearby Salinas de Aigues Mortes.” added Demirbaş.
The exhibition features works by Alejandra Arévalo (Colombia), Çağla Demirbaş (Turkey), Despoina “Penny” Demertzi (Greece), Francesca Hummler (USA/Germany), Maike Bergold (Germany), Phuong Hoang (Vietnam), Ronja Falkenbach (Germany), and Veronica Lósantos (Spain). The exhibition can be visited at ‘Ka Space for Visual Culture and Artistic Thinking’ until July 20.
