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witness, ferda art platform, 2022

The exhibition ‘’Witness’’ is a contemporary art approach to CoÅŸkun Aral’s shocking and extraordinary archive.

People often forget that they are witnesses in every step they take as long as they live, we are a witness to life at every moment completely. However, this state is one of the most powerful experiences of being human, encompassing the whole mind, soul, and body. The power of witnessing encompasses the movement, quality, and ability to resist an impact, while also describing a tough and challenging situation. Whom witnesses something is always transformed.

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Witnessing war can be defined as one of the most difficult experiences of being human. This darkness, where existence is threatened in every aspect, justice is lost and the balance is upset, is a great shame that the world has managed to repeat for centuries without hesitation.

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“We built cities, then we destroyed them, and then we built new cities on the same land. Then we destroyed them too. And once again…”

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This is how war correspondent CoÅŸkun Aral describes the cursed cycle that we failed to break in his book “The Place Where Words Ends”, which consists of photographs that he compiled from this difficult experience he gained over the years, and which is also the source of inspiration for this exhibition. He explains why he chose such a difficult testimony at the cost of his life:

“I was looking for the things that take me away every time I press the shutter button, for this great drama of human beings in every frame I fixed. My aim was to unite the fragments of this damn drama scattered all over the world, to reveal this whole as an example.”

The testimony of ÇoÅŸkun Aral reveals with all its reality the destruction that the war has caused to living creatures, nature, cities, and collective memory. We watch this endless cycle of poisonous warfare through his eyes.

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‘’Witness’’ meets the audience by reinterpreting this testimony with the participation of 18 artists from different countries, disciplines, and generations. The exhibition also adds the audience to the state of being a witness. Contemporary art interpretations of Aral’s photographs, which are historical archives, are mostly new or gain new meanings within the scope of the exhibition.

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BaÅŸak Gürbüz Bilsel

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