Conceptual art supplies a mysterious exhibition
Güncelleme Tarihi:
by Vercihan Ziflioğlu
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Şubat 24, 2009 00:00
ISTANBUL - An exhibition called ’Ergenekon TC’ has recently opened in Istanbul. But not everyone can see it. Because the address of the exhibition is being kept hidden for security reasons. Special permission from the artists is required to visit it
A mysterious, new exhibition called "Ergenekon TC" opened in Istanbul a few days ago. The location of the exhibition is kept hidden by its artists for security reasons and will be open for just two hours each afternoon through Wednesday night only. To visit the exhibition, send an e-mail to deluks@deluks.org.
If it receives enough attention, the exhibition will be extended one or two days more. Only the artists are evaluating e-mails sent to the exhibition, and its address are given to a few people. If you can’t find a chance to visit the exhibition, do not be sorry about it. It is a project to continue on the Internet, and everyone will be able to see it through the website www.ergenekon.tc in Turkish and English. The exhibition plans to move to New York in the coming months.
2,455-page Ergenekon indictment is main attraction
The Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review obtained the address and guaranteed to keep it secret, and had the chance to visit this confidental exhibition and spoke with its brain master Burak Arıkan.
The place of the exhibition is an apartment in the Galatasaray district. The place is a house at the same time and evacuated for a few days for the exhibition. In the entrance to the apartment, a big room, whose walls and doors are covered with straw yellow colored papers, welcomes visitors. The room is named "The Indictment Room."
The mentioned papers are the documents of the Ergenekon case. The 2,455-page indictment was obtained from the Internet in PDF format. The papers spread over the 60-square-meter room. Another striking details in the exhibition are videos and a blood-red movable diagram in the shape of a human cell. The color red in the diagram symbolizes the victims of unsolved murders. Arıkan prepared the diagram.
"I have carefully read 1,000 pages of the indictment but I wanted to reveal the relations and connections and that’s why I have created this. It is made up of two files. It automatically reads the whole indictment in the first stage. And it finds the names, mentioned in the case, and reveals their relations and network between them in the second stage."
’Deluxe’ artists feel ill at ease and hide their names
In the exhibition, which has been opened by an art initiative called "Deluxe," the artists’ names are kept secret just like its location. Arıkan, who didn’t hesitate to give his name because he lives in the United States, said, "This is just an art project but when the Ergenekon case is in question, it causes uneasiness. Actually, we planned with friends to open an exhibition and announce it through the Internet but some people warned us, saying that we should receive support from the media and say that it was just an art project. With the exhibition, we want to highlight the complication and uneasy atmosphere caused by this case in the country."
Another significant part of the exhibition is the stamps, said Arıkan, adding that having the stamps produced was tricky. "We wanted to have an atelier create a stamp that read Ergenekon TC on it. Even though we told the atelier that it was for an art project, they did not believe us. We had to sign a document because they were scared," he said.
Arıkan said 100 stamps were produced for the exhibition and would be distributed to visitors. "Those who are given these stamps may show their reaction by stamping them anywhere," he said.
About the Ergenekon case
The Ergenekon case, which has been on the country’s agenda for a year, began June 12, 2007, when hand grenades were found in a house in Ümraniye. As part of the investigation, hundreds of people have been taken into custody for various reasons like forming an armed terror organization and attempting a coup. The first hearing for the historical case began Oct. 20, 2008, and continues today.
If it receives enough attention, the exhibition will be extended one or two days more. Only the artists are evaluating e-mails sent to the exhibition, and its address are given to a few people. If you can’t find a chance to visit the exhibition, do not be sorry about it. It is a project to continue on the Internet, and everyone will be able to see it through the website www.ergenekon.tc in Turkish and English. The exhibition plans to move to New York in the coming months.
2,455-page Ergenekon indictment is main attraction
The Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review obtained the address and guaranteed to keep it secret, and had the chance to visit this confidental exhibition and spoke with its brain master Burak Arıkan.
The place of the exhibition is an apartment in the Galatasaray district. The place is a house at the same time and evacuated for a few days for the exhibition. In the entrance to the apartment, a big room, whose walls and doors are covered with straw yellow colored papers, welcomes visitors. The room is named "The Indictment Room."
The mentioned papers are the documents of the Ergenekon case. The 2,455-page indictment was obtained from the Internet in PDF format. The papers spread over the 60-square-meter room. Another striking details in the exhibition are videos and a blood-red movable diagram in the shape of a human cell. The color red in the diagram symbolizes the victims of unsolved murders. Arıkan prepared the diagram.
"I have carefully read 1,000 pages of the indictment but I wanted to reveal the relations and connections and that’s why I have created this. It is made up of two files. It automatically reads the whole indictment in the first stage. And it finds the names, mentioned in the case, and reveals their relations and network between them in the second stage."
’Deluxe’ artists feel ill at ease and hide their names
In the exhibition, which has been opened by an art initiative called "Deluxe," the artists’ names are kept secret just like its location. Arıkan, who didn’t hesitate to give his name because he lives in the United States, said, "This is just an art project but when the Ergenekon case is in question, it causes uneasiness. Actually, we planned with friends to open an exhibition and announce it through the Internet but some people warned us, saying that we should receive support from the media and say that it was just an art project. With the exhibition, we want to highlight the complication and uneasy atmosphere caused by this case in the country."
Another significant part of the exhibition is the stamps, said Arıkan, adding that having the stamps produced was tricky. "We wanted to have an atelier create a stamp that read Ergenekon TC on it. Even though we told the atelier that it was for an art project, they did not believe us. We had to sign a document because they were scared," he said.
Arıkan said 100 stamps were produced for the exhibition and would be distributed to visitors. "Those who are given these stamps may show their reaction by stamping them anywhere," he said.
About the Ergenekon case
The Ergenekon case, which has been on the country’s agenda for a year, began June 12, 2007, when hand grenades were found in a house in Ümraniye. As part of the investigation, hundreds of people have been taken into custody for various reasons like forming an armed terror organization and attempting a coup. The first hearing for the historical case began Oct. 20, 2008, and continues today.