12th – 17th August 2016
By Onur Uz
left to right: Weig, Erek, Krilova and Vi
“THE STORIES THEY TOLD”, an exhibition by Sümer Erek, Diana Krilova, Doerte Weig and Vivada Vi is a worthwhile experience for everyone to “get read” by these four artists’ grabbing artworks.
The moment I got myself to the exhibition venue, I took a moment, digesting the title in a deeper way, which is to say, as deep as my crazy obsession on storytelling. As journalists, we often find ourselves in this non-fiction (well, generally) world of storytelling that if you love doing it enough, it becomes your life. Stories, become your reality.
Doerte Weig taking the participants into her journey in Baka
That was why, I had been waiting to see Sumer and his talented colleagues’ recent work on storytelling. At the 5th Gallery, there was an estimated number of people witnessing the rather complicated but “dissolvent” tendency of the exhibition. Dissolvent, in a way that bravely attempts to read you; and whilst doing that, showing you all those little secrets you keep to yourself, as a reminder of your “story punchlines”, no matter how much you want to forget them, or maybe remember more.
The most interesting part of the exhibition was, the fact that how these four artists are actually quite different than each other. Their artistic identities, genres and styles flawlessly present a rather “chaotic” perfection that makes you feel go through the artworks more, and find your own story there. In the artworks, we see Sumer Erek carries on delivering his stories from the “Broken Tide” collection in a different manner this time. This time, Sumer says that “the stories have changed”. And just like any change, it reminds me how constant the dynamics of change are. This is why, Erek is a genius when it comes to play with change and re-present some of the Broken Tide masterpieces as different actors for another story line. Sumer Erek, however doesn’t exit from his unique genre of listening to the stories from the Mediterranean Sea, the stories remain as the voices of people who were fleeing from their homes as the broken tides guide them. Through painting and sculpture, Erek is seems to have taken his “Broken Tide” pieces to a wider context, including individuals’ stories, the cosmos and more storytelling through other artists’ works. Sumer’s reality of ‘there’ or ‘here’ where everywhere is nowhere or ‘notopia’ looks more grounded this time. Erek says that the changed dynamics serves well to the theme “Stories They Told” as now it seems like the broken tides seem to have found their missing pieces or maybe I should say influencers; Weig, Krilova and Vi.
Vivida Vi’s journey to the cosmos
Diana’s series of plain oil on canvas are, without a doubt, such masterpieces of proven labour and mastermind. I have to confess that my favourite piece from the exhibition, was from Diana’s collection. The piece “Thirsty” totally struck my attention, not because it was the most “descriptive” artwork with a human body and a kitchen scene, but because how brilliantly it accomplished depicting the “routine”. Moreover, we see Diana’s pieces with her background in anthropology of material culture – her previous works included painting, hand-drawn animation and short films on space and identity.
Krilova’s “Thirsty”
It almost felt like a manifestation of resistance towards our routine lives; and how Diana achieves that by her talent also maybe with a little mocking. I also would like to state that the London tube map depiction in the painting, is a true artistic effort. You can actually see an identical twin of the tube map, shrinked into a canvas with every single detail. Her photographic works that explore the Baka forest as it is perceived by people who live within it, took us into a dreamy world that we did not want to leave for a while. Doerte Weig also impressed all of us by her little performance during the evening, by sharing her memories from her adventures in Baka, in a very theatrical way. I can easily say Weig’s performance was rather mesmerizing; with all these untold stories and perspectives, it was a reflection of “pure life”. Vivida’s two very subjective and refreshing pieces stand for being the “cosmic shelters” of the exhibition. Vivida follows a genre that lets the artwork get the viewer in and then let them decide upon the message. To me, Vivida had this incredible usage of simplicity on tackling cosmic dimensions.
Leaving the exhibition, I remember started to think about my stories instantly. Only then, do I realise, they were all told in the “stories they told” – it was a true adventure to take.