Reflections from Women’s Archives brings together the works produced by Turkish and Swedish artists as a result of a long-term cultural and interdisciplinary collaboration and artistic research centered on the archives of the Women’s Library.
As part of the project, six artists, three from Sweden and three from Turkey, were invited to conduct research at the Women’s Library, undertaking the challenging task of establishing a relationship with the archive as artists. Following an intense research and discussion process focusing on the women’s movement in Turkey, curatorial research practices, and the organization and content of the archive, the artists began to work in pairs on the works for the exhibition.
Apart from the obvious geographical and cultural distinctions, the artists also had to find ways to intersect their different approaches to feminist practice and personal connections. The three installations that emerged from this process focus on the relationships that can be established between the visuals, letters, and newspaper clippings found in the archive and the spaces and communities surrounding the archive building. By giving voice to the individuals they encountered in their stories around the archive, the artists question what remains from the past and whose reflections can be revealed. Reflections from Women’s Archives highlights the broad impacts of gender, race, class, sexual orientation, and disability, aiming to contribute to contemporary works that encompass feminist, artistic, and archival practices.
The exhibition Reflections from Women’s Archives can be seen at DEPO in Tophane from March 17 to April 30, 2022.
Artists: Larissa Araz and Petra Bauer, Şafak Şule Kemancı and Ays Alayat, Özge Açıkkol and Elin Strand Ruin
Photo: *Annual organization and cleaning works of the Periodicals Collection of the Women’s Library and Information Center Foundation, Istanbul 2021
Source: https://www.depoistanbul.net/event/kadin-arsivlerinden-yansiyanlar/
Source: https://m.bianet.org/bianet/yasam/258834-kadin-arsivlerinden-yansiyanlar