Fikret Atay

Laboratorio 987, Project Room of the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Castilla y León, presents the first exhibition of the artist, Fikret Atay (Batman, Turkey, 1976) in our country under the title, Sonidos lejanos / Distant sounds. Through the projection of three videos, the concepts surrounding communication and the loss of cultural borders will be analyzed.

The work of this artist is conditioned by the fact that he lives in Batman, a city that belongs to a region that is divided between Turkey, Syria and Iran. The Kurdish town, to which Fikret Atay belongs, is a very complex ethnic group, with great linguistic and cultural variations, which makes most of his works result to the use of traditional folk sound, music or dance associated to social events and daily activities. This exhibition, Sonidos Lejanos / Distant Sounds, thus reflects on the capacity that sound has in crossing over any border and how we can approach the East without stopping to reflect on the West.

The work of Fikret Atay, principally based on the video, speaks to us about this rupture of borders between different cultures; as well as about communication and certain simple analytical elements of unmasking by means of traditions and folk culture.

As background, his videos show signs of a city, Batman, and a culture that has suffered military intervention and political oppression which is evident in its structure—shot in an informal and spontaneous manner. It thus juxtaposes the elements of a culture rooted into tradition with Western influences inserting, as such, the local with the global.

His videos reflect anecdotes from the daily life in Batman, as he has already done in other works, showing fragments of his own quotidian culture. With a simple narration, his works maintain the essence of filmic and narrative simplicity.

Sonidos Lejanos/ Distant sounds

This exhibition aims to reflect on communication and the bridges that exist between East and West. For this, the artist shows in the video Fast & Best (2002) a typical folkloric dance of his country through the movements of some dancers shot from the waist down. In this work, he speaks to us precisely about the new existing codes in Turkish society as these characters are adorned with Western attire (jeans, shoes, etc.). While the camera films the rhythmic steps of the dancers, in the background we can hear the music of a traditional Kurdish dance. These movements remind us, in certain moments, of a military parade.

In the video Tinica (2004), a young man is shown using old tin cans to replace a drum, playing energetically as if he were a rock musician, while the city of Batman is shown on the background. The simplicity with which the main character creates music with waste material makes us reflect on the different necessities established in societies of abundance.

Finally, the video Bang, Bang (2003) narrates the manner in which a group of four children play. As if they were shooters, they chase each other through rail tracks, which could metaphorically be another universal dance. Influenced by his Kurdish condition, the videos of this artist speak to us of how the different cultural codes are, in the end, capable of crossing any border and language.

Fikret Atay, short biographical note Fikret Atay (Batman, Turquía 1976). Lives and Works in Batman. He studied fine arts in the University Dicle (Diyarbakin, Turkey). He has participated in international biennials such as the 8th Istanbul Biennial, the 2nd Tirana Biennial (Albania) and has done several group and individual exhibitions. He has also participated in the Apexart Curatorial Program of New York.

Pressetext

Fikret Atay
Kurator: Tania Pardo