press release only in german

26 May - 11 Oct 20

Farid Rasulov: Qurban Olum
(March 18–June 14, 2020)

YARAT Contemporary Art Space is pleased to present a solo exhibition from the Amsterdam-based Kurdish artist Ahmet Öğüt, running March 18–June 14, 2020. The show features two new, site-responsive commissions spanning across video and sculpture, entitled Hiçbir şiir, şairini sevmez (No poem loves its poet) and Living Beings Squatting Institutions. Referring to the physical and societal structures imposed by mankind throughout history—dividing both living beings and cultures—Öğüt’s works allude to how these structures are ultimately permeable states.

The video installation Hiçbir şiir, şairini sevmez (No poem loves its poet) takes its title from a piece of Turkic graffiti the artist encountered during a visit to Sovetsky—a historic neighborhood in Baku now under demolition. Presented on a large modular LED wall, with original music composed by Sub-Botnick (Ahmet Öğüt and Maru Mushtrieva), the video features overhead footage spanning across Baku’s central districts. Two lost flight attendants can be seen within the rubble holding a road sign for Tolstoy Street, which formerly ran through the Sovetsky neighborhood. Observing the cultural evolution and radical urbanization of Azerbaijan—which has shared Soviet, Turkic and Azerbaijani histories—Öğüt gestures towards the succession of governing bodies who have attempted to remove traces of their predecessors via urban gentrification, social norms and economic powers.

Interweaving throughout the exhibition space, an architectural installation mimics Baku’s city walls, originally erected to hide "undesirable" areas; those which are occupied or are remains of Soviet culture. Creating a path for viewers which both blocks and reveals the video and sculptural works, Öğüt’s installation acts as a metaphor for those who have lived and are still living in Baku today. This exhibition is co-curated by Mari Spirito, Protocinema, and Suad Garayeva-Maleki. This exhibition is also supported by Goethe-Zentrum Baku