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Sofras

video-performance, 5'42'', 2019

The word sofra means "dinner table" in Turkish, and sofras means "dinner tables". In the project of “Sofras” the artist visits some living spaces of people from Turkey and gets into a collective act with them which based on dining and automatic drawing. In these living spaces (studios, shared flats, apartments) the artist and the place owners cook a dinner together. Before they start to dine they collectively make drawings on table sheet of the dining table. Afterwards they dine together on the same table sheet. And sometimes the artist does this act just by himself alone. What’s easily recognisable from drawings on table sheets is that there are common themes such as death, animal symbolism and sexuality. These themes are used to be the main elements of ancient festivals. Beside these common themes, each participant draws and paints some images about their inner selves, political views or personal lives.


Considering the link between modern dining tables and pagan altars, the aim of this act is to draw attention on the bridge between the modern collective actions such as festivals, social uprisings and the history’s elder holidays of dining, ecstasy and sacrifice. To bring into view the potential energy in these collective creativity actions like this and explore the ways of transgression from the settled identity, the artist tries to recreate a similar form of this ancient experience with people from different social groups and classes.

P.S: "Sofras" is an ongoing project. As time passes new acquaintances and new table sheets emerges.

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