Up above was fog, down below was a cloud of dust

31 January – 29 March 2020

Artists: Sara Abri, Hedieh Ahmadi, Serminaz Barseghian, Şafak Çatalbaş, Didem Erbaş, Forough Fami, Ece Gökalp, Gözde İlkin, Ayfer Karabıyık, Gelareh Kiazand, Reyhaneh Mehrad, Neda Razavipour, Setareh Shahbazi, Golnar Tabibzadeh, Merve Ünsal, Derya Yıldız

Project Coordinator: Aysu Arıcan

Launched and organized by Anadolu Kültür, the project Up above was fog, down below was a cloud of dust has been curated by visual artists Golnar Tabibzadeh and Merve Ünsal.

Formulated as a context in which artists would be able to exchange their ideas and to foster networks of communication, Up above was fog, down below was a cloud of dust is a collaborative project. The 15 artists came together in Istanbul for three intense days in October 2019, negotiating what it means to participate collaboratively in the fragile circumstances of our respective geographic coordinates. The group will come together once again for a week in late January 2020 to settle into the two exhibition floors at Depo, discussing and working together to define and negotiate the methodologies and representations of an exhibition.

This process-driven group effort was initially launched with thoughts of mutual healing. In considering landscapes as bodies, considering the land as an expansion of the body including and involving the landscape, the artists have been dealing with the ever-slippery task of speaking to and outside of spatial and temporal constructs.

The connections forged between the artists are attempts to create microcosms of dialogue that could relate to and inspire dialogues elsewhere. Claiming geographic delineations as a strength, the artists have been seeking to work with and through expectations.

For two months, Depo will be hosting the records, remnants and artifacts of this process in an expanded definition of an exhibition. The project has hopes of appropriating the topography of the uncertain times to maybe achieve moments and situations of affinity and generosity.

The project is organized by Anadolu Kültür and realized by financial contributions of Goethe-Institut Istanbul and Tehran, and support of Chrest Foundation for travel, accommodation and subsistence related expenses.