Erhan Arık – Gayan

22 September – 16 October 2016

Curators: Firdevs Kayhan, Mahmut Koyuncu

In his work “Gayan”, Erhan Arık, a member of the NarPhotos Photo Collective, focuses on how past and present overlap, and the memory of the Armenians regarding 1915 as he follows the traces of Armenian communities in Iraq, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Iran and Jordan – the stops in the Middle East of the Armenian Genocide – and also in Turkey and Armenia.
“Gayan” features photographs Arık took from 2014 to 2016 in Armenian neighbourhoods and villages in Tehran, Isfahan, Zakho, Dohuk, Beirut, Jubail, Antelias, Aindjar, Amman, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Bethany, Yerevan, Ashtarak, Antakya and Istanbul.
The exhibition’s title, Gayan, is the name given to camps in which Armenians who survived 1915 gathered, held onto life at first in tents, and later often in huts with tin roofs. These camps eventually turned into poor neighbourhoods, and in this respect, a Gayan expresses, in the memory of Armenians, both 1915 and the great losses suffered, and also the will and effort to survive.

The launch of the artist’s book titled “Gayan”, published by Aras Publishing, will also be held at the exhibition opening.

Field work for the Gayan project was supported by the Open Society Foundation, Turkey and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
The first exhibition of the project to be held in Istanbul and “Gayan” book are supported by the Open Society Foundation, Turkey.
Open Society Foundation,Turkey does not hold any responsibility concerning the content of the project.

Press

4.10.2016
Showcase: Fahrettin Örenli’s ‘High Heels’ Exhibition
TRT World

24.9.2016
‘Türkiye’den bir çocuk var ama Ermeni değil’
Duvar

24.9.2016
Orta Doğu’daki Ermenileri bir araya getiren istasyon
Agos

23.9.2016
Metropolis and money-making subjects of new Istanbul exhibition
Daily Sabah

23.9.2016
Ne içeride ne dışarıda: Gayan
Sanatatak

23.9.2016
“Gayan” Üzerine: Peki Neredeler?
postdergi.com

Photograph: Erhan Arık / NarPhotos