Hands On Hips Motif Studio

Silence - 14June / 9July, 18, Ortahisar, Cappadocia
 Curated by Fulya Erdemci and Ilgın Deniz Akseloğlu

Hands on the Hips Motif Booklet .pdf

text by curatorial team for the publication Cansu Çakar’s interest in the tradition of collective thinking and production is central to her work and informs her practice through her workshops, like Hands on Hips Motif Studio, are her very own anarchic resuscitation of foundational Turkish art form in order to bring to light present- day stories, issues, and ideas.
The name “Hands on Hips” references the common, though varied, motif of a female figure used on Turkish kills to represent fertility and pluralism. Prior to the festival days of Cappadox, Çakar invited locals, especially local women, to join her in a workshop to produce new imagery using motifs collected by Çakar through a research period in which she studied the symbols and motifs of Ortahisar and the region, as well as the common aesthetics and uses of daily ornamentation both of the present day and the recent and distant past. Those invited to the workshop will reference a workbook prepared by Çakar in which there are representations of flowers, trees, local architectural adornments, pigeon holes, souvenirs, horses, icons, Anatolian carpet motifs, Mouth Erciyes (Argeus) and other geographic and topological staples like Ortahisar Castle. The participants will create their own interpreted motif-based story through recomposing the symbols and motifs in the workbook; the outcome of the workshop is expected to reveal collective points of view moral, cultural, and social issues as reflected through the decided reuses of motifs, artifacts, and ornaments of daily life in region.

Zübeyde, photo by Korhan Karaoysal

Ayla

Seda

Pelin

Zübeyde