New Rarities
"New Rarities" is commissioned by Tate St Ives, curated by Anne Barlow, Director, Tate St Ives. Supported by SAHA – Supporting Contemporary Art from Turkey. t. watercolour and gouache paint on paper s. 70 x 840 cm photos: ©Tate, Kathleen Arundell
This miniaturist-inspired painting, New Rarities, explores legends, value systems, and the ancient maritime trade that has linked Cornwall with the Mediterranean. Interested in how the cultural value of objects change over times and geography, Çakar reflects on Tyrian purple as a port of departure. A rare dye derived from murex sea snails. A color named after the city state of Tyre - the center of ancient Phoenicia. A civilization that expanded from modern-day Lebanon to all across the Mediterranean Sea – this precious dye has adorned the rarest of artefacts and symbols across time. The narrative of Tyrian purple is not just a historical curiosity; it is a systemic reflection of the ways we continue to exploit labor and natural resources. The history of dyes like the Tyrian purple and indigo reminds us of the often-forgotten people and labour behind the products we use every day, and what they all mean. In fact, until we value the living and working miners, farmers, and dyers for their workmanship as we value fine artists for their art, this cycle will cease persist. Just like a royal purple traded across as a currency of power, Devon and Cornwall have been an important source of tin for much of the ancient world, and it has been speculated that the Phoenicians might have sailed to the Western shores of Great Britain in search of it. Residing and producing on the very Western edge of the Mediterranean, Izmir-Turkey, Çakar discusses such historic trade relationships across the Mediterranean arriving in the Cornish shores as a source of narrative. Cansu Çakar developed this new work specifically for Tate St Ives’s Rotunda during her two residencies in St Ives in 2024. Departing from seashells and their representations in culture, and imagining them as both homes and graves, Çakar’s spiral painting reflects on stories, legends and mythologies bridging the Mediterranean and Cornwall. New Rarities explores purple, blue, gold and tin as themes; not just as colour and metal. It unfolds into an ancient map that plots maritime trade routes across and under the Med, offering a storytelling guided more by oral traditions than historical records, making up new objects of value across unfolding land and waterscapes.
