Papers by Pinar Uner Yilmaz
Art Slant, 2017
My memories of learning a second language date back to my post-elementary school years, what they... more My memories of learning a second language date back to my post-elementary school years, what they call the prep-year, in a bilingual school in Turkey. From the first lesson, the struggle to communicate was real: our teacher, who was from Wales, spoke only English, and my class of ten Turkish-speaking students got by with dictionaries and gestures. For many of us in that classroom, and in Turkey more broadly, not knowing English was a failure-and it was something we had better remedy soon. When I first saw Luis Camnitzer's work at Gallery 400 in Chicago, I had a flashback to my English class. I could only read one of the six lines from Camnitzer's Insults (2009): "All those who can't read English are stupid." As an artist, critic and an educator, Camnitzer addresses socio-political issues, using tongue-in-cheek texts to question and challenge global economic discourse. In Insults, his use of humor highlights perceptions of language and how hierarchies-insiders, outsiders-might appear between translations. English is a language, but it's also a mechanism of power, a social and economic infrastructure-it can be an entryway or a barrier depending on who's speaking and what, or where, they're trying to access.
Art Slant, 2017
Two years after giving birth to a human being, I realized that my body and mind had become entiti... more Two years after giving birth to a human being, I realized that my body and mind had become entities, two different systems: one, a figure of unity and strength, the other caught in an interminable state of disfigurement. No matter how hard I tried to ignore my body "becoming animal," as Deleuze and Guattari would say, no matter how much I laughed in the face of postpartum depression tales, I could not have my life back as it was before. I was stuck in this simultaneous nightmare and heaven called motherhood, unwittingly thinking about my own femininity at all times.
Art Slant, 2015
Hosting 102 leading and emerging galleries from 24 countries, Contemporary Istanbul (CI) is one o... more Hosting 102 leading and emerging galleries from 24 countries, Contemporary Istanbul (CI) is one of Istanbul's top international art fairs. More than its younger counterpart ArtInternational, CI presents the best that the local scene has to offer, and although it mainly brings together high-end commercial galleries, CI also hosts nonprofits, artist initiatives, and even hybrid galleries that question the notion of "fine arts." With its "Emerging" sector and wide range of Istanbul exhibitors, the fair highlights new artists and promotes the diversity of the region's art scene to the world. Here are some of the top local participants you should know about.
Art Slant, 2015
On September 3rd, social media went wild with a distressing image of a dead Syrian boy lying face... more On September 3rd, social media went wild with a distressing image of a dead Syrian boy lying face down in the sand after his tiny body was washed ashore from the saltwater of the Mediterranean Sea. Fleeing from war in Syria, seeking refuge in Europe, the little boy died when one of the boats, carrying six Syrians, sank after leaving Akyarlar, Turkey, in a desperate attempt to cross the sea straight to Kos, Greece. That same day, the 14th Istanbul Biennial, with its theme SALTWATER. A Theory of Thought Forms held its press preview. The exhibition opened with performances by Theaster Gates, Adrián Villar Rojas, and Liam Gillick, accompanied by introductory remarks underscoring the prominence of this biennial in this particular geographic part of the world in this time era that we live in. Watching the news that day, the timing and geography felt perhaps too poignant.
Art Slant, 2016
İnci Eviner is a gatherer: she collects the memory of crowds, unearths folk narratives, and retel... more İnci Eviner is a gatherer: she collects the memory of crowds, unearths folk narratives, and retells their stories in her own language. She is a hunter: she traces misogyny, detects hierarchy, and targets it with the tools of a unique feminist visual lexicon. Although she doesn't specifically identify her work as feminist, Eviner dissolves dichotomies and prescribed identities using the female body-but just as often, ungendered bodies-as an agent through which womanhood, gender, and the politics of identity are performed.
Art Slant, 2016
Will women always die? Let some men die too. I killed him for my honor," uttered Çilem Doğan, def... more Will women always die? Let some men die too. I killed him for my honor," uttered Çilem Doğan, defending herself with a heartfelt statement. Arrested for murdering her abusive husband, who beat her-even while she was pregnant-and forced her into prostitution, Doğan resisted the long-term abuse one day and shot her husband with bullets originally aimed at her. Doğan's story isn't unique within Turkey's long history of violence-domestic and otherwise-though she is one of the lucky ones who survived. Newspapers are filled with people who are subject to domestic violence, sexual abuse, police brutality, and murder, including torture and abuse in institutions like jails, schools, and hospitals.
Art Slant, 2016
On a regular Tuesday night in the fall of 2016, the emergency room of a central hospital in Istan... more On a regular Tuesday night in the fall of 2016, the emergency room of a central hospital in Istanbul echoes with a scream. Hardly understandable, in a foreign language. Not Turkish, not completely English, possibly Arabic. A woman demands help for her toddler, who's burning up, unconscious.
Fresh Off the Press by Pinar Uner Yilmaz
This publication is a product of the project “Political Ecology as Practice: A Regional Approach ... more This publication is a product of the project “Political Ecology as Practice: A Regional Approach to the Anthropocene.” This project is funded by the Humanities Without Walls Consortium, based at the Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The Humanities Without Walls Consortium is funded by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
This field guide is produced as a guide and inspiration for the project’s eight field initiatives that took place at different field sites and regions around the world (in 2017 and 2018) including Bolivia, Cambodia, Pakistan, Turkey and the United States,. It also includes the protocols for the project’s fieldwork initiatives, conceptual framework of the related exhibition (2019), and a series of relevant essays.
Political Ecology in Practice: A Field Guide is publication distributed at the Fieldworker’s Workshop, April 20- 21 2018, in Chicago, IL.
Editorial Team:
Omür Harmanşah
Tamara Becerra Valdez
Pinar Uner Yilmaz
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Papers by Pinar Uner Yilmaz
Fresh Off the Press by Pinar Uner Yilmaz
This field guide is produced as a guide and inspiration for the project’s eight field initiatives that took place at different field sites and regions around the world (in 2017 and 2018) including Bolivia, Cambodia, Pakistan, Turkey and the United States,. It also includes the protocols for the project’s fieldwork initiatives, conceptual framework of the related exhibition (2019), and a series of relevant essays.
Political Ecology in Practice: A Field Guide is publication distributed at the Fieldworker’s Workshop, April 20- 21 2018, in Chicago, IL.
Editorial Team:
Omür Harmanşah
Tamara Becerra Valdez
Pinar Uner Yilmaz
This field guide is produced as a guide and inspiration for the project’s eight field initiatives that took place at different field sites and regions around the world (in 2017 and 2018) including Bolivia, Cambodia, Pakistan, Turkey and the United States,. It also includes the protocols for the project’s fieldwork initiatives, conceptual framework of the related exhibition (2019), and a series of relevant essays.
Political Ecology in Practice: A Field Guide is publication distributed at the Fieldworker’s Workshop, April 20- 21 2018, in Chicago, IL.
Editorial Team:
Omür Harmanşah
Tamara Becerra Valdez
Pinar Uner Yilmaz