Kırılgan Kitap [Precarious Book: Essays on Contemporary Art]

Süreyyya Evren

Published in 2019

Heterotopya Publications

Pages: 144

Best renowned for his novels, short stories, poems, and books on political theory and contemporary art, Süreyyya Evren delves into political and social issues around contemporary art in his volume, Kırılgan Kitap. He engages in a reading through  which he analyses the forms of resistance established by the language of art against all forms of domination, together with the artist’s frame of mind. Exploring the contemporary perception of reality and  deciphering of the symbols of domination, he urges us to consider the frail affairs of art in our perception. The author manages to bring the artist-subject and the receptive-subject together, with the space of Kırılgan Kitap.

The Force of Nonviolence: An Ethico-Political Bind

Judith Butler

Published in 2020

Verso Books

Pages: 224

In The Force of Non-Violence, Judith Butler openly takes a stand for nonviolence in discussing the political and ethical dimensions of violence and nonviolence in social conflicts. She both shows how the state – as an actor who holds the monopoly on violence – uses the ambivalence in the definition of violence for its own purposes and considers nonviolence as the prerequisite of social equality. Butler discusses the boundary she finds problematic in legitimising violence as self-defence: who is defined as ‘self’, that is ‘us’ and how justifying violence with self-defence creates exclusion, hence inequality as long as this boundary exists. For all lives to matter equally, she invites us to think about how ‘grievability’ should be reframed while people are still alive. Along with the criticism of individualism, which underlies classical contractualism, Butler bases nonviolence on the inevitability of the interdependency of life.

Silinmiş Sahneler [Erased Scenes]

Hakan Bıçakcı

Published in 2022

İletişim Publications

Page Number: 172

‘Squeak, squeak, squeak. I wake up stiff with the prickly squeaks interfering with my sleep. The kid on the swing with his back turned. The sounds come from the hall. Squeak, squeak, squeak. I pucker up on the bed. If I stand up and look, I think I’ll find him swinging in the middle of the hall. His hair streaming, even though he’s inside.’

A video operator who set out with a dream of becoming a filmmaker yet found himself a censor. His job on the TV channel he is working at is to cut, pixelate, and delete ‘objectionable’ imagery. As he interferes with the scenes showing on the monitor, he begins to lose control of his life. The montage gets mixed up. Terrifying scenes appear at unexpected moments. Scenes that shouldn’t happen. Suspecting that it is the side effects of his job, he calls these images ‘abnormalities’. He neither wants to see a neurologist and walk with downcast eyes, his head clouded with pills nor to talk with his relatives and worry them. His intention is to deal with it by himself. He freezes up. He ignores it. He pushes forward.

Silinmiş Sahneler by Hakan Bıçakcı. The fatigue of living here today, always being alert, seeing everything, and not doing anything.

Resistance and Aesthetics

Editor: Begüm Özden Fırat and Aylin Kuryel

Published in 2015

İletişim Publications

Pages: 440

This compilation aims to contribute to the theoretical and practical endeavours that blur the boundaries between aesthetics and politics, art and life. It seeks to open a discussion that rejects the confinement of art to a professionalised and privatised space and the definition of creativity by cultural industries. It strives to make visible the organic tie between art and aesthetics with the imagining of revolutionary social transformation. To this end, it focuses on the struggles ranging from radical avant-garde movements such as Dadaism, Surrealism and Situationism to the global anti-capitalist movement starting in the 1990s, from Palestine to Tahrir, from Cinémathèque Française to Emek Sineması [Emek Movie Theatre], from the Tekel Protests to Gezi Park and Özgür Kazova.

Could we understand the societal role of arts and artists in the aftermath of the 1830 and 1848 Revolutions without the revolutionary insurrections of the period; the uprisings, utopian social communist movements, and The Commune? Could we think about Surrealism without the period’s anarchist and Trotskyite movements? Can we explain the post-war Berlin Dada without taking Rosa Luxemburg, Karl Liebknecht, and the Spartacus League into account? Could we consider Situationist International without the rising communist and anarchist movements and the 1960s radicalism? And finally, could we comprehend the discussions on the ‘political turn’ in the contemporary art scene without looking at their connection with the movements against neoliberal globalisation?

District Six Huis Kombuis: Food and Memory Cookbook

Tina Smith

Published in 2016

Quivertree Publications

Pages: 272

Located in Cape Town, South Africa, District Six is a residential neighbourhood destroyed by the Apartheid regime in the 1970s, from where its residents were forcibly displaced. Written by Tina Smith, the Exhibition Manager of the District Six Museum that was established in 1994 by the residents of the district, District Six Huis Kombuis cookbook commemorates the rich fusion of food and cultural heritage in District Six, Cape Town through personal stories, recipes, historical images, and craftwork.

Huis Kombis means ‘home kitchen’, in the local language. A culmination of memories and narratives, the book weaves through the days of a typical week in District Six, focusing on traditional family recipes that were prepared with love and often limited resources. This is a visual celebration of the vibrancy and warmth of the community – who foraged, preserved, baked, and cooked together. Portraits of 23 former District Six residents accompany recollections of lives lived in a historically significant time. Artefacts, food, and anecdotes bring the spirit of District Six alive again.

The Shape of a Pocket

John Berger

Published in 2003

Vintage

Pages: 272

‘Every day, all over the world, the media network replaces reality with lies. Not, in the first place, political or ideological lies (they come later), but visual, substantial lies about what human and natural life is actually made of. All the lies converge into one colossal falsehood: the supposition that life itself is a commodity and that those who can afford to buy it are, by definition, those who deserve it! Most of us know this is false, but very little of what we are shown confirms our resistance.’

According to Berger, that is exactly what art does; it confirms our resistance. The essays in this book explore tens of thousands of years of cave paintings in France and the Fayum portraits in ancient Egypt in addition to the works of numerous classical and modern artists. Featuring also Berger’s correspondences with Subcomandante Marcos and the transcripts of his radio program, the collection reminds us about the indispensable and curative nature of art for individuals and society.