[BCMA] Richmond Art Gallery - Esra Ersen, Landed opens June 27 at 7pm

Tue Jun 11 12:46:57 PDT 2013

Richmond Art Gallery
Landed: Esra Ersen
Exhibition Date: June 28 - August 18, 2013

Curator: Nan Capogna

Opening Reception: Thursday, June 27, 7-9pm

Artist Talk:  Thursday, June 27 at 8pm

Richmond Art Gallery is pleased to present Landed by Turkish artist Esra Ersen. The exhibition will feature two video-based installations: I am Turkish, I am Honest, I am Diligent... (2002) and Passengers (2009).  This will be Esra Ersen's first solo exhibition in Canada.  Her exploration of social behavior and its underlying determinants has been the focus of her photographic, video and installation work for over a decade. Working with various communities, Ersen creates situations or conditions for her investigations, examining how identities are shaped and transformed across national, cultural and linguistic boundaries.

I am Turkish, I am Honest, I am Diligent... was first developed in 1998 for a secondary school in Velen, Münsterland, in Germany, and adapted in 2002 for the 4th Gwangju Biennale in Korea. A third version was executed in 2005 in a primary school in Linz, Austria. I am Turkish, I am Honest, I am Diligent... derives from a patriotic oath taken at Turkish schools at regular intervals. The installation at Richmond Art Gallery will present the Korean version including video and the Turkish school uniforms worn by the pupils participating in the project. In all three situations students were asked to write daily how they felt wearing the uniform. Ersen discovered that transferring the project to school systems in different cultures prompted contrasting reactions. Richmond Art Gallery will also present the Linz version on a small monitor in a separate gallery space to augment the installation of the Korean version. I am Turkish, I am Honest, I am Diligent...  is a provocative examination of the formation of personal and collective identity.

The second installation, Passengers, (2009) was originally commissioned by TANAS, in Berlin.  Prompted by a newspaper clipping focusing on individuals who had been living in Istanbul for forty years and had never seen the Bosporus Sea,  Ersen investigated the genesis of such conditioning. For the project she approached women who had been living in Istanbul for more than thirty years but who had never left their district. Ersen hired a bus to take women, their children, and some male relatives to the Bosporus Sea. The two-channel video displays the route the bus takes to the planned spot and the streets of the district.  The work was produced in a pre-election period in Istanbul where flags and banners of parties occupied the public space and were highly visible. Passengers is a metaphorical journey where political and social tensions are revealed through a seemingly benign bus trip.

About the Artist
Esra Ersen was born in Ankara, Turkey in 1970. After receiving Bachelor's and Master's degrees from the Marmara University School of Fine Arts in Istanbul, Ersen completed the post-diploma program in France at the Ecole supérieure des beaux-arts de Nantes (2000). Over a span of time lasting ten years and starting in 1998, she was invited to participate in a number of major artistic programs, including the IASPIS (2001) and Delfina International Fellowship (2005), in UK, Sweden, Germany, France and Austria. Among her most recent exhibitions and projects are: Seven New Works, at the Borusan Contemporary, Istanbul (2011); Dream and Reality, at the Istanbul Modern (2011); Tactics of Invisibility, Arter, Vehbi Koc Contemporary Art Foundation, Istanbul (2011); Aussicht auf Veränderungen, Akademie einer anderen Stadt, Art in Public Space, Hamburg and Tanzimat, Augarten Contemporary, Vienna (2010),Tanas (Berlin, 2009); Elsewhere, Kunsthaus Baselland (Basel,2007); Esra Ersen, Frankfurter Kunstverein (Frankfurt, 2006); Works 1998-2005, OK Centrum für Gegenwartskunst (Linz, 2005) and If You Could Speak Swedish... , Moderna Museet (Stockholm, 2001). Her work has been included in the 27th Sao Paulo, the 4th and 8th Istanbul, the 4th Gwangju and the Liverpool Biennials, and the Manifesta 4 Europe Biennial. Ersen has taught at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste in Dresden and The Royal Danish Academy in Copenhagen. She divides her time between Istanbul and Berlin.

Themes of identity, language, stereotyping and migration are central to her work. Examining the relationship between the individual and society, Ersen works directly with communities in various contexts. Exploring social determinants such as culture, education and ethnicity, Ersen's work often reveals the associations and expectations that can bind and divide communities.   Turkey's unique position - a country that spans two continents and is the meeting (or dividing) point between East and West - is not lost on Ersen. She has lived, worked and exhibited in numerous countries around the world.

The Richmond Art Gallery is located in the Richmond Cultural Centre, 7700 Minoru Gate, Richmond. The Richmond Art Gallery gratefully acknowledges the support of the City of Richmond, the British Columbia Arts Council, the Province of British Columbia, Canadian Western Bank, and G&F Financial Group.  Artist's accommodation provided by Sheraton Vancouver Airport Hotel.

RELATED PROGRAMMING

Artist Talk with Esra Ersen: Thursday, June 27 at 8:00pm

Bus trip to Museum of Anthropology  (MOA) for a tour of the exhibition Safar/Voyage: Contemporary Works by Arab, Iranian and Turkish Artists:  Saturday July 13 12:30 - 4:00pm

Landed -Talkback Session with artists Gu Xiong and Sebnem Ozpeta. moderated by RAG Curator Nan Capogna: Tuesday, July 30, 7pm to 9pm

Gu Xiong is a Professor, at UBC, Dept. of Art History, Visual Art, and Theory

Sebnem Ozpeta  is a Vancouver based videographer / editor and visual artist originally from Turkey.

Conversation Lounge  - film, stories and conversations July 2-August 1:  Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays
In conjunction with the exhibition, the Gallery will host the Conversation Lounge for community groups on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Groups will be introduced to Ersen's films. The Conversation Lounge is free, however participants must pre-register. Interested individuals or groups contact the Gallery's Outreach Coordinator, Lynn Chen at lchen at richmond.ca<mailto:lchen at richmond.ca>

 [RAG-logo-black-on-white]

Richmond Art Gallery
www.richmondartgallery.org
<http://www.richmondartgallery.org7700/>180-7700 Minoru Gate
Richmond BC V6Y 1R9
Tel: 604.247.8300
Email: gallery at richmond.ca<mailto:gallery at richmond.ca>

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