Ahmet Öğüt
Interview: Homage to Hrant Dink - Performance with a blind painter; art and memory - making.
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Ahmet Öğüt's performance / homage to Hrant Dink, together with New York artist Devorah Greenspan, took place on 15 November 2009, as part of Performa09, the third edition of the biennial of visual art performance in New York, curated by Defne Ayas.
… I felt desperate as an artist in the case of Dink. I didn’t know what I could do really. Now, after more than two years, I found a way to do something with my performance project for Performa 09. I wanted to work with a blind painter to use his/her imagination so we could pay a tribute to Hrant Dink. Then I located Devorah Greenspan, a blind NY-based painter. Inspired by Dink’s last article, entitled The Pigeon-like Unease of My Inner Spirit, I shared with Devorah Dink’s philosophy, insights, apprehensions, dreams and genuine love for his country, and she portrayed him the way she imagined him. (…)
For the performance I wanted to create a completely dark room where visitors can only see the performance with small torches. It was a narrow and long room and Devorah’s easel, paints and brushes were located at the end of the room that looked like a theatrical stage with black curtain in the background. She wanted me to sit next to her and continue the conversation. We were whispering each other. We were not talking only about Hrant Dink, but also our daily life and our past. All the visitors entered the room holding small torches and encountered Devorah Greenspan. She kept painting in the dark. AÖ
© Image: Courtesy of the artist and Performa
Photographer: Paula Caourt
Interview: Homage to Hrant Dink - Performance with a blind painter; art and memory - making.