Kurdisk fristadskonstnär från Turkiet som främst arbetar med video och foto. Verken handlar om känslor, identitet och plats. I de till synes enkla filmerna visar han vanliga medborgares livsvillkor i militärens och censurens närvaro där musik och dans blir till en subtil protest mot förtryck. Atays verk har visats på bl.a. Tate Modern i London.
Of Kurdish descent, Fikret Atay highlights the tensions that rise from permanent opposition between the West and the East, civilians and military, tradition and experimentation: a situation he lived in his hometown, Batman, located in Turkey on the Iraqi border. His simple, unaffected style lends an apparently straightforward authenticity to the images, yet the meanings of the performers’ actions remain mysterious to viewers unfamiliar with the local culture.
ARTIST STATEMENT
Fikret Atay makes videos that offer short vignettes of life in Batman, a Kurdish city near the border between Turkey and Iraq. Using a hand-held camera and natural lighting, Atay films young local residents as they perform traditional dances, beat makeshift drums, and play war games. His simple, unaffected style lends an apparently straightforward authenticity to the images, yet the meanings of the performers’ actions remain mysterious to viewers unfamiliar with the local culture. Despite the difficulties of filming in the highly charged political atmosphere of Batman, Atay’s insistence on the specificity of place gives the work a distinctive presence and, despite an occasional hint of danger, the sense of continuity of community.