The Letter Exhibition is an event & installation where Deniz Beser shares the letters that he received during military service , which started on 12 December 2009 and ended on 17 May 2010.
”Nowadays, we forget about our old habits by transforming with the benefits of technology. One of these old habits was sending letters to friends and families,” said Beser, taking advantage of his military service and aiming to add an artistic image to the letters by drawing and producing them in order to regain the habit of correspondence. Stating that he also received letters from France, Canada, Germany, Belgium, Lithuania, Denmark, England, Spain, Hungary and Taiwan in addition to Turkey, Beşer replied to every letter sent. Beşer, who will also include the letters he sent himself in the exhibition, has received around 90 letters so far. In the exhibition, you can see the interesting letters sent to Beser by painters, musicians, sculptors, dancers and architects, all of whom were invited to write letters to restore an old habit.
-Concept & Curation: Deniz BEŞER
-Performances: Asaf Zeki YÜKSEL a.k.a.deli köpek (Dinar Bandosu), Utku ÖĞÜT, Gonca GÜMÜŞAYAK, Alper AKÇAY and Deniz BEŞER
Participants: Akın AK, Alper AKÇAY, Asena, Orhan AMCA, Deniz Beşer, Pauline BERLİN, Hüseyin BULUT, Olivier CHASTENET, Shraron Chia-hsin LİU, Eyüp ÇAYIR, Veysel DENEÇ, Senem DİYİCİ, Savaş DÖVEN, Deniz ERBAŞ, Dicle ERVER, Eda GECİKMEZ, Sema GERİM, Aydan HAVANCI, Hülya HAVANCI, Neşe-Ertan-Sezin HAVANCI, Nurten HAVANCI, Nazlı KARABIYIKOĞLU, Berkay KARAKAYA, Sedef KARAKAŞ, Zeynep KAYA, András E. KOVACS, Marie-Eve LEVASSEUR, Lucia Mirnar MARTİNEZ, Lea MAYER, Lucia Lorenzo MENDO, Beksultan OĞUZ, Ayşe ÖZEN, Francois PEDNEAULT, Cengiz SAĞLAM, Işık SAPMAZ, Aydın SOFU, Ceren TURAN, Ieva UTAKYTE, Gamze YALÇIN, Cezmi ÇOBAN, Erdem İlgi AKTER and Gonca GÜMÜŞAYAK
Parallel Events / Concerts / Performances:
-16 Mart, In Funk We Trust ,Saltuk Erginer dj set (19:30-20:30)
-19 Mart ,Murat Beşer ”Muhalif Sesler”, dj set (19:00-20:30)
-19 Mart, Asaf Zeki Yüksel + Hedonutopia, Live( 21:00-22:30)
-20 Mart ,Osman Kaytazoğlu, dj set (20:00-21:30)
-25 Mart, Kutu (Utku Öğüt), Live (20:00-21.30)
-26 Mart ,Dikkayt 90’s Night, Deniz Beşer, dj set (20:00-21.30)
-27 Mart, Erdem Dicle, Live (20:30-21.30)
–Interdisciplinary Performances: Copikstar7 (Ümit Turgay Durgun) -Ahmet Ghandi Tanpınar -Gökhan Basicolor -Kerem Durukan -Deniz Beşer -Ayşe Özen -Sezin Terzi – Veysel Deneç -Baran Tokmakoğlu
In this performance, Alper Akçay created an “emotion map” by making a preliminary study between the private notes, drawings, personal belongings and letters received by Deniz Beşer while he was in the military. He chose the section as his installation and performance space. The sounds in the space integrated with the improvisations of his fellow performers and musicians and made his readings through a mini megaphone.
Hearing the voice of the person who wrote the letter, the soldier’s closet, the soldier’s own privacy, the feeling of being imprisoned, the feeling of being stuck, conflict, control, power, subconscious sexual suppression, being on the verge of insanity, longing, and improvisations emerged from daily routines and repetitions.
Deniz Beser 