Giving Voices features four of Erkan Özgen’s video works dealing with war, violence, and trauma—beyond the boundaries of the political, within the dimension of the private and the human.

By deciding not to show images of violence and war, Özgen gives a voice to individuals and objects. Witnessing becomes a way of understanding and also resetting memory. How can we feel the realities of war, conflict, and violence? What are the cultural and social implications of war and violence, and how does society respond to war? These are some of the questions raised by Özgen’s work and addressed here by social anthropologist Rik Adriaans, psychologist Jan İlhan Kızılhan, curator Özge Ersoy, as well as writer Han Nefkens, and in conversations between the artist and Hans Ulrich Obrist, artistic director of the Serpentine galleries, and curator Hilde Teerlinck.

Contributions by Rik Adriaans, Özge Ersoy, Jan Kizilhan, Han Nefkens, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Erkan Özgen, Hilde Teerlinck

Language: English