“Heart Beats” presents the artistic explorations of two performance artists, Leman Sevda Darıcıoğlu and Martin Toloku, who both engage with the physicality of grief and trauma, inspired by their personal experiences and cultural backgrounds. The exhibition takes a closer look at the phenomena of bodily endurance in liminal conditions and its transgressive dimension, for instance in the realm of ritualized communal experience.
Feelings of grief, shame, anger or joy manifest in the body and its metabolism. The writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie describes the physical process of mourning as “crying with our muscles.” Here, the process of remembering happens not only in the mind but also in body tissue, muscles and bones. Which after-effects are felt of historical ownership in relation to the body and the land, on an individual and collective level? Leman Sevda Darıcıoğlu and Martin Toloku have created new works for the exhibition that address the metabolization and transformation of fear, loss, or stigmatization they sense in the context of the communities in the global South and North that they live in. In doing so, they interact with the particular architecture of the bear enclosure, which carries the weight inherent to a history of colonial and ecological displacement.
Both artists work at the intersection of durational performance and installation, inviting the audience to relate, spend time and share space together. Employing video, sculpture and vocal recordings, the artists set a stage and leave remains, allowing the visitors to glean from the past and anticipate future live-performance in the space.
Exhibition
“Heart Beats”
26.5. – 6.8.2023
with Leman Sevda Darıcıoğlu and Martin Toloku
Curated by
Malte Pieper and Maja Smoszna
“Heart Beats” is the second part of the annual programme GLEANING
With the kind support of the Senate Department for Culture and Europe, Exhibition Remuneration Fund and Exhibition Fund for Municipal Galleries. The work of Leman Sevda Darıcıoğlu was supported by SAHA Association – Supporting Contemporary Art from Turkey.
25/5/2023, 7 pm
Opening with performance “NOT NOW” by Martin Toloku
26/5/2023, 7 pm
Artist Talk with Martin Toloku and Orlando Maaike Gouwenberg
7/6/2023, 6 pm
“Beyond Languages”
Poets’ Corner in cooperation with the Haus für Poesie
Reading with Jasmina Al-Qaisi, Göksu Kunak and Rûveyda
Hosted by Nina Kettiger
5/8/2023, 1–7 pm
“Fire, everywhere”
Performance by Leman Sevda Darıcıoğlu
6/8/2023, 4 pm
Artist Talk with Leman Sevda Darıcıoğlu and Zippora Elders
For detailed info:
https://baerenzwinger.berlin/aktuell/