For those who had left and those who are struggling

2020 Performance
Wide view of a large mound of roses made from newspaper rising from a patterned rug inside a domestic room. Hundreds of tightly folded and twisted pieces of newspaper form the pile, mostly grey and white with fragments of coloured photographs and printing. Tall, neatly stacked newspapers stand behind the mound at left, while loose paper forms spread outward across the rug.
Low close view across newspaper roses scattered on the patterned rug. Individual forms are made from twisted, folded and crumpled pages, with printed text, photographs and patches of colour remaining visible across their uneven surfaces. Several roses are sharply visible in the foreground while the larger accumulation becomes blurred behind them.
Close view into a dense mass of newspaper roses. Folded and twisted pages overlap tightly across the frame, with fragments of printed text, photographs, coloured printing and areas of white paper visible among the forms. The surrounding room and performer are outside the frame; almost the entire image is occupied by accumulated newspaper.
Close view of several newspaper roses lying separately on the patterned rug at the edge of the larger pile. A rose in the foreground has a long, tightly twisted paper stem and a folded head containing part of a printed colour image. Sunlight crosses the rug and paper, while more roses gather out of focus behind them.
Extreme close view into the accumulated newspaper roses. Folded pages containing columns of text, photographs, coloured printing and torn edges press against one another, with small dark gaps between the forms. The layered newspaper fills the entire frame.
Photography: Ceren Saner

For those who had left and those who are struggling began as a long-term performance project in which Leman Sevda Darıcıoğlu intended to perform for three days each month, continuing for as long as they felt the necessity to do so. Conceived during the COVID-19 pandemic, the project was intended to remain accessible online even if performances in the physical presence of an audience became possible again.

Emerging from the conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic, For those who had left and those who are struggling is an invitation to remember those who have died, to mourn, and to send strength to those struggling in their homes, hospitals, prisons, and refugee camps. It is also an invitation to come together with those confined to their homes or to a room.

In the first performance of the series, Darıcıoğlu makes roses by hand from local newspapers published over the preceding three months.

Overhead view of newspaper roses scattered across a patterned rug. Several individual roses are separated from the denser mass at the top of the image, revealing folded paper heads attached to long, narrow stems made from tightly twisted newspaper. Patches of sunlight cross the rug and illuminate parts of the paper forms.
Photography: Ceren Saner
Stay LIVE at Home & Fe Male Home
Livestream capture showing the performer seated beside a large mound of newspaper roses in a domestic room. Seen in profile at the right side of the frame, they extend one arm toward the pile while holding a paper rose in their hand. Their mouth is slightly open and their gaze is directed toward the rose. A bed, doors, furniture and a mirror are visible behind them through the grainy, high-contrast image.
Vertical livestream capture with the mound of newspaper roses filling most of the foreground and rising in front of the seated performer. Wearing black clothing, they sit behind the pile with their head lowered and their gaze directed toward their hands and the paper immediately in front of them. Their face is partially shadowed, while the accumulated newspaper occupies most of the space between their body and the camera.
Close livestream capture of the performer’s forearms and hands working beside the mound of newspaper roses. Their hands hold and manipulate a piece of newspaper at the right side of the frame, with tattoos visible along one forearm. The accumulated paper forms fill most of the image at left, while a bed and other furniture remain visible in the background through the grainy, high-contrast image.
Livestream captures: Fenia Kotsopoulou
Presentations
Stay LIVE at Home, Performistanbul, Istanbul, TR, 2020
First two days also presented as part of Fe Male Home performance festival.
Credits
For those who had left and those who are struggling, by Leman Sevda Darıcıoğlu, performance, 3 days, 8 hours each day, 2020
Supported by Ali Betil and Weichselstr residency, Berlin, Germany
Acknowledgements: Ceren Saner, Emanuele Femia, Lilly Müller, Rina Schmeller, Ulrich Ebersbach
Performance Necropolitics Biopolitics Illness Chronopolitics Grief Mourning Long-durational
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