Lick the scar, enter the wound

2022 Performance
Wide view of the performer standing beside the thick trunk of a large tree in a green park. Their body is almost completely enclosed in a long, sheer black garment that falls to the ground, with a black hood covering the head. They lean their upper body and head back against the tree while one arm reaches upward along the trunk. The dark, elongated figure contrasts with the sunlit grass and dense green foliage.
The performer stands close to the trunk of a large tree, wrapped in a floor-length sheer black garment and hood. Their head is lowered and the body bends slightly forward, while one arm lifts the black fabric outward from the body. The translucent material reveals darker clothing beneath it and falls in long vertical folds onto the grass.
The performer stands beside a large tree and lifts the long sheer black garment upward with both arms, drawing the translucent fabric over and around their hooded head. As the fabric rises, their black bra, bare midriff and black briefs become visible beneath it. Their torso stretches upward into the lifted material while the remaining black fabric hangs down around their legs.
The performer crouches low at the base of a large tree, wearing a vivid red hood over their head, a black bra and black briefs. Their knees are drawn tightly upward and their body folds inward against the trunk. One hand is raised near their covered face while the other remains close to the body. The compact red-and-black figure is surrounded by bright grass and the broad tree trunk.
The performer kneels upright on the grass beside the tree, wearing a vivid red hood, black bra and black briefs. Their thighs and torso are exposed, and one arm reaches upward while the other bends in front of the body. Their covered head tilts back toward the raised hand, extending the kneeling body vertically against the tree.
The performer stands beside the tree wearing a vivid red hood that completely covers the head, a black bra and black briefs with black straps crossing the torso. One hand holds a red rose upright close to the covered face while the other hand is raised toward the flower. The bare torso remains upright and exposed against the green park landscape.
Photography: Ink Agop

Lick the scar, enter the wound is a 33-minute-long investigation of a usually-long-durational-performance-artist on what is residing in queer body from the Global South in the sense of vulnerability and strength.

By combining oriental and queer aesthetics and employing ritualistic movement dynamics, the performance questions embodied resistance strategies against conservative, cis-heteropatriarchal repressive regimes as well as attempts to break down the exoticization and fetishisation of the Global Southern queerness.

Celebrating New Wave, Koki Freiburg
Wide view of the performer standing almost completely surrounded by dense white smoke beneath a large tree. A long translucent red fabric covers the head and upper body and hangs downward in front of them, leaving only parts of the dark lower body visible through the haze. The red figure stands against the white smoke, while grass, plants and the tree remain partly visible around its edges.
Wide view through dense white smoke beneath a large tree. The performer bends forward beneath a long translucent red covering that falls from the head and upper body. Their legs remain visible below the fabric as they lean into the smoke, while the surrounding park and tree become pale, partially obscured shapes.
The performer is almost entirely enclosed inside a large sheet of sheer black fabric, which rises into a loose peaked form above and around their body. Their silhouette is faintly visible through the translucent material. Dense white smoke fills the background and passes through and around the black layers, while a single red rose hangs above the veiled figure.
Seen through dense white smoke, the performer stands with a large expanse of sheer black fabric stretched outward from their body. Their arms extend beneath or against the translucent material, opening it into broad angular folds that partially reveal the silhouette of the torso. A red covering remains over the head, while the black fabric spreads across the smoke-filled space like a wide membrane.
The performer bends forward through a dense cloud of white smoke with a long translucent red fabric covering their head and falling across the upper body. Their bare torso becomes partly visible beneath and beside the red material as they lean downward into the smoke. The face remains hidden by the fabric and movement.
Side view of the performer standing amid white smoke, wearing a deep-red head covering wrapped around the head and neck, with their bare back and side of the torso exposed above black trousers. Both arms extend forward, holding and gathering a large sheet of sheer black fabric. The fabric falls from their hands to the ground in long translucent folds, while smoke surrounds the body and passes behind the material.
The performer stands inside dense white smoke with a translucent red fabric wrapped around the head and upper body. One arm extends outward through or beyond the red material, the hand reaching into the surrounding smoke. The performer’s body is largely obscured, leaving the extended arm and the red fabric as the clearest parts of the figure.
The performer kneels on one knee with the other leg extended behind them, their torso rising diagonally upward. A long translucent red fabric covers the head and upper body and streams down the back. Both arms reach high overhead, hands meeting above the covered head and pulling the body into a long upward stretch. Black trousers and boots contrast with the vivid red fabric and green vegetation around them.
The performer stands amid thick white smoke with their bare torso visible above dark trousers. A red covering wraps around the head, hiding most of the face. Their body twists sideways as both arms extend strongly outward, one reaching into the smoke while the other stretches in the opposite direction. The torso arches and rotates through the movement as smoke partly obscures the edges of the body.
Close side view of the performer emerging above a dense layer of white smoke. Their shoulders and upper torso are bare, while a translucent red fabric wraps around the head and trails backward through the air. The body leans forward with the neck extended and head turning to the side. The red fabric is caught in motion while smoke obscures the body below the chest.
Photography: 1-2: Albert Josef Schmidt, the rest: Jens Taro Herbel
Presentations
"Celebrating New Waves", curated by Didem Yazıcı, Martina Priessner and Neriman Bayram, Koki Freiburg, Freiburg, DE, 2023
"Tropez", Tropez, Berlin, DE, 2022
Credits
Lick the scar, enter the wound, by Leman Sevda Darıcıoğlu, performance, 33 minutes, 2022
Performance, text, styling by Leman Sevda Darıcıoğlu
Performance Migration Resistance Non-Western Queerness Queer Reappropriation
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