Diyarbakır Sanat Merkezi
THE POWER OF LANGUAGE II: BEING MINOR
9-23 March 2004
Curator:
Ali Akay

Assistant Curator:
Şener Özmen

Artists:
Abdo, Selda Asal, Volkan Demir, Cem Gencer, Murat Gök, Nurullah Görhan, Berat Işık, Erkan Özgen, Ani Setyan, Seza Paker, Cengiz Tekin, Murat Tosyalı, Emre Zeytinoğlu

Place:
Keçi Burcu (Goat Bastion), Diyarbakır Arts Center

Diyarbakır Arts Center hosted the ‘Power of Language II: Being Minor’ exhibition March 9-23, 2004, which is the sequel to the ‘Power of Language’ exhibition held in 2003. Focusing on identity issues, the exhibition featured works that revisit concepts such as minorities, colonialism, and nostalgia. By focusing their artistic pursuits on the theme of no way out, artists questioned the past by bringing it to the present and looked at the subjects they dealt with from their own unique perspectives. By bringing these perspectives together, the exhibition also revealed the dynamism of being minor. Hansjörg Kretschmer, the European Commission Ambassador to Turkey attended the opening of this contemporary art exhibition, in addition to the representatives of local governments. Thirteen artists from Istanbul, Diyarbakır and the surrounding cities took part in the exhibition. At the opening night, jointly organized by Diyarbakır Chamber of Commerce and Industry, European Union Information Center and Diyarbakır Arts Center, Metropolitan Municipality of Diyarbakır Children’s Choir performed folk songs from various languages, while cellist Cem Çetinkaya accompanied the choir.