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BURNING EYES - REVIEW
Guardian Weekly
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2011/may/17/burning-eyes-armenia-perrier-review
Guillaume Perrier
Tuesday 17 May 2011 14.01 BST
Antoine Agoudjian's photographic exhibition at Depo, Istanbul,
tackles the taboo subject of the Armenian genocide
Ninety-six black and white photographs hang on the spotless walls of
this Istanbul cultural centre, one for each year since the start of
the Armenian genocide in the Ottoman empire, on 24 April 1915.
The Burning Eyes exhibition is divided into five parts, corresponding
to the five vilayets (provinces) formerly decreed as Armenian by the
empire - Van, Erzurum, Bitlis, Diyarbakir and Harput - and are now
part of eastern Turkey. These provinces bear the imprint of a crime
that the photographer Antoine Agoudjian, the grandson of genocide
survivors, has been investigated for the last 15 years.
His travels have taken him to all the Armenian communities scattered
across the Middle East, but also along the trail leading to deportation
and massacre, from the west of Turkey to the Syrian desert of Deir
ez-Zor, in search of memories that have been denied and repressed but
never wholly effaced. These memories of the genocide, coded into the
DNA of survivors, are etched into Agoudjian's photographs. "Denial
is what keeps the genocide topical and photographic truth helps bring
things to the surface," he says.
His work, which plays on light and contrasts, draws us into the
torments of the Armenian soul and its culture. Under a heavy sky the
ghosts of genocide victims haunt the villages, ruined churches and
petrified communities of Anatolia. Agoudjian tells the story of his
people's deportation, exodus and martyrdom, including the funeral of
the journalist Hrant Dink, who was murdered in 2007. Death inhabits
each survivor, but a glimmer of hope still remains.
Above all, by bringing Burning Eyes to a Turkish audience, Agoudjian
has achieved much more than a mere exhibition. He has contributed
to a bridge-building process, which started some years ago. For the
Turkish state the genocide is still a taboo, but civil society has
started its work of reappraisal.
"The process has been gathering speed since the death of Hrant Dink,"
says the writer Ahmet Insel. "The exhibition fits into this context.
We have already had several cultural events in Turkey devoted to
the Armenian question," he adds. "Osman Koker organised a very
important exhibition drawing on a collection of period postcards
which showed quite clearly that the Armenians were here before 1915,
then disappeared."
Some time ago the Armenian community's Agos newspaper, founded by
Dink, published a series of pictures by Agoudjian. A few months later
he travelled to Istanbul to meet Osman Kavala, a business man and
one of the driving forces in cultural exchanges between Turkey and
Armenia. Together they decided to mount an exhibition at the Depo,
an arts centre in Istanbul.
A collection of Agoudjian's photographs, originally published in France
(Les Yeux Brūlants, Actes Sud, 2006), has also come out in a bilingual
(Turkish and Armenian) version in Turkey, as part of a collection of
history books launched by Koker. Exhibiting in Turkey is also the
culmination of a personal quest for the photographer. "Many people
think it's daft, maybe even thoughtless, but I'm increasingly aware
that this story is not just an Armenian concern. It is of interest
to anyone who longs for truth," he says.
The events in Istanbul to commemorate the genocide on 24 April,
organised by writers and human rights campaigners, confirmed
Agoudjian's convictions. "I hope this will open the way for other
exiled Armenians who want to work here," he adds. But the topic is
still very sensitive in Turkey. Some ultra-nationalist militants tried
to barge into the exhibition opening, but were quietly kept at a safe
distance by the police.
Burning Eyes is at Depo, Istanbul, Turkey until early June
This article originally appeared in Le Monde
Guardian Weekly
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2011/may/17/burning-eyes-armenia-perrier-review
Guillaume Perrier
Tuesday 17 May 2011 14.01 BST
Antoine Agoudjian's photographic exhibition at Depo, Istanbul,
tackles the taboo subject of the Armenian genocide
Ninety-six black and white photographs hang on the spotless walls of
this Istanbul cultural centre, one for each year since the start of
the Armenian genocide in the Ottoman empire, on 24 April 1915.
The Burning Eyes exhibition is divided into five parts, corresponding
to the five vilayets (provinces) formerly decreed as Armenian by the
empire - Van, Erzurum, Bitlis, Diyarbakir and Harput - and are now
part of eastern Turkey. These provinces bear the imprint of a crime
that the photographer Antoine Agoudjian, the grandson of genocide
survivors, has been investigated for the last 15 years.
His travels have taken him to all the Armenian communities scattered
across the Middle East, but also along the trail leading to deportation
and massacre, from the west of Turkey to the Syrian desert of Deir
ez-Zor, in search of memories that have been denied and repressed but
never wholly effaced. These memories of the genocide, coded into the
DNA of survivors, are etched into Agoudjian's photographs. "Denial
is what keeps the genocide topical and photographic truth helps bring
things to the surface," he says.
His work, which plays on light and contrasts, draws us into the
torments of the Armenian soul and its culture. Under a heavy sky the
ghosts of genocide victims haunt the villages, ruined churches and
petrified communities of Anatolia. Agoudjian tells the story of his
people's deportation, exodus and martyrdom, including the funeral of
the journalist Hrant Dink, who was murdered in 2007. Death inhabits
each survivor, but a glimmer of hope still remains.
Above all, by bringing Burning Eyes to a Turkish audience, Agoudjian
has achieved much more than a mere exhibition. He has contributed
to a bridge-building process, which started some years ago. For the
Turkish state the genocide is still a taboo, but civil society has
started its work of reappraisal.
"The process has been gathering speed since the death of Hrant Dink,"
says the writer Ahmet Insel. "The exhibition fits into this context.
We have already had several cultural events in Turkey devoted to
the Armenian question," he adds. "Osman Koker organised a very
important exhibition drawing on a collection of period postcards
which showed quite clearly that the Armenians were here before 1915,
then disappeared."
Some time ago the Armenian community's Agos newspaper, founded by
Dink, published a series of pictures by Agoudjian. A few months later
he travelled to Istanbul to meet Osman Kavala, a business man and
one of the driving forces in cultural exchanges between Turkey and
Armenia. Together they decided to mount an exhibition at the Depo,
an arts centre in Istanbul.
A collection of Agoudjian's photographs, originally published in France
(Les Yeux Brūlants, Actes Sud, 2006), has also come out in a bilingual
(Turkish and Armenian) version in Turkey, as part of a collection of
history books launched by Koker. Exhibiting in Turkey is also the
culmination of a personal quest for the photographer. "Many people
think it's daft, maybe even thoughtless, but I'm increasingly aware
that this story is not just an Armenian concern. It is of interest
to anyone who longs for truth," he says.
The events in Istanbul to commemorate the genocide on 24 April,
organised by writers and human rights campaigners, confirmed
Agoudjian's convictions. "I hope this will open the way for other
exiled Armenians who want to work here," he adds. But the topic is
still very sensitive in Turkey. Some ultra-nationalist militants tried
to barge into the exhibition opening, but were quietly kept at a safe
distance by the police.
Burning Eyes is at Depo, Istanbul, Turkey until early June
This article originally appeared in Le Monde