Verschleierte Wirklichkeiten

Hi everybody,

I have been away for a few days, screenprinting. And I was successful. Made a print for a screenprint calendar for next year.

Ozlem wrote, that she took part in the project, because she wanted to talk about woman. Me too. So I want to rise the question to all of you, what you know, what you feel, what you think about lesbian woman. I would be especially glad to get to know, whether lesbians in turkey have the full rights and possibilities as straight women. Or do they veil their feelings, their so being, to protect themselves. In germany it seems that at first sight, coming out and living gay openly should be no problem. The smaller the city, the more rural the places are, the more difficult it is to ive an open life and it offers a lot of problems. Compared to death penalty in some other countries ,however, here it seems to be like paradies. But where do comparison lead to?

If people think of homosexuality they mostly think of gay men. Lesbians play a minor role. So there too, the females are underrepresented, underestimated, under………..

Ich war für ein paar tage in thomasburg, um ein kalenderblatt für einen komplett in siebdruck erstellten kalender zu drucken. Und ich war erfolgreich. Zuerst schien alles schief zu laufen, aber durch umdenken und viel ausprobieren, ist das nun erfolgreich abgeschlossen. Bevor ich mir nun eine woche urlaub gönne, meine frage, was ihr über lesbisches dasein in deutschland und in der türkey wißt. Gemäß der gesetzteslage haben lesbische frauen natürlich die gleichen menschenrechte wie straighte frauen auch. Aber schon das heiraten ist nicht möglich, es ist immer noch eine verpartnerung. Gut, dinge brauchen ihre zeit und es gab immerhin fortschritte. Aber können lesbische frauen offen leben? Was meint ihr. Ich denke, je kleiner die stadt, je ländlicher, umso schwieriger ist es. Und wenn es um homosexualität geht, denken fast alle immer nur an schwule männer. Die gazetten bilden die aufgehübschten gays ab. Die frauen scheinen nicht zu existieren. Auch da spielt sich also das weiblich – männliche dominanzverhalten und -denken ab. Die presse scheint wenig am lesbischen thema interessiert zu sein. Die unterrepräsentation, die unterschätzung, die anderen unters ……….. überall sind sie auch in dieser abteilung präsent.

I had been reading Irigaray during the 1970ies early 1980ies, she was my idol. I will look up some new publications from her.

I think, in west European societies the feminism development and the emancipated women themselves became hybrid. There are many reasons why, it is not easy to examine rapidly. Of course, the male hierarchy system established by capitalism, is one reason. The long history of male defined culture, language, rules of behaviour, is another. The splitting of ideal concepts and visions from the social/political fighting for equal rights and female freedom is also one reason: the western feminism became a very political fact during 1970ies and 1980ies and went tired during the late 1990ies up to now. Female vision and spiritual power was completely lost during this development and in social political aspects women became the better men - nowdays McKinsey for example advises all companies to stregthen themselves against the economic crisis by women power!!! The feminist movement was betrayed or betrayed itsself by adapting to male hierarchiy structures. The early sensible feminist approaches of female self definition and identity search in order to create new visions and change living structures became more or less a private value for women of my generation. The feministic researches at universities went well and changed a lot, but within the acceptence of male society domination.

Yes, I also see a huge chance in opening these questions on intercultural level like with you women artists from Turkey, because Turkey (besides the west/east hybridity) also has this ancient matriarchat memory as a collective one. This can play a role as well, for we need a new refreshment of femalism in esthetics, visions, emotions, sensualism.

We need “wings to grow”! Do you know the song by Laurie Anderson:  The Dream before?  Listen it!  Beyond I’ll put the lyrics:

The Dream Before (Laurie Anderson)

Hansel and Gretel are alive and well
And they’re living in Berlin
She is a cocktail waitress
He had a part in a Fassbinder film
And they sit around at night now drinking schnapps and gin
And she says: Hansel, you’re really bringing me down
And he says: Gretel, you can really be a bitch
He says: I’ve wated my life on our stupid legend When my one and only love was the wicked witch. She said: What is history?
And he said: History is an angel being blown backwards into the future
He said: History is a pile of debris
And the angel wants to go back and fix things
To repair the things that have been broken
But there is a storm blowing from Paradise
And the storm keeps blowing the angel backwards into the future
And this storm, this storm is called Progress

Hi everyone My goal is to participate in this exhibition to talk about women. I would like to learn what Germany thinks about ” veiled realities ” To understand how looking at the east, west will be a good experience. Turkey is a hybrid area in between east and the west this hybridity, diversity, is feeding me.In criticizing the rhetoric of western science Luce Irigaray says that one of the issues on the universe of Western culture is in a naturalistic style and the other thought is always based on the hierarchy. Top step of the way is that the woman behind her man’s place is located in the hierarchy. This is due to differences in women because of colonizing the hierarchy, but this difference is not the negation of the affirmation tells. This hierarchical relationship according to Irigaray is what “sexual difference” examines over.17^th century onwards, in art (especially painting), certain symbols, images can be said that a specific attempt to scratch the image of a woman. Home / Mary (dignity / self-sacrifice icon), a beauty icon / Venus (aesthetic symbol), hooker / Magdalena (sinful icon)…This art products, the women cut roles (dressed in masks) to be acceptable with the help of aesthetic values, community, and by the woman is experiencing the process of internalization. Open or disguised manner in these images are perpetuated today.Meyda Yeğenoğlu says that the subject is whether Western man or woman, his desire for the Other Eastern is emotional. Woman’s body and space, is that the truth expressed in the desire to achieve. Metanomy relationship is established between the Eastern and Oriental women, Oriental women, explains the reason for this passion needed.Sentimentality is seen as embodied in the East, always been represented in terms of femininity and parallel to it, and the Orientalist discourse as racism and feminization processes intertwined with each other.The process of the Easternization of the east is a process within its feminization. Cultural and sexual differences in between the representation of this intimacy, femininity in orientalist discourse that exists on the phallus was possible thanks to the overlap of centrist rhetoric. We live in a society that many external conditions that prevent women have an autonomous existence as individuals, but more importantly I think, as testified to in Fatmagül Berktay;Men, women, their heads, “the image of femininity,” What they become a prisoner and we dominated as society is “visual style” male gaze through the prism of the past as we perceive ourselves to be. To override this prism, we view into our own eyes and naming / notation on the right with a dead-end. That’s why, “colonialism” in them as they choose their own forms of expression they need to express. Language is not a case of innocent and neutral, armed with loads of meaning to the dominant ideology and its important role in maintaining a vehicle.Benim bu sergide bulunma amacım kadınlar üzerine konuşmak. “örtülü gerçekler” hakkında Almanya’nın ne düşündügünü öğrenmek ve batının doğuya nasıl baktığını anlamak için iyi bir deneyim olacak.Irigaray batı bilim söylemini eleştirirken en çok üstünde durduğu konulardan biri Batı kültür evreninin ötekiyi hep hiyerarşiye dayalı ve doğalcı bir tarzda düşünmüş olmasıdır. Kadında bu anlamda üst basamagında erkegin yer aldığı hiyerarşide onun arkasında konumlanmıştır. Bu hiyerarşikleştirme nedeniyle  kadınlar farklılıkları nedeniyle sömürülmüştür, ancak bu farklılığın yadsınması degil olumlanması gerektiğini söyler. Bu hiyerarşik ilişkiyi ırigaray cinsel fark  üzerinden inceler.17. yüzyıldan itibaren sanatta (özellikle resim sanatında) imajların birtakım sembollerle belirli bir kadın imajının çizilmeye çalışıldığı söylenebilir. Ana/Meryem (saygınlık/özveri simgesi), güzellik simgesi/Venüs (estetik simge), fahişe/Magdelena (günahkâr simgesi). Bu sanat ürünlerinde, kadına biçilen rollerin (giydirilen maskelerin) estetik değerler yardımıyla kabul görmesi, toplum ve kadın tarafından içselleştirilmesi süreci yaşanıyor. Açık ya da örtülü bir şekilde bu imajlar günümüzde de sürüp gidiyor.Meyda Yeğenoğlu kadın ya da erkek Batılı özne’nin, Doğulu öteki’ne duyduğu arzuyu, Duygulu kadın mekanına bedenine ve hakikatine ulaşma arzusu olarak ifade ettiğini öne sürer. Doğu ve doğulu kadın arasında kurulan metonomik ilişki, Doğulu kadına duyulan bu tutkunun nedenini açıklar.Duygusallığın vücut bulduğu yer olarak görülen Doğu, hep kadınsılığa ilişkin terimlerle temsil edilmiş ve buna paralel olarak, oryantalist söylemde ırksallaştırma ve kadınsılaşma süreçleri birbiriyle iç içe geçmiştir.Doğunun Doğululaştırılması süreci onun kadınsılaştırılmasıyla iç içe geçmiş bir süreçtir. Kültürel ve cinsel farkın temsili arasındaki bu iç içelik, oryantalist söylemin kadınsılık üzerine var olan Fallus merkezci söylemle örtüşmesi sayesinde mümkün olabilmiştir. Yaşadığımız toplumda, kadınların özerk bireyler olarak varolmalarını engelleyen pek çok dış koşul var; ama bence daha önemlisi, Fatmagül Berktay’ın da işaret ettiği gibi;Erkekler, kadınları kendi kafalarındaki “kadınlık imgesi”ne hapsediyorlar ve bizler de toplumdaki egemen “görme biçimi” bu olduğu için kendimizi erkeğin bakışının prizmasından geçmiş olarak algılıyoruz. Bu prizmayı geçersiz kılmak, kendimizi kendi gözlerimizle görebilmemize ve adlandırma/simgeleme hakkına sahip çıkmamıza bağlı. İşte bu nedenle, “sömürgeleştirilenler”in kendilerini kendi istedikleri gibi ifade edecekleri anlatım biçimlerine ihtiyaçları var. Dil, masum ve yansız bir olgu değil; egemen ideolojinin anlam yükleriyle donanmış ve onun sürdürülmesinde önemli rol oynayan bir araç.

Juliane Buchholz, 18.7.2011:

About the exhibition issue: „veiled realities – German and Turkish artists in dialogue first there has been an inner defence towards

the issue “veiled” associated with Turkish women. Again this issue: Should/or may Turkish women wear this veil?

To me personally it doesn’t mean anything, if a woman is veiled or not, important is the personality behind this veil.

I am not against veils being worn by women on own decision; I myself sometimes carry huge sunglasses not only because of sun:

sometimes I need to become invisible from the eyes of the others but still I like to watch them. This is nothing different but

veiling to protect myself from intimate gazes.

Besides, there are exactly these eyes of muslima staying free and telling so much bout there personal state of mind.

Sunglasses as well as veils or veiled clothes can protect me from the view of the others whom I feel delivered to.

In my artwork I always feel attracted by ambivalences and refractions. Only the title “veiled realities” without intercultural

connotation, would have attracted me. But now, after having been confronted deeply by women cases within this exhibition focus

I am really surprised how deeply this unconscious aspect always has been a source for my works.

What means reality? Don’t we live in an illusive world of body cult, where only facades and impressiveness talking are important?

Men and women are part of ongoing rankings and social fighting and orientate their lives within success and fortune.

Women in the west obey the social order to show as much as naked flesh. More often they define themselves by their body in social and

fashion dictation. Unconsciously we might even enjoy playing this heteronomous game as long as we feel agreeable in body and age

qualities. If not we automatically have lost. This is the reason for the always-young-desire.

In fact the female body is commercialised in our world by all media and veiled by ourselves, who don’t aware this ongoing barrage.

During the 1980ies we had been much more aware.

I myself feel privileged by discussions like these regarding women and freedom issues, questioning traditions and social realities

by my art works and irritate the viewers. The predisposition is that I feel free to decide if and in which context I do my art, how I

dress, think and speak and if I veil myself or don’t.

.Als ersten Impuls vernahm ich eine Art innere Abwehr bei dem Begriff “verschleiert” in Verbindung mit Türkinnen. Schon wieder dieses 

Thema: “Sollen/ dürfen türkische Frauen den Schleier tragen oder nicht?” Mir persönlich ist es egal, ob eine Frau mir gegenüber einen 

Schleier trägt oder nicht, wichtig ist mir, welche Persönlichkeit hinter dem Schleier steckt. Ich habe nichts gegen Schleier, die Frauen

f r e i w i l l i g tragen und trage selbst manchmal eine große Sonnenbrille nicht nur der Sonne wegen, sondern weil ich ab und zu nicht von anderen Blicken erfasst werden möchte, die anderen aber trotzdem sehen möchte.

Das ist auch eine Art Verhüllung, die ein intimes Hineinsehen in mich verhindert.

Dabei sind es ja gerade die Augen, die bei muslimischen Frauen mit Schleier frei bleiben und gerade sie sagen viel über das persönliche Befinden aus.

Sonnenbrille und auch Schleier und überhaupt verhüllende Kleidung können dem eigenen Schutz, durch den ich mich fremden Blicken weniger ausgeliefert 

fühle, dienen. In meiner künstlerischen Arbeit interessieren mich Ambivalenzen und Brechungen, so auch beim  Thema “Verschleierung”.

Ohne den Zusammenhang mit Muslima, also nur der Titel “Verschleierte Wirklichkeiten” hätte mich auch stark angesprochen, allerdings bin ich bei tieferer Beschäftigung mit dem frauenspezifischen Aspekt sehr überrascht davon, wie wichtig dieser unbewußt in vielen meiner Arbeiten wurzelt.

Was ist denn ” Wirklichkeit”? Leben wir doch in einer Welt des schönen Scheins, in der sich der Körper-, Fassaden- und Eindruckskult 

stark ausbreitet.Aussengeleitete Menschen, ob Männer oder Frauen, sind in ständigen sozialen Vergleichen und Statuskämpfen verwickelt 

und richten ihr Leben an vorgegebenen Erfolgs- und Glücksmaßstäben aus. Frauen unterstehen in der westlichen Welt dem gesellschaftlichen Druck, viel nackte Haut zu zeigen und sich vor allem über ihren Körper, der modisch gesellschaftlichen Erwartungen entsprechen muß, zu definieren.

Unbewusst spielen wir das (von Männern?)fremdbestimmte Spiel gerne mit, solange wir entsprechende körperliche und jugendliche Qualitäten vorweisen können. Wenn nicht, haben wir sofort verloren. Der Jugendwahn bei uns hat ja auch seine Ursachen u.a. darin.

Fakt ist, daß bei uns der weibliche Körper kommerzialisiert wird in Medien aller Art, was “verschleiert” wird dadurch, dass nicht mal 

wir Frauen selbst dies durch gewohnheitsmäßiges, ständiges Bombardement in den Medien wahrnehmen. In den 80ger Jahren war dies schon 

mal mehr präsent

Ich persönlich fühle mich als Frau u.a. durch die Auseinandersetzung mit dem Frauen/Freiheits-Thema für diese Ausstellung privilegiert, Traditionen und gesellschaftliche “Wirklichkeiten” in Form meiner künstlerischen Arbeit in Frage zu stellen und die Rezipienten zu irritieren und auch zu “verstören”.

 Voraussetzung dafür ist es, f r e i entscheiden zu können, ob und wie ich Kunst mache, wie ich mich anziehe, was ich denke und sage 

und ob ich mich verhüllen will oder nicht.

Hi Everyone, 

The exhibition of women from East and West come together for their studies on women’s issues and women’s problems to be discussed at the reason we participate in this exhibition. I think that the problems are the same for the women from East and West. However, due to living conditions and cultural differences by region, there are problems that stand out more.

My priority in my work with the Eastern and Western sense of the uncanny feeling that I think is equally important to women. According to Freud, the concept of uncanny (unheimlich) is ’strangely familiar’ which is a very well known for what we hear now defines as alienation. This alienation, fear, anxiety, uncertainty and trigger fears of full of life for women living in a patriarchal society.

If I should be talking about Turkey, women have the male-dominated work environments for womenbusiness owners in an uncanny situation, the male-dominated culture, a man trained to live in the same house in an uncanny situation for women, sexist policies, is executed in a society for women to walk the streets in an uncanny situation…

This uncanny status in society as a woman trying to be there.

Herkese merhaba,

Sergide Doğulu ve Batılı kadınların kadın sorunları üzerine yaptıkları çalışmalarla bir araya gelmesi ve kadın problemlerinin tartışılacak olması bu sergiye katılma sebebimdir. Doğulu ve Batılı kadınların sorunlarının aynı olduğunu düşünüyorum. Ancak yaşam koşulları ve kültür farklarından dolayı bölgelere göre daha öne çıkan sorunlar var.

Benim çalışmalarımda öncelikli olarak yer alan tekinsizlik duygusunun Doğulu ve Batılı kadın için aynı derecede önemli bir duygu olduğunu düşünüyorum. Freud tekinsizlik kavramını ’tuhaf bir biçimde tanıdık’ olana çok iyi tanıdığımız bir şeye karşı bir anda duyduğumuz yabancılaşma olarak tanımlar. Bu yabancılaşma korkuyu, tedirginliği, belirsizliği tetikler ve ataerkil bir toplumda yaşayan kadınlar için yaşam korkularla dolar.

Türkiye için konuşacak olursam, kadınların erkek egemen çalışma ortamlarında iş sahibi olması kadınlar için tekinsiz bir durum, erkek egemen kültürde yetişmiş bir erkekle aynı evde yaşamak kadınlar için tekinsiz bir durum, cinsiyetçi politikaların yürütüldüğü bir toplumda sokakta yürümek kadınlar için tekinsiz bir durum…

Bu tekinsiz toplumda kadın olarak var olmaya çalışmak tekinsiz bir durum. 

MARIAZO, one of the further German artists has send me one German and one English poetic text to blog;  also I am going to blog two of her works:

July 11th, 2011

Gierigen Worten und geilen Fotos begegnen,

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Mitteilungen machen für die anderen:

Legenden zum Entschlüsseln, 

Verteidigungen von Vergessenem,

Anleitungen zum Ansagen:

Aufrufe zur Aufruhr!

Macht! Kunst!

Entfesseln!

Jetzt!

Mariazo, July, 12.th 2011

Homeless in this world

More and more I feel like a fossil: did this world become so strange or is it me who kicks myself out of reality?

Every day I take all things that happen in the world: (by the way: mostly done by men and undergone by women)

There is a vast number of wise words and nasty photos drifting around the world:

I feel that there is no need for me to add any more.

All I have to do is to put my finger in the little wounds and in the deep ones, which are lost in the amusementparks of daily life:

not as a RedCrossNurse…but as a RedNoseArtist.

For all those who are tired of all these useless series of words and for those who are more and more unable to read whatever is written anywhere,

I create an own imaging of the world.