Wire Fences

Arter İstanbul
June 2023

Organised in the context of Eva Koťátková’s solo exhibition I Sometimes Imagine I’m A Fish with Legs and the cages the artist often employs in her works, this workshop invites participants to extend the ‘restricted’ spaces we allot to the monsters that we imprison and suppress within ourselves. As part of the workshop, participants uses copper wire and knitting yarn in order to make their own creations, all the while partaking in a conversation around concepts such as flexibility, permeability and impermanence. The workshop concludes with a ‘liberating’ meditation to render possible the escape of the proverbial monsters from their cages.

All for one, one for all

Arter İstanbul
May 2023

The workshop titled “All for one, one for all!” departs from Eva Koťátková’s in-depth forays into the mental and physical differences of individuals, as well as the way in which the body relates to its parts, focusing on our constant attempts at controlling and othering bodily fluids. The free movement of liquid molecules as well as the incompressible and homogenous nature of liquid portrays a mode of being that does not conform to humanity’s continued attempts at controlling it. The workshop thus focuses on the pivotal role of liquids both within the human body and the cycle of life, locating “water” as a central symbol.

Following a tour of the exhibition, participants holds an experiment whereby they experience the various functions of water both within their own bodies as well as the life cycles of other living beings.

Mythocondria

Arter İstanbul
April 2023

Derived from the Greek words μίτος (mitos) meaning thread and χονδρίον (khondrion) meaning granule, “mitochondria” serves as a fitting metaphor for bearing witness to the permeability of personal and societal narratives as well as weaving a living and breathing research area into how the myriad examples of oral literature that inform meta narratives delve into personal relations, stories and identities. The mitochondria first and foremost seeks to form connections between such notions as flexibility, transformation and nomadism; it then seeks a common ground in order to connect to one another, and many others that are present in all of us.

Inspired by Eva Koťátková’s solo exhibition I Sometimes Imagine I’m a Fish with Legs currently on view at Arter, this workshop  invites participants to collectively weave a blanket by embarking on a journey of self-discovery. Following a tour of the exhibition, the participants will first recount childhood tales, legends and dreams through free association. They will then meditate under the communal blanket and conduct an experiment which focuses on the notion of sleep.