The installation titled “Dokunaklı,” planned to be exhibited until the end of November, reflects the shattered carpets of homes in Gaza with 105 carpets, aiming to draw the attention of local and international tourists.
The “Dokunaklı” carpet installation by the Medeniyet Foundation (Küme) aims to highlight Gaza to local and foreign visitors. The art installation, planned to be displayed in Ayasofya Square until the end of November, features works reminiscent of the fragmented carpets of homes in Palestine. The pieces represent carpets belonging to people from all geographies that have faced injustice and tell the stories of destroyed homes and martyred families in Gaza to the audience.
“These carpets have been reflected as the heritage of a common culture,” said Küme’s General Art Director Serhat Kula in an interview with AA. He expressed that through this installation displayed in Ayasofya Square, near the Sultan Ahmed Mosque and the Milion Stone, they aimed to convey a message to Turkey and the world.
Explaining that they used special woven carpets brought from Anatolia and the Balkans, Kula shared the following details:
“These carpets have been handed down to us as the heritage of a common culture and continue to be so. We use the carpet as a metaphor. This metaphor signifies not only the ground of a homeland but also the ground of homes made up of carpets. For us, carpets are symbols that provide a sense of peace at home, just as the peace that is experienced in the homeland. They are also a memory. They are objects on which we raised our children, gathered together, and shared common experiences, but the patterns and forms of these objects convey many stories. Thus, by using this shared cultural heritage as a metaphor, we replicated damage on their surfaces, similar to what is seen in war zones.”
Emphasizing that the carpets were realistically made to appear as if they came from a battlefield, Kula said, “We aimed to evoke stronger feelings with these art pieces before our eyes than we would feel from the intimate images we see on phones or television screens.”
Pointing out that the work also references the culture of weaving, Kula added, “Because we weave our stories, longing, and desires into them. However, we also want the current state of these carpets to touch our hearts.”
“Our intention is to continue this journey in different locations”
Kula emphasized that Ayasofya Square is a crossroads where millions of people from different countries come together, which is why the work reaches many people. He noted that the exhibited work has become a symbol of Turkey’s stance on Gaza, stating:
“When people come across such a work while walking around historical sites, it evokes different emotions. We have thus revealed this country’s concern for Gaza. Our exhibition will leave at the end of November. Our intention is to continue this journey in different locations. We used 105 carpets for this work. Covering an area of 300 square meters, most of these carpets are over a century old, handwoven, and dyed with natural dyes. Essentially, they are ancient works of art themselves. This was an interdisciplinary effort that transformed an art object into a modern or conceptual art performance. A team of about 8 people worked on this project in a large studio, producing a piece of art that will leave a mark on Istanbulites, people from around the world, and even passersby.”
“Carpet is the first point of contact for human interactions”
The Director of Küme Atelier and curator of the “Dokunaklı” installation, Murat Kösemen, emphasized that there is a pain that encompasses all humanity, specifically focusing on Gaza.
Highlighting that the carpet is one of the most distinct cultural objects differentiating Turkish culture from Western culture, Kösemen said, “The West does not have a cultural object through which it can define itself like this. Thus, the carpet is, in fact, a material that forms the common language of all these communities that have lived in this region for centuries and serves as the first point of spatial contact for humanity.”
Describing the carpet as one of the most intimate objects, Kösemen said, “Just as the homeland’s land is significant to us, so too is the carpet inside a home. We eat on it, experience all of our special, joyful, and sorrowful moments, share with our elders, and our children grow up on it. It is also a means of communication because every pattern on it has meaning. Whatever the weaver’s feelings, concerns, or joys are, they convey those.”
Referring to the prevalence of violent images related to Palestine on social media and communication channels, Kösemen noted: “These violent images have started to become normalized and ignored by people. We thought it might be important to view this from another perspective and discussed how we could do it. We considered that an everyday object in our homes that we regularly touch could perhaps shed light on this issue. The most logical choice was the carpet, as it exists in every household in this region. We all live with it. What we wanted to do was to draw attention to this: these carpets, this intimacy, have been violated in Gaza, and maybe tomorrow, ours could be too. When you see these carpets here, let it remind you a bit of the clean carpets in your homes, and this is how we wanted to connect the story.”
Reported by: Anadolu Ajansı
