Öncü Gültekin

Öncü Gültekin

Öncü H Gültekin

Confiscated Armenian Cemeteries (2015)

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Confiscated Armenian Cemeteries

Created in Istanbul in 2015, this project documents the Armenian cemeteries that were confiscated by the Ottoman Empire and later by the Turkish Republic. The images show what happened afterwards. Why would a state (or an empire) confiscate cemeteries, even though this is a contradictory behaviour based on religious and cultural beliefs? Cemeteries are essential to a society's identity. They distinguish between a corpse and an individual. To remove a cemetery is to erase its existence from history, as was done to the Jews in Nazi Germany some 30 years later.

The confiscation of Armenian cemeteries was a systematic process and part of the Armenian genocide at the beginning of the 20th century, on which Turkey built its modern republic and Turkish identity.

Istanbul, 2015

Exhibited:

2021

“Political Art” (Group Exhibition)

Center of Contemporary Ujazdowski Castle. Warsaw, Poland

2018

“Passion for Freedom Art Festival” (Group Exhibition)

Royal Opera Arcade Gallery. London, England

2017

“Common Grounds” (Group Exhibition)

GAF Gallery, Hannover, Germany

2017

“Bialystok Interphoto Festival” (Group Exhibition)

Bialystok, Poland

Öncü H Gültekin

Confiscated Armenian Cemeteries (2015)

↑

Confiscated Armenian Cemeteries

Created in Istanbul in 2015, this project documents the Armenian cemeteries that were confiscated by the Ottoman Empire and later by the Turkish Republic. The images show what happened afterwards. Why would a state (or an empire) confiscate cemeteries, even though this is a contradictory behaviour based on religious and cultural beliefs? Cemeteries are essential to a society's identity. They distinguish between a corpse and an individual. To remove a cemetery is to erase its existence from history, as was done to the Jews in Nazi Germany some 30 years later.

The confiscation of Armenian cemeteries was a systematic process and part of the Armenian genocide at the beginning of the 20th century, on which Turkey built its modern republic and Turkish identity.

Istanbul, 2015

Exhibited:

2021

“Political Art” (Group Exhibition)

Center of Contemporary Ujazdowski Castle. Warsaw, Poland

2018

“Passion for Freedom Art Festival” (Group Exhibition)

Royal Opera Arcade Gallery. London, England

2017

“Common Grounds” (Group Exhibition)

GAF Gallery, Hannover, Germany

2017

“Bialystok Interphoto Festival” (Group Exhibition)

Bialystok, Poland