Rezzan Gümgüm

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Rezzan Gümgüm

Preferred pronouns:

No pronoun preference
Birth year:

1978
Primarily based in or works from:

Turkey
Skills:

activism acting critical thinking and writing cooking painting performing
Topics:

ecological political social gender identity displacement
Contact information:

Currently working on:

a long-term project that explores biodiversity and cultural heritage.

Quick Facts:

1978, born in Varto, Turkey.

I live and work in Ankara and Istanbul.

My artistic activities cover a variety of practices such as walking, video, performance, installation, photography, writing, and embroidery on fabric. I focus on political, and ecological issues in cities and rural areas the topics of identity, memory, gender, forcibly displacement, and bio-cultural diversity. I explore possibilities of artistic expression through personal and collective narratives.

I studied art education and fine arts at Gazi University in Turkey and the Macerata Academy of Fine Arts in Italy. I graduated Ph.D. from the painting department of the Institute of Fine Arts, Hacettepe University, Ankara, and Complutense University in Madrid.

I am one of the founding members of Rê collective.

Three relevant works from the last 5 years of artistic practice:

Goat on the Mountain, Moon in the Sky, Fish in the Water . Exhibited Depo Istanbul-Türkiye, 2023.
Invisible, performance and installation. Galeri Vitrin, Goethe-Institut, Ankara, 2022.
I Have Treasures on the Margin, solo exhibition. Tosca Art & Design, Ankara, 2021.

Highest educational degree:

Ph.D. from the Department of Painting of the Institute of Fine Arts, Hacettepe University, Ankara, and Complutense University in Madrid.

Work samples:

Portfolio

Where is Gulistan Doku?

Where is Gulistan Doku? Opera Square, Madrid16.08.2022 Time: 21.00-22.00

This performance emphasizes that all the murdered and lost women are not forgotten. It questions what happen to the girls who are separated from their families, to all women who are lost and forcibly detained in different geographies of the World. “Where is Gülistan Doku?” refers to the women who are detained, disappeared, killed, sold, and missing in different geography. It refers to the question "Where is Ana Mendieta?”, reminding the murder of the exile feminist artist Ana Mendieta, who was forcibly taken to the States from Cuba as a child, and the fact that her perpetrator was not prosecuted.
There has been no news from Gulistan Doku, a student at Munzur University who has gone missing since January 5, 2020 in Dersim. Two years have passed since Gülistan Doku's disappearance, there has been no progress in the investigation launched. Although the women's rights representatives and the Doku family demanded that the investigation be continued in a multi-faceted manner, the prosecutor's office and the representatives of official institutions insistently focus on the allegations of suicide.

Goat on the Mountain

ağdaki Keçi / Goat on the Mountain, 2022 5'34'' The video named Goat on the Mountain is one of the works produced within the scope of the project named “Goat on the Mountain, Moon in the Sky, Fish in the Water”. The Goat on the Mountain, Moon in the Sky, Fish in the Water project explores the relationship between the mountain goats that are allowed to hunt in Dersim, the damage to the natural water resources done by the mining activities, the hydroelectric power plants built on the Munzur River, and the red-spotted trout, which are facing extinction as a result of hunting, and the local people. Interventions against the nature threaten the water, the forests and the endemic diversity. In addition to the changes brought about by the climate crisis, the project examines the direct intervention of the people in power to geography and nature, and the cultural and social approach of the local people to the destruction that has taken place.

Daily Puzzles

Stay LIVE at Home
Long Term Performance Project
Collaboration with Performistanbul
2020-2021

Daily Puzzles explores the experiences of those of us who are constantly exposed to various news in everyday life through everyday household items, food, and easily accessible materials. These mini performances examine the reality of the news presented to us in everyday life and ask questions such as the following: “What is real and what is fake? Do we need to untangle what is given or accept it as it is?

The series consists of 22 performances, where have other artists participated as collaborators. The series of videos are gathered into one and a half hours long video. This is an ongoing project.