The photo-installation bearing images of abandoned buildings from all around Istanbul departs from the word to “abandon,” which, in its original Turkish usage, i.e. “terk etmek,” has its roots in an outmoded Arabic word “metrukiyet,” which translates as abandonment in this title. The piece looks at the bifurcations in the cultural, architectural, and political history of Turkey, as caused by the act of abandoning. The work essentially consists of shots of buildings that were left compulsorily. According to the artist, there is a link between those spaces that were left behind due to political impositions, economic impasses or natural disasters, and the loss of memory. Looking for the traces of identity conflicts, controversies, and disagreements, this approach also points to the perils of unidirectional coerced development/transformation and the surrender of cultural pluralism for the sake of rent.
