r a z i y e k u b a t

The Story of Yusuf

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Story Of Yusuf / Çağrılmayan Yusuf

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

çanakkale bienali

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Çanakkale Bienali / The Story of Yusuf / Çağrılmayan Yusuf / Nani

 

 

 

     Nani / Vimeo link

 

 

 

Çanakkale Bienali / The Story of Yusuf / Çağrılmayan Yusuf / Nani

 

 

 

Raziye Kubat’s “Çağrılmayan Yusuf” exhibition book has been published in English for 250 limited editions under the name “The Story of Yusuf” by Dada Publications in the format of a “special artist book”. The book will be saluting its viewers and readers on the opening day of the 4th Çanakkale International Biennial on September 27th,2014 Saturday .

“As Emrullah Efendi noticed the little boy on his lap, he felt his body shiver and the evening sun dance in his eyes. Esire, a little away from him, was standing there like a stranger. Just at the same moment, he saw the slave trader walking away. It looked like he was asking to himself: “When for god’s sake did I talk to this man and buy this youngster?” As he looked at the sky, he realized that it was getting dark. “It was only noon or mid-afternoon when I arrived here…” he muttered.

The Cherkess Exile occurs at the beginning of the 1860s. As a result of “forced migration”, Gupse sets off for a journey. We see her on one of the boats carrying the Cherkess people sent on exile. The boat runs aground in Kefken – Adapazarı. Gupse, overcoming numerous difficulties on the road, finally succeeds in reaching Istanbul. She is desperate and at her side has Yusuf, her son from Hain. Feeling herself exhausted, Gupse sells Yusuf, at a slave market in Beyazıt, yet immediately regrets it. The tragic moment she cries out that she has “changed her mind”, is the moment when Gupse revives to the “present” day.

It was historical fact that people coming with these ships -to fight against hunger- had to sell their children in slave markets. The baby on the ship, was sold in the slave market. But to whom? Being a person freshly lost in the story, that moment I said: “The baby is bought by a good person, Emrullah Efendi, the herbalist”, and so in a way opened the door for the story to come into my life. Again, just one week later, as the sentence “Let Yusuf be happy” occurred to my mind, Yusuf became the name of the infant sold.

“The Story of Yusuf” tells us about the adventure of Yusuf and his breed . While we attend to this journey, we also witness in the background the downfall of the Ottoman Empire and the establishment of the new Turkish Republic.

The Turkish edition of the book “Çağrılmayan Yusuf “ published by Ceres Publications, was presented to its viewers and readers in the accompaniment of three videos specially produced for the exhibition held at Hayaka Artı on February 2014.

Upon invitation of the International Çanakkale Biennial titled “Only the dead have seen the end of war” with reference to Platon, the English edition of Raziye Kubat’s “The Story of Yusuf” -published as the first book of Dada Publications- together with its exhibition will be saluting its viewers and readers for the first time.

And in the “Epilogue” section you will find, with her interpretation on exiles and the current history of exile, journalist and writer Ayşe Çavdar…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yusuf is five years old
Esire and her eldest son
“I hid my sorrow, did not complain, kept it a secret, put it to sleep.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thus with the trinity, father-son-bird in the cage; a new life had started.
Yusuf reaching adolescence, had started his very own reign at the pigeon house.
At the end, it was a suitcase, a hand-shaking, an acceptable reason to gather the strength to return home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since he had given up his hopes on Lamia, he was thinking to himself “If the question is to create a work of art, let my masterpiece in this life be İskender!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As toward the end of the game, İskender regained conscience and ghastly realized that the pigeons they were shooting were his own, it was already too late.
Yusuf
Ragıp Pasha
He could see how miserable the situation was, as he looked at the photograph Ragıp Pasha sent from the battlefront.
Ankara being (re-)built

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The lady of the house or her daughter playing the piano or the violin after the meals was regarded as something European and as a visual and audial supplementary of the ideal family structure of the New Republic.
After a quick introduction of the families to each other and a plight, İskender and Züleyha started a new life. Two people so opposite in size, temperament, manner and attitude being together in such harmony was praiseworthy. On April 1924, they got married in Ankara. After the Surname Act, they were known as the couple İskender and Zuleyha Özsoy
As he wanted to take an action upon realizing that with an ambition to construct new roads, mass destruction had arrived there long before civilization, Mirza Bey understood that he was much too late.
How could he not have noticed within the Parliament the death warrant signed for the other clans?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After all hadn’t they all fought for this land?
10th Republic Day celebrations
10th Republic Day celebrations
In reconstructing Ankara, it was of top priority that the public squares were grand.
Hasan Oğlan Village Institute

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10th Republic Day celebrations
“my ears told me: then let’s not ever hear him again, let him be happy and laugh a lot at other things, just not at your heart.”
That unique woman, with whom he spent the rest of his time, who knew all his weaknesses and had not much to expect from him!
With the birth of Sümer, also İskender was born. He could not have known, that Sümer was a soul into which several breaths were blown. That she, with her diverse family tree, intellect and skills, would be a child difficult to understand for many people, and maybe also a poor girl struggling her whole life long to adapt herself to the world… The only thing he wanted, was to be together with Züleyha until the day he died and never to leave Sümer without a father. As he was looking at the foggy sky from the window of the hospital, with the child in his arms, İskender panicked. A voice rising from within was telling him “What if this baby slips off my arms and falls on the floor, what do I do then?” Opening his shaking arms quasi uptight, he left the baby on Züleyha’s lap. Now Jülide would not hurt him anymore.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sümer is 5 years old.
Young Sümer
Züleyha at the conservatoire
Züleyha and her daughter Sümer
Sümer and İlhan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Old Züleyha
Sümer, İlhan and their son Yusuf
İlhan and Yusuf
1950 May, 19
Teenager Yusuf on the ferry

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yusuf and his friends from the Faculty of Political Science of Ankara University
Yusuf and his friends from the Faculty of Political Science of Ankara University
Yusuf and Emine
Everybody knows him as “Friend” from the narration in the graphic novel Texture of Time Torn, but in fact he is not a person fond of formalities. “Friend”, older than both of them, is the teacher of Yusuf… He is not a state official, he is a consultant. He has always clung to putting a distance between his position and himself, and has considered privacy as his main principle. Although he has deepened his relationships with future political staff, he has never accepted formal duty. He has given lectures in the Political Sciences Faculty of Ankara University during the hot political atmosphere of the 70s. He has met Yusuf Bey back then, when he was a student. “Friend” later on has led the way for the appointment of Yusuf Bey to ÖKGE.
Firend and Yusuf

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yusuf Bey is the Head of ÖKGE. He tries to identify himself as “liberal conservative”. In the depths of this identification, his complex relationship to the “family history” -even he himself is unable to penetrate into - is obvious. He tries to conceal and express his past at the same time. He believes in transparency and living together peacefully. He is blood relatives with another character of the Texture of Time Torn, namely Gupse. He will perhaps never be able to comprehend the degree of his relation to the events! Along with his story, also the stories of ancestors before him, again carrying the name “Yusuf”, will form a base for the “Texture of Time Torn”.
The murder of Yusuf and his little daughter Asuman in his funeral
His daughter Sultan, a pianist
His daughter Asuman, a model

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scenes From “Yusuf Who Was Not Called” 18 Şubat – 28 Mart 2014 / Hayaka Artı Istanbul

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Raziye Kubat / Yusuf Who Was Not Called / Conversation with the Artist
29 March 2014 Saturday Time: 17:00

HAYAKA ARTI Çukurcuma Caddesi No:19A Tophane Istanbul
www.hayakaarti.com
www.raziyekubat.com

Please note that Raziye Kubat’s exhibition “Yusuf Who was Not Called” at HAYAKA ARTI will open its doors for the last time on 29 March 2014.

The event which is going to take place on the last day of the exhibition on 29 March Saturday 17 hrs at the same venue, will start with an interview of Reporter-Writer-Historian Ayşe Çavdar* with the artist Raziye Kubat and will end with a succeeding Q&A session for interested participants.

We kindly wish to invite to this event all both who have heard the call of Yusuf and attended the exhibition, acquired the book and also those who have not had the opportunity to visit the show.

*Ayşe Çavdar
Çavdar received her Bachelor’s Degree from the Journalism Department of Ankara University Communication Faculty and her Master’s Degree from the History Department of Bosphorus University. She worked in the newspapers Yeni Şafak, Yeni Yüzyıl and the journals Nokta, Ülke, Atlas and Istanbul. She was in charge for the Public Relations of the History Foundation. Together with Ergün Meriç she co-edited “Cemil Meriç and the Children of this Country (Iz Publications, 1998), with Volkan Aytar “Media and the Security Sector Oversight” (TESEV, 2009), with Aylin B. Yıldırım “Hate Crimes and Hate Discourse” (Hrant Dink Foundation, 2011). The lengthy interview she made with Nilüfer Göle was published by Hayy Publishing House under the title “The Migration of Privacy”. She currently continues to write articles for the journals Express and Sabit Fikir. She is working on her doctorate study in the European University of Viadrina in the field of Cultural Anthropology taking as a subject the new religious middle classes.

Photography: Tuna Poyrazoğlu

YUSUF WHO WAS NOT CALLED

 

 

 

 

 

 

Raziye Kubat’s exhibition entitled “Yusuf Who Was Not Called” can be visited at HAYAKA ARTI from 18 February to 28 March 2014.

Raziye Kubat @ HAYAKA ARTI
Yusuf Who Was Not Called / Texture of Time Torn / Book Launch and Exhibition
18 February – 28 March 2014

Opening: 18 February 2014 Tuesday 18:00
Tophane Art Walk: 23 February 2014 Open Sunday

HAYAKA ARTI Çukurcuma Caddesi No:19A Tophane Istanbul
Gallery Hours: Wednesday – Saturday 12:00 – 18:00
www.hayakaarti.com
www.raziyekubat.com

Sonsöz
İskender Savaşır

Kubat’s exhibition “Yusuf Who Was Not Called” besides the launch of the artist’s book, will be introducing visuals and video works of the artist, as well as comprehensive interface studies accompanied by the graphic novels Texture of Time Torn.

The Texture of Time Torn Project was initially developed by İskender Savaşır. Priority target by the help of utilization of the motive “graphic novels”, was to create an environment that would provide rehabilitation for young people and children who have had traumatic experiences. Yet the project took up new forms in time and with each new contribution improved its functionality further. At the end of one and a half years, Texture of Time Torn evolved into being a publication where several people could present their works.

The paths of Raziye Kubat and Texture of Time Torn crossed during some activities that took place in 2012. The artist carried out workshops together with grandchildren of the exiles in an engraving/linoleum studio in Adapazarı.

The artist simultaneously presented her video installation “On the Track of Exiles/Nani” to Caucasian people in Kefken as part of the “Kefken Circassian Exile Commemoration Activities”.

At the beginning of the 1860s the Caucasian Exile occurs. Gupse as a result of the “forced migration” sets off for a journey. We see her on one of the boats carrying the Caucasians sent on exile. The boat runs aground in Kefken – Adapazarı. Gupse overcoming numerous difficulties on the road finally succeeds in reaching Istanbul. Gupse is desperate and at her side has Yusuf, her son from Hain. Gupse feeling herself exhausted sells Yusuf, her son at a slave market in Beyazıt. Yet immediately regrets it. The tragic moment she cries out that she has “changed her mind” is the moment when Gupse revives to the “present” day.

The exhibition “Yusuf Who Was Not Called” tells us about the adventure of this Yusuf and his ancestors. While we attend to this journey we also witness in the background the downfall of the Ottoman Empire and the establishment of the new Turkey.

The artist Raziye Kubat in this exhibition, on one hand materializes her own very subjective experience, on the other hand puts forward an extraordinary work due to the consciousness that arises as a result of social responsibility.

Translated by: Tuna Poyrazoğlu

Görsel / Image:
Çağrılmayan Yusuf / Yusuf Who Was Not Called

Mixed media on  paper
2013

Nani / The Texture Of Time Torn / In The Track Of Exiles 2012

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Texture of time Torn/ My path crossed with the Abkhasian people in Adapazarı, during my accompaniment in the training organized within the scope of the magazine and social responsibility projects, “In the Track of Exiles / Nani” is also part of another project that I recently began working on.

This video is for communities and persons that have been forced into migration and renunciation.

Poem: Bagrat Shinkuba

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Taswir Projects / Berlin

 

 

 

 

 

Taswir Projects : Taswir Projects  &  Book Release Party, Exhibition & Art Auction

 

 

 

 

 

If you buy the original piece The Story of Yusuf book, click to buy.

(ROBINSON CRUSOE 389)