Inspired by a 395-year-old plane tree: 'When Trees Talk' exhibition meets art lovers

Cendere Art Museum opened its doors in October 2022 to offer a unique and impressive contribution to Istanbul's energy and cultural and artistic life as an inclusive space that centers contemporary art with an interdisciplinary approach and is open to all artistic disciplines.

The venue, which was used as a pumping station during the Ottoman era, is one of the few remaining industrial heritage structures in Istanbul. The new exhibition, "When Trees Talk," which draws inspiration from the 395-year-old majestic plane tree in the garden of this structure, is curated by Derya Yücel, Ebru Yetişkin, Esra Aliçavuşoğlu, and Marcus Graf.

AIMS TO FIND A WAY OF COEXISTENCE

The "When Trees Talk" exhibition asserts that solidarity with one another is at the foundation of being an earthly being, and that this solidarity can never be limited solely to relationships between humans. It is increasingly being discussed today that humans, trees, streams, animals, plants, minerals, cultural heritage, and machines share increasingly similar fates.

In the words of Donna Haraway, today "companion species" are increasingly forming vital relationships, narratives, and ties with one another. The exhibition aims to find a way of thinking in common and living together that no longer drags us and other species from one trouble and catastrophe to another.

A DESIRE FOR A DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY

A multidisciplinary group exhibition, "When Trees Talk" was designed as a call to strengthen the ability to hear and recognize different voices, stories, and collective forms of expression. Multiplying the possibilities of establishing relationships with diverse and unknown languages, found sounds, unfamiliar information, speculative fictions, unfamiliar faces, and oddities, and exploring ways of reaching a consensus "in favor of the commons," awaits a response today as an echo of the desire for a more democratic society.

CAN BE VISITED UNTIL APRIL 21

The "When Trees Talk" exhibition, which features works by Alican Okan, Ardan Özmenoğlu, Ayşegül Karakaş, Azade Köker, Balkan Karışman, Bilal Hakan Karakaya, Burçin Başar, Cevdet Mehmet Kösemen, Esra Özdoğan, Evren Erol, Gözde İlkin, Ilgın Seymen, İsmail Eğler, Meltem Şahin, Mert Acar, Murat Germen, Nalan Yırtmaç, Sanem Tufan, Seçil Büyükkan, Sinem Dişli, Sokak Otları (Kerem Ozan Bayraktar), Tayfun Erdoğmuş, Uğur Bişirici, Uğur Engin Deniz, Umut Erbaş, and Yusuf Aygeç, can be visited at Cendere Art Museum until April 21, 2024.