Innovative Curatorial Projects – Paris / SingaporeErkan Ozgen
*1971, Mardin, Turkey. Lives and works in Diyarbakir, Turkey.
Erkan Özgen was born in Mardin, Turkey in 1971 and graduated from the Çukurova University Painting Department in 2000. He creates video based installations and has participated in group exhibitions in Turkey and abroad including Under the beach: the pavement at the Museum of Contemporary Art of Istanbul, In den Schluchten des Balkan, curated by René Block at Kunsthalle Fridericianum, Kassel (2004), Free Kick, Hospitality Zone, 9th Istanbul Biennale (2005), Normalization, Rooseum center for contemporary art, Malmö (2006), The New York Arab and South Asian Film, New York (2008), EUROPE XXL, Istanbul Traverse, Lille (2009).
In 2003 he curated the Eyes Contact exhibition with Sener Özmen at the Diyarbakir Art Center. In 2005 he went to Sweden and participated in the International Artists Studio Program at the Rooseum Center in Malmö. In the same year, he was awarded the Prix Meuly from the Kunstmuseum Thun in Switzerland. In 2008 Erkan participated in the Can Xalant exchange program at the Center for Creating and Contemporary Thought in Mataró, Barcelona. He has also participated in a number of workshops in Beirut, Damascus, Diyarbakir, Enschede, Khartoum and Taipei and has given lectures on contemporary art in Turkey and abroad.
Origin / Turkey / 2008 / 4'55 / 4:3
Analyze of the absurdity of the military while bringing a critical eye to the military measures used to control and normalize individuals. The first images are overblown images of marching boots. These are not military boots, but colored and used sneakers that are anything but uniform. The chant becomes repetitive and audible: “How fortunate is the one who says I am Turkish”. The camera moves up and reveals the faces of troops made up of men of African origin. Origin is a reflection on the question of identity that all the while denounces the rigidity of the military presence in Turkey.