I am a Turkish artist based in Beirut as a fellow in Ashkal Alwan. In 2019, I took the first steps of a queer archive related to the Turkish re-interpretation of the Arabic word “حزن - hüzün”. “Hüzün” is a word that came into the Turkish language with the help of early Ottoman poetry, with the verses referring to “ بيت الأحزان - Beit el ahzan”, the house of sadness that Jacob poured his grief after the loss of his beloved son Joseph.

This study led to the video work that I proposed for BIENALSUR, “Hüzün is a tranny name”. “Hüzün is a tranny name” is the first iteration of a series of videos that I have been working on as part of these series. The video, shot in collaboration with a trans-activist and sex-worker Gani_met, aimed to tackle the mourning and melancholia in the queer community in the Middle-East. With this approach, I hoped to subvert the meaning of “hüzün” and attest it with a reparative meaning. 

As an artist and a cultural agent, I believe it is necessary to contemplate collective manners of mourning while we are facing a tremendous loss in the aftermath of Covid-19. I hope that the resilient nature of Gani_met will resonate with the jury and be offered a platform for the extraordinary activist voices from the Middle-East. It is also good to note that the work has not been exhibited anywhere in the world and premiering the work in Buenos Aires, a city that influenced queer-rights movements in South America, would be an exceptional honor.