Gülperi
Performance, variable dimensions, Ústí nad Labem, CZ. © Kavachi 2012.
Costume by Jan C. Löbl
Photo by Damla Gül Tanrıkulu
Kavachi remembers spending time with his aunt Gülperi during summer visits as a child. Among the many fragments he remembers about her, one image remained particularly vivid: one day, he saw her wearing a black chador and, for a brief moment, did not recognize her.
Years later, this memory became the starting point for a performance.
Gülperi seemed able to move between different ways of being. At home she could be one person, outside another. She was cheerful, lively, and full of energy, yet she also lived under difficult circumstances. She experienced violence in her marriage and wanted to divorce, but before she could do so, she died together with her children in the 1999 earthquake.
In 2012, in a gallery in Ústí nad Labem, Czech Republic, Kavachi attempted to bring her presence back through a performance.
In this work, the black chador is not simply a garment. It becomes a tool of transformation. When he wears it, the visible signs of identity begin to disappear. People no longer know who he is. His age, gender, and personal history become uncertain. This experience produces a sense of anonymity, but also a strange form of freedom. One can move through space without being immediately recognized.
For Kavachi, the chador also evokes the possibility of escape. In the film Davaro, Memo, played by Kemal Sunal, wears a black chador to escape from prison. The image raises a broader question: what else might someone try to escape? A husband, a house, violence, the past, the present, or even themselves.
At the same time, the performance is not only about escape; it is also about confrontation. Under the chador, Kavachi finds himself thinking about Gülperi. What did she feel when she wore it? Did she feel protected? Hidden? Free? Invisible?
The work does not attempt to answer these questions. Instead, it remains within the uncertainty of not knowing.
Performance, variable dimensions, Ústí nad Labem, CZ. © Kavachi 2012.
Costume by Jan C. Löbl
Photo by Damla Gül Tanrıkulu
Kavachi remembers spending time with his aunt Gülperi during summer visits as a child. Among the many fragments he remembers about her, one image remained particularly vivid: one day, he saw her wearing a black chador and, for a brief moment, did not recognize her.
Years later, this memory became the starting point for a performance.
Gülperi seemed able to move between different ways of being. At home she could be one person, outside another. She was cheerful, lively, and full of energy, yet she also lived under difficult circumstances. She experienced violence in her marriage and wanted to divorce, but before she could do so, she died together with her children in the 1999 earthquake.
In 2012, in a gallery in Ústí nad Labem, Czech Republic, Kavachi attempted to bring her presence back through a performance.
In this work, the black chador is not simply a garment. It becomes a tool of transformation. When he wears it, the visible signs of identity begin to disappear. People no longer know who he is. His age, gender, and personal history become uncertain. This experience produces a sense of anonymity, but also a strange form of freedom. One can move through space without being immediately recognized.
For Kavachi, the chador also evokes the possibility of escape. In the film Davaro, Memo, played by Kemal Sunal, wears a black chador to escape from prison. The image raises a broader question: what else might someone try to escape? A husband, a house, violence, the past, the present, or even themselves.
At the same time, the performance is not only about escape; it is also about confrontation. Under the chador, Kavachi finds himself thinking about Gülperi. What did she feel when she wore it? Did she feel protected? Hidden? Free? Invisible?
The work does not attempt to answer these questions. Instead, it remains within the uncertainty of not knowing.
Gülperi
Performance, variable dimensions, Ústí nad Labem, CZ. © Kavachi 2012.
Costume by Jan C. Löbl
Photo by Damla Gül Tanrıkulu
Performance, variable dimensions, Ústí nad Labem, CZ. © Kavachi 2012.
Costume by Jan C. Löbl
Photo by Damla Gül Tanrıkulu