Gözde Ju: Uprooted
14. 3. - 1. 5. 2024
curator: Lenka Sýkorová
photo: Markéta Bendová
video: Tereza Havlínková
Passing on a tradition from generation to generation is like a thread that tells personal stories. We can understand the thread as a carrier of hidden traditions, family roots and signs of our identity. The drawing can also be easily guided by the thread on the fabric, thus following the trail of cultural memory. Embroidery also involves a whole range of aspects. Embroidery allows us to highlight the narration of women's stories, led by women, about their invisible and often overlooked work and national identity from a female perspective. In the works of the Turkish artist Gözde Ju, an interest in cultural memory anchored in time and space intertwines. Gözde Ju touches on socio-cultural roots. Her work is literally interwoven with an interest in family archives, memory and belonging.
What are bridges between generations? It can be photographs but also textiles that have passed through the hands of generations of women before us. Thus, we can understand the needle and thread as a bridge to the past with the potential to pass on certain messages. In Gözde Ju's works, we find elements of exploring our roots, such as artistic research conducted on identity and gender. Through the technique of embroidery, she materializes and brings visibility to her own family roots. The works displayed at the exhibition for Altán Klamovka Gallery are based on questions surrounding the feminist view of womanhood. One of the objects on display is a pillowcase embroidered by Gözde Ju's mother 40 years ago and given to the artist as part of her dowry. The photographs, which are sewn onto the pillow along with the embroidered text, capture the moment of each woman's separation from her family of origin after marriage. However, the thread suggests a family bond. The dominant element of the overall installation, however, is a monumental embroidery based on a model of a school photograph in which there are only girls. The position of the women in the photograph determines a certain belonging and drawing strength from each other. The need to identify with family and the place we were born into and in which we live accompanies us throughout our lives. The family traditions that are currently dying out, which in the past helped with the rooting process, today create an atmosphere of uncertainty and uprooting, which thus became the main theme of this exhibition.
Gözde Ju graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts at the Printmaking and Painting departments in Turkey University in Anadolu. Her master thesis focused on the evaluation of Printmaking in the context of space and contemporary art. Furthermore, she completed the course period of the Proficiency of Art Program (PhD). Gözde Ju took part in various exhibitions in different countries. She continues to work at her studio in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Lenka Sýkorová
The exhibition was created in cooperation with Ausstellungsraum EULENGASSE in Frankfurt am Main.