SENKRON Synchronised Video Exhibitions 2022
Halil Altındere
Homeland, 2016 HD video, color, sound, 10 min 06
Vocals and lyrics Mohammad Abu Hajar
Courtesy of the Artist and Pilot Gallery
Halil Altındere collaborated with Syrian rapper and activist Abu Hajar for his video "Homeland", which he shot for the Berlin Biennale. The video showed a story closely related to the Arab Spring, which included the demands for democratic rights spread over a wide geography in the Middle East, and the fact that millions of people were forced to leave their countries with the violent reactions of the relevant regimes to these rights demands. This is the story of people who first came to Turkey in search of a new life and then went to Europe and tried to go. Today, the world is facing the biggest migrant crisis since World War II. This video describes this crisis through the eyes of a Syrian refugee who is currently living in Berlin. The video tells about the migrant crisis that started in 2011, through the personal story of Abu Hajar and the forced migration he has experienced over the years.
Especially in 2013 and later, Syrian refugees, who flocked to Turkey, first to the Southeast and then to other major cities, including Istanbul, have produced communities of remarkable density and tremendous precarity. Increasingly, Altındere's works focus on the poor living conditions of these refugees who are settled in or transiting through Turkey. Altındere's 2016 video Homeland opens with a ramshackle drone cityscape of Aleppo, then suddenly turns into a pier in an Aegean town where city people in sportswear are practicing yoga. Meanwhile, refugees also appear on the beach with their life jackets. The journey begins with these opening scenes. A drone appears carrying a lifebuoy that reads “Refugees Welcome” underneath, children strap water bottles around their waists, and Syrian rapper Mohammad Abu Hajar tells about their journey, jumping over fences, running and piking over fields, cramming trains that brings them to Berlin Train Station and Tempelhof Airport.
The video, shot in collaboration with Çanakkale and Tekirdağ stages CABININ, met the audience of Çanakkale for the first time at MAHAL between April 15-28, as part of SENKRON.
