Trap - IMPENITENT

Impenitent 
@ Nazım Hikmet Cultural Center

Conceptional frame and design of the exhibition are made by Arzu Yayıntaş and Neriman Polat

“Impenitent” is an exhibition about feminity, but it does not intend to define or put the feminity in a frame, but rather it questions strict characterizations. This exhibition is actually a calling to think about feminity and get stronger together, for women who spoil the usual story of women and men, shake off all those descriptions, names and identities attached to them against their wills, and protect their bodies.

Artists participating in the exhibition: Yeşim Ağaoğlu, Gizem Aksu, Sena Başöz, Deniz Bilgin, Banu Birecikligil, Fulya Çetin, Canan, Elif Varol Ergen, Nurcan Gündoğan, Gülsün Karamustafa, Ayşegül Özmen, Neriman Polat, Necla Rüzgar, Aydın Teker, Sevil Tunaboylu, Arzu Yayıntaş, Nalan Yırtmaç and Zulal.

Trap, oil on canvas, 25x35 cm

Those hands belong to an impenitent female friend of mine. My friend has not had “ideal body sizes” since her childhood and has complained about her abdominal region. She is a woman bold enough to show her belly to everyone after finishing her meal, and she also makes jokes about her sizes. Because she does not want ideal female standards. Maybe she likes to get under people’s skin by showing her belly and acting against ideal, ordinary. But there is not just boldness in this painting. I also see a woman who harms

herself due to the despair coming from the state of being oppressed. I see a woman who hurts her skin in order to relieve the pain.