NEITHER HERE NOR THERE! – BY NEJBİR ERKOL (MARDIN)
A PERFORMANCE. DURATION: 45 MINUTES
May 21, 2022 | 11:00 AM
GERMAN HEADQUARTERS

Erkol's performance explores the possibilities of precariousness emerging from an incident in 2019, when a mortar shell fired from across the border landed 97 steps in front of his home in Nusaybin. The wet ground, due to the rain the previous day, prevented the shell's casing from exploding. Using the metaphor of the canary grass (Phalaris) collected from the crater left behind by the shell, this performance will take the form of a fictional narrative, addressing the concepts of safe space, natural resilience, and fragility. The show will also feature grass sketches.

Nejbir Erkol
TURKEY

Witness 2, 2020. Pencil on paper, 20 cm x 21.5 cm.

Witness, 2020. Pencil on paper, 21 cm x 29 cm.

Creating a Soil 2, 2020. Pencil on paper, 13 cm x 22.6 cm.

Hole, 2020. Pencil on paper, 15 cm x 21 cm.

Witness 3, 2020. Pencil on paper, 21 cm x 29 cm.

Dreaming of an Infinity, 2022. Pencil on paper, 21 cm x 29 cm.

These grass sketches refer to artist Nejbir Erkol's performance for the biennial, Neither Here, Nor There! The project explores the possibilities of precariousness arising from a mortar shell landing 97 steps away from Erkol's home in Nusaybin in 2019, coming from across the border. The ground was wet from the previous day's rain, preventing the shell from exploding. The performance uses the metaphor of the canary grass (Phalaris) collected from the crater left behind by the shell to weave together the concepts of safe space, natural flexibility, and fragility, creating a creative narrative.