13 Dec From multitudes to multipedes: the exhibition is finally ready!
Tuesday 28 November, day before the opening
Milan and the team are still working on the exhibition, putting everything in place. For those of us who are used to long-term planning and unreasonably long printing processes, this is a completely different experience. Last night, Milan’s co-curator Nilüfer was still working on her text for the catalogue. It seems stressful, but it is calm anticipation rather than stress that marks the atmosphere of the gallery when I visit Depo in late afternoon.
The photographs for the catalogue are being taken, now that almost every work is in place. Some artists have arrived to help set things up. I have a chat with Walid Siti about his “Under construction”, representing a transitional phase of the tower of Babel. Milan explains how he has been involved in its making over the last few days. I meet Fikos who has painted “Enemies”, inspired both by stories that travel between languages and by the illuminated manuscripts that carry them across. Milan shows me the work of Alev Ersan and explains that it is based on Kalila and Dimna.
As I leave Depo, they are putting up our poster outside. It feels unreal that the rather vague ideas we had just a year ago have taken shape in order to become something like this. I’m deeply impressed by the work of Nilüfer and Milan, along with all the artists. I know that the opening tomorrow evening will be a different experience, so I’m glad I had the opportunity to visit today.
Dinner is at Galaktion, the Georgian restaurant in which Christian, Stratis and I once celebrated that we had finished the application for funding that resulted in Retracing Connections. That was in January 2019 and I had just arrived in Istanbul as director of the Swedish Research Institute. Is the circle closed or are there only ever an infiniate number of overlapping circles? The concept of Retracing Connections appears to mark everything we do. Or perhaps I’m just a little tired.
In the evening, Kirathaane hosts a panel discussion on translation between Alev Ersan and Matthew Reynolds, moderated by Milan. The rather small room is filled to the brim, the discussion is lively, spirits high. Milan must be exhausted after weeks of hard work with the exhibition, but he is doing an excellent job and seems to be enjoying himself. It is wonderful to see how people meet and talk across the traditional but unnecessary boundaries between academia and the arts, translators and translation scholars side by side. Kiraathane is just the right place to have this event, a place filled with words and warmth – thank you so much for having us.
Wednesday 29 November, day of the opening
Dimitris, Lilli and Marijana are sightseeing as I work away in the lobby of Büyük Londra. It looks the same as it did when I first stayed there in 1995, coming to Istanbul as part of a group of doctoral students interested in Byzantium. Retracing Connections indeed…
The Retracing Connections scholars and Matthew are invited for a drink at the Swedish Research Institute. We are admiring the view over the Bosphoros from the director’s flat that is now Olof’s and where we – Christian, Stratis and I – once worked intensely on the application and came up with the idea to include the budget for an exhibition, having no idea how much work it would involve.
Then we walk down the steep hill to Depo, where Milan is waiting and there is already quite a crowd when we arrive. The rain is pouring down outside; inside the gallery it’s warm and cozy. There is Georgian wine, numerous languages, and a great mixture of familiar and new faces.
Suddenly the catalogue is ready, Milan dashes off to upload it on our website, then comes back to join us for the evening’s event: a free verse conversation between setareh fatehi and Ogutu Muraya around one of the works: “(i) your story of me”. It’s a moving performance, connecting voices and movements and people across continents. Milan is not the only one with tears in his eyes.
Later, after we have left Depo and had a quick dinner at Mercan, we sit again in the lobby of Büyük Londra. Milan and the artists are out celebrating but we are all rather tired – though Uffe, as always, is still filled with energy.
Eventually we say good night and go to our rooms, most of us are flying home tomorrow. For us, it feels like the end. But obviously, the exhibition is not over. This is only where it begins.
Text and images: Ingela Nilsson.
1. Milan and Under Construction (Walid Siti); 2. Milan and this contamination, this crossroads, this accident here (Alev Ersan); 3. Hanging the exhibition poster at Depo; 4. Milan at Kiraathane; 5. Matthew Reynolds, Alev Ersan and Milan at the Kiraathane event; 6. Georgian heroes at Galaktion; 7. Lilli, Marijana and Dimitris sightseeing in Istanbul; 8. Ingela working at Büyük Londra; 9. Opening night; 10. Lilli and El Llamado (Daniel Otero Torres); 11. Matthew Reynolds and (i) your story of me (setareh fatehi); 12. Ingela, Marianne and Helin; 13. Visitors and We, Islands (Stephanie Misa); 14. A free verse conversation (i) your story of me between setareh fatehi and Ogutu Muraya. 15. Visitors listening to the free verse conversation. 16. Dinner at Mercan. 17. Uffe at Büyük Londra.