AHMET ÖĞÜT NO POEM LOVES ITS POET YARAT Contemporary Art Centre, , 18 March – 14 June 2020 (preview 17 March)

Ahmet Öğüt, Still from No poem loves it poet, 2020, commissioned by YARAT, courtesy by the artist

YARAT Contemporary Art Space is pleased to present a solo exhibition from the Amsterdam-based Kurdish artist Ahmet Öğüt (b. 1981), running 18 March – 14 June 2020. The show features two new, site-responsive commissions spanning across video and sculpture, entitled Hiçbir şiir, şairini sevmez (No poem loves its poet) and Living Beings Squatting Institutions. Referring to the physical and societal structures imposed by mankind throughout history – dividing both living beings and cultures – Öğüt’s works allude to how these structures are ultimately permeable states.

The video installation Hiçbir şiir, şairini sevmez (No poem loves its poet) takes its title from a piece of Turkic graffiti the artist encountered during a visit to Sovetsky – a historic neighborhood in Baku now under demolition. Presented on a large modular LED wall, with original music composed by Sub- Botnick (Ahmet Öğüt and Maru Mushtrieva), the video features overhead footage spanning across Baku’s central districts. Two lost flight attendants can be seen within the rubble holding a road sign for Tolstoy Street, which formerly ran through the Sovetsky neighborhood. Observing the cultural evolution and radical urbanization of Azerbaijan - which has shared Soviet, Turkic and Azerbaijani histories - Öğüt gestures towards the succession of governing bodies who have attempted to remove traces of their predecessors via urban gentrification, social norms and economic powers.

Interweaving throughout the exhibition space, an architectural installation mimics Baku’s city walls, originally erected to hide ‘undesirable’ areas; those which are occupied or are remains of Soviet

culture. Creating a path for viewers which both blocks and reveals the video and sculptural works, Öğüt’s installation acts as a metaphor for those who have lived and are still living in Baku today.

Also featured in the exhibition, Living Beings Squatting Institutions is comprised of five sculptures which merge animals with the global cultural institutions they inhabit, including: the Peregrine falcons of the Tate Modern; the Weimaraner dog of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston; bats of the National Museum of Cambodia; polar bears around Artica Svalbard; and a cat of YARAT Contemporary Art Centre. Whilst Öğüt highlights how mankind has built spaces to purposefully exclude others, the artist also nods to how living beings and cultures – in their many different forms – will find ways to coexist.

*** This exhibition is co-curated by Mari Spirito, Protocinema, and Suad Garayeva-Maleki.

Special thanks to Sadagat Isayeva, Yelta Köm, Maru Mushtrieva, Aşan Akın, Nathan Gray, Sanan Baghirov, Dağhan Yürürler and Zeynep Fırat.

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About Ahmet Öğüt

Born in Silvan, Diyarbakir, Ahmet Öğüt lives and works in Amsterdam and Berlin. Following Diyarbakir Fine Art high school, he completed his BA from the Fine Arts Faculty at Hacettepe University, Ankara, MA from Art and Design Faculty at Yıldız Teknik University, Istanbul. He works across different media and has exhibited widely, more recently with solo presentations at La Galerie de l’Université du Québec en Outaouais (2019), Kunstverein Dresden (2018), Kunsthal Charlottenborg (2017), ALT Bomonti (2016), Chisenhale Gallery (2015); Berkeley Art Museum (2010); and Kunsthalle Basel (2008). He has also participated in numerous group exhibitions, including; YOU ARE, Gothenburg Museum of Art, Gothenburg (2019) Echigo Tsumari Art Triennale (2018); the British Art Show 8 (2015-2017); the 13th Biennale de Lyon (2015); Performa 13, the Fifth Biennial of Visual Art Performance, New York (2013); the 7th Liverpool Biennial (2012); the 12th Istanbul Biennial (2011); the New Museum Triennial, New York (2009); and the 5th Berlin Biennial for Contemporary Art (2008). Öğüt was awarded the Visible Award for the Silent University (2013); the special prize of the Future Generation Art Prize, Pinchuk Art Centre, Ukraine (2012); the De Volkskrant Beeldende Kunst Prijs 2011, Netherlands; and the Kunstpreis Europas Zukunft, Museum of Contemporary Art, (2010). He co-represented Turkey at the 53rdVenice Biennale (2009).

*** Notes to editors: Exhibition: Ahmet Öğüt: NO POEM LOVES ITS POET Location: YARAT Contemporary Art Centre, (Near National Flag Square), , AZ1003 Dates: 18 March – 14 June, 2020 Preview: 17 March, 2020 Exhibition opens: Tuesday through Sunday, from 12:00 – 20:00 Admission is free

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About YARAT

YARAT is an artist-founded, not-for-profit art organisation based in Baku, Azerbaijan, established by Aida Mahmudova in 2011. YARAT (which means 'create' in Azerbaijani) is dedicated to contemporary art with a long-term commitment to creating a hub for artistic practice, research, thinking and education in the Caucasus, Central Asia and surrounding region.

YARAT comprises YARAT Art Centre, ARTIM Project Space, YARAT Studios, YAY Gallery and an extended educational and public programme. YARAT Art Centre, a 2000m² converted Soviet-era naval building, opened in March 2015 and is the organisation's main exhibition space. The exhibition programme features new commissions by artists responding to the region. It supports and provides access to artists from the region, while engaging and introducing established, international artists.

In October 2015, YARAT opened ARTIM, a central, accessible and dynamic space in Baku's . ARTIM (meaning 'progress' in Azerbaijani) shows experimental practices and new work by emerging Azeri art professionals (selected through open call) and the international artists from the residency programme. It features multiple small-scale projects each year and hosts ARTIM LAB, a programme enabling young artists to engage in workshops and daily studio practice to generate new ideas and works.

In 2016 YARAT launched a renewed residency programme. Aimed at developing young Azerbaijani voices and emerging international artists, the focus is on new, innovative practices and artists with an interest in the region. The residency programme hosts 6 international and 4 local artists a year at YARAT Studios’ spaces.

Education has been at the heart of YARAT's activities since its creation. With a dedicated public programme that includes courses, workshops, lectures, screenings, festivals, literature and theatre clubs and family weekends, YARAT aims to give access to broad audiences of all ages. The public programme invests proactively in building communities and nurturing a wider understanding of, and participation in, contemporary art.

*** For media and image inquiries please contact: Milly Carter Hepplewhite and Yaz Ozkan at Pelham Communications Telephone: +44 2089693959 Email: [email protected] and [email protected]