Another attempt at keeping a daybook

My attempts at keeping a daybook has never yet been successful in my life, as I always find it difficult to put my feelings and thoughts into a grammatical order and a coherent whole. Thus I have always quitted writing after a few days or so so far, I am hoping to be better at it this time!

My mood is usually affected a lot by external factors, and living in the metropolis İstanbul does not make it easier. Passing by people in need, people who are angry, people who are in a rush, being stuck in traffic and wondering if I will make it on time etc. etc. give me a constant rush of feelings and thoughts. Before I can formulate one feeling&thought, I may jump into another state of mind, and that is therefore why it is wearisome for me to keep diaries that requires me to put these in a linear order. However, after a week in Sweden I can say that it has become easier to find time to think and concentrate on my inner self. Life in Tranås is for sure a lot calmer and more peaceful, giving me the personal space and time that I had been feeling I had not enough of.

To sum up, I can say that the most recognizable effect of this week on me is that I feel more motivated (about anything basically, from getting up in the morning to greater goals in life.) That is all for now!

Bio

Gökçe Sandal is a recent graduate of Western Languages and Literatures. She currently resides in İstanbul, Turkey. Her research interests include gender studies, with a particular emphasis on suppressed homosexuality of women characters in different national and cultural contexts. Her academic work explores gendering practices and women’s identifications with non-normative bisexual and homosexual identifications within the public and private sphere in works of literature from diverse backgrounds. She focuses on different gendering practices in fictional narratives in order to reveal the interrelation between art, reality and gender; as art problematizes what is normalized in real life by pointing at the silenced, non-normative identifications of gender.

Currently she is involved in the organization and coordination of a number of national and international projects within the area of arts and culture. Recently, she is particularly interested in online feminist art and is collaborating with local photographers in works that deal with the concept of femininity. The resulting works have been published in various online magazines worldwide.

day 1-2

yesterday we arrived quite late to Kultivera than our expecting because our flight arrived late and we missed the train. fortunately employee of SJ changed our tickets instead of buying new ones and we caught next train. on the way we met with Gözde by chance and we arrived together in Tranas. we had very lovely and warm welcome from Gürkan and Colm and very delicious dinner. thank you guys!! we were very tired that's why we didn't stayed late at "Brain Room" and went to sleep. It was very deep and comfortable sleep and woke up into fresh autumn morning.

anyway I don't think to write a high school diary here but to see daily life is very important for me. for instance we learned that normally they may not change the train ticket when you missed it but with new government life is more relax and flexible so it effects public life. It reminds me when HDP entered the parliament after last elections, I started to look at the life with very hopeful eyes and even when I was walking I had a big smile in my face. now breathing this air of Sweden gave me again this hope. it is possible to have life peaceful to live together. I don't mean here is any problem but mostly actions are against the problems. this is the good point to think about.

now Seher also arrived and the team is completed!

today we discovered around the city with our bicycles. I realized that I missed being inside nature and also cycling!

Asylum Starts

Applications, months of waiting, all the support and help from many people finally led to this moment... On October 15, we had said the Asylum of Art would start and finally here it is... It is a great feeling to see the excitement and enthusiasm everyone had even at the first moment. After only a few minutes, the "Brain Room" showed its effect and creativity already started floating in the room. I hope after this month of Asylum, our residents will meet their expectations.



Here is a song from the first night...

As we started welcoming the new residents except for one of them who is on her way, and we are all impatient to see her train arrive. With her arrival, the Asylum will be complete and ready to take off full speed. Of course it would have been much better if all of them arrived at the same time but we will compensate this with a great welcome dinner as soon as she arrives. Her keys will be waiting for her...

Ready for the Arrival of Residents!

It has been three weeks since I am in Tranâs and getting ready for the Asylum of Art final preparations. During these three weeks I have been part of the Yeats International Ordfest and had many productive meetings. The schedule for the Turkish artists have been set quite well in my opinion, leaving them enough free time and keeping some fixed spots.
During the past week the most frequent thing I have heard has been how quick I have been through a transition from extremely stressed and strained to joyful and relaxed. Hopefully the Asylum residents will also find peace and tranquility here in Smâland.
Today we have prepared most of the things they will use once they are here, and now we wait till they arrive...

I wonder which color t-shirt the residents would choose though...

today and tomorrow

since four days I have nausea. I feel as bumping into the wall again but this time very strong very painful. I couldn't resist watching all videos and reading stories after bomb attack in Ankara. again I felt desperate inside the silence emptiness. since four days I spent my time mostly in my chair in front of computer. I felt that I don't want to loose again this brave people in social media and created a blog and started uploading their stories there. you can check here.
by the way, tomorrow I will come to Sweden with this heavy mood. I will take this residency as a peaceful cure to get back my motivation. unfortunately I started this diary with bad news, I hope we could see its change in a good way.

BIANET: Turkish Medical Association: 105 Dead and 30 Gravely Wounded

TTB President Beyazıt İlhan stated confirmed the death toll is 105 and 30 of 53 people are gravely wounded.

Bio

Eda Gecikmez (Istanbul, 1984) graduated Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, Department of Painting in 2010 and studied one year at Universidad Politecnica de Valencia, Faculty of Fine Arts, Valencia, Spain in 2008.  Since 2004 she has participated various group exhibitions, including the 3rd Mardin Biennial (2015), “Amusement Park” Gallery Nev, Ankara (2015), “Stay with Me”, Apartment Project, Berlin (2014),  “Museum Inside Museum”, Elgiz Museum, Istanbul (2012), “Where the Fire Has Struck”, DEPO, Istanbul (2011) and she had her solo show “Borrowed Togetherness”, American Hospital Art Gallery, Istanbul in 2013. She was involved international art projects and workshops such as “Blind Dates”, Ottomans and Europeans, Reflecting on 5 Centuries of Cultural Relations, Biella, Istanbul (2015-2016), Creative Action & Public Intervention Workshop, Armenia – Turkey Normalisation Process Support Program, Anadolu Kultur, Istanbul (2015), Feldstaerke International, Essen, Paris, Istanbul (2010), City and Art Project, Vienna, Istanbul (2009). Recently, Gecikmez has completed Cittadellarte – Fondazione Pistoletto residency program at Biella, Italy.

Eda Gecikmez lives and works in Istanbul.