Hello everyone, after a long silence,
poşe's last exhibition took place in May 2021. Just a few days before the exhibition closed, the ceiling in the corridor and kitchen collapsed unexpectedly one night. Fortunately, there was no injury to reveal the fact that we were working uninsured. After hastily leaving our venue, we had to cancel and turn down many programs that we wanted to do.
And then life happened.
As the economic crisis deepened, the pandemic crisis exacerbated inequalities, as we looked at the aftermath of fires and earthquakes, as we went through elections and then other elections again, as we became witnesses to wars, and as we contemplated every death and every birth around us, I began to think a lot about the purpose of being an initiative. Although I am very happy that the nonsense slogans stating ‘the healing power of art', resembling mediocre 90s advertising tactics, seem to have ended (hopefully), I still struggle to understand what art or culture means when witnessing a genocide. Nevertheless, I believe that continuing, insisting on remaining independent, and the possibility of forming the imaginary community of a period/generation is important.
By their very structures, initiatives must be elastic. It is their ability to stay afloat amidst constantly changing orders (the fact that this comment comes from a flooded initiative is quite funny). Over the past few years, I have realized the importance of the positions of the initiatives and independent venues within the cultural ecosystem, I have always felt their strong support around poşe, and while doing so, I have always questioned how much of their effort has been seen and returned by the stakeholders. At the same time, I have seen how these formations and individuals shape the imagination of the present and future, and how powerful they are when they come together, and thus, I have convinced myself again that something can change, evolve, or transform (wishing this time it will last longer).
Like the people in this geography, initiatives and independent venues also need to develop unique survival methods. I have had a long time to think about poşe's survival strategy. I understood that instead of creating objects, spaces, or times for purely consuming that is dictated by the system, poşe should value slower productions, tougher confrontations, and stronger relationships. Just as we refuse to exhibit without a funding for productional fee or artist fee, which we hope would set the standards of the business, we decide to transition to a structure that could accept standing still if there is a programming budget. Let's continue to think about a new economic model to change the financial system that demands support from its audience and followers. Let's all ask why local municipalities, which have been very active in recent years, still do not provide funds for initiatives that are already operational or provide venue support or financial assistance.
poşe will continue to send you emails about their new programs soon. Poşe won't have a fixed venue, but it seems like we will embrace our friend’s places like eksibir as our own. We still need to remind all poşe's community that we need structural ideas, criticisms, and material/spiritual support. At the same time, poşe is excited about new collaborations, projects, and long-term research opportunities.
Talk soon,
Larissa & poşe
Comments