The Grandchildren: New Geographies of Belonging is an exhibition conceptually designed and coordinated by Silvina Der-Meguerditchian and is on display at the DEPO as part of the 14th Istanbul Biennial.
This exhibition brings together the works of 13 artists from different geographies and disciplines who have been cooperating together since 2016: Achot Achot, Maria Bedoian, Talin Büyükkürkciyan, Hera Büyüktaşçıyan, Silvina Der-Meguerditchian, Linda Ganjian, Archi Galentz, Karine Matsakyan, Mikayel Ohanjanyan, Ani Setyan, Arman Tadevosyan, Scout Tufankjian and Marie Zolamian. They focus on the personal and common connections in the Armenian transnational community, strengthening and nourishing the mechanisms of diaspora identities, and opening a debate about the idea of a nation defined genetically and geographically.
The pieces of The Grandchildren reflect both the paradox in the current reality resulting from the process of displacement that started in the twentieth century and this reality’s creation of potential identities beyond national borders, traditions and languages.
The exhibition was organized with the support of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, the German Foreign Ministry, the Goethe Institute Istanbul, Anatolia Culture, Tarabya Cultural Academy and the Heinrich Böll Foundation Representative in Turkey. It opened on September 3 and will be open until November 1.