Lecture-Performance:
Invitation to Dance
Ekim Acun
Salt Beyoğlu
October 21, 2022 19.00
Ekim Acun, 2022
The public program accompanying The 90s Onstage exhibition continues with researcher and artist Ekim Acun’s lecture-performance titled Invitation to Dance: Private Televisions and Democratized Performances.
Acun (a.k.a. Şokopop) will explore the history of dance in Turkish television and how private television channels launched one after the other impacted the democratization of “performance” in the 1990s.
“The trends of breakdance and lambada emerged at a time when the gloomy oppressive atmosphere of the 1980s began to dissipate, and with the widespread use of private televisions in the 1990s, the golden years of liberalization had Turkey under its influence. As dances reached the masses through video clips and the absurdity of physical endurance performances—featured even in the news—hypnotized society, the scope of performance expanded like never before. Talent and dance competitions such as İner Misin Çıkar Mısın? [Will you go up or down?], Ah Kızlar, Vah Erkekler [Man O Man], and Uçur Beni brought the audience their fifteen minutes of fame. Then, our first reality show, Biri Bizi Gözetliyor [Big Brother], ended with the victory of BBG Melih, a dance teacher.”
Invitation to Dance (2022) by Ekim Acun is commissioned as part of The 90s Onstage. The presentation will take place on Friday, October 21 at 19.00 in Salt Beyoğlu’s Walk-in Cinema, and will be followed by a DJ performance by Q-BRA at 20.00 in the Kitchen. The event is free of charge and open to everyone.
The presentation will be in Turkish.
Ekim Acun studied cinema and television at Roma Tre University and the London College of Communication. Participating in exhibitions in London and Istanbul, Acun founded the YouTube channel Şokopop in 2018, which conveys gender and identity issues through Turkey’s popular culture history. He continues to examine the themes of sexuality and censorship in his documentaries, collages, and video works he produces based on the archives he reached as a result of intensive research.
Kübra Uzun is an Istanbul-based singer, songwriter, performance artist and DJ, and an LGBTQIA+ rights activist working in Turkey as well as various international platforms. Kübra wrote, sang and produced the song titled ALAN2020 with Mx. Sür, which became an anthem during the Istanbul Pride in June 2020. In December 2020, Uzun performed A Trans History Sung, a digital monument directed by Onur Karaoğlu, in collaboration with Volksbühne Berlin’s digital performance series, Next Waves Theatre. Kübra worked with Simon(e) van Saarloos for Cruising Gezi Park, an audio work presented as part of the exhibition Refresh Amsterdam at Amsterdam Museum between December 2020-June 2021. In January 2021, Kübra recorded Koli Kanonu, based on Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s KV 560, and performed four different voices and characters in the video directed by Efe Durmaz. Kübra Uzun is also the coordinator of the project Through The Window, which aims to gather Turkey and Holland-based queer artists, thinkers and night workers.
The 90s Onstage is organized as part of L’Internationale’s Our Many Europes program.
Acun (a.k.a. Şokopop) will explore the history of dance in Turkish television and how private television channels launched one after the other impacted the democratization of “performance” in the 1990s.
“The trends of breakdance and lambada emerged at a time when the gloomy oppressive atmosphere of the 1980s began to dissipate, and with the widespread use of private televisions in the 1990s, the golden years of liberalization had Turkey under its influence. As dances reached the masses through video clips and the absurdity of physical endurance performances—featured even in the news—hypnotized society, the scope of performance expanded like never before. Talent and dance competitions such as İner Misin Çıkar Mısın? [Will you go up or down?], Ah Kızlar, Vah Erkekler [Man O Man], and Uçur Beni brought the audience their fifteen minutes of fame. Then, our first reality show, Biri Bizi Gözetliyor [Big Brother], ended with the victory of BBG Melih, a dance teacher.”
Invitation to Dance (2022) by Ekim Acun is commissioned as part of The 90s Onstage. The presentation will take place on Friday, October 21 at 19.00 in Salt Beyoğlu’s Walk-in Cinema, and will be followed by a DJ performance by Q-BRA at 20.00 in the Kitchen. The event is free of charge and open to everyone.
The presentation will be in Turkish.
Ekim Acun studied cinema and television at Roma Tre University and the London College of Communication. Participating in exhibitions in London and Istanbul, Acun founded the YouTube channel Şokopop in 2018, which conveys gender and identity issues through Turkey’s popular culture history. He continues to examine the themes of sexuality and censorship in his documentaries, collages, and video works he produces based on the archives he reached as a result of intensive research.
Kübra Uzun is an Istanbul-based singer, songwriter, performance artist and DJ, and an LGBTQIA+ rights activist working in Turkey as well as various international platforms. Kübra wrote, sang and produced the song titled ALAN2020 with Mx. Sür, which became an anthem during the Istanbul Pride in June 2020. In December 2020, Uzun performed A Trans History Sung, a digital monument directed by Onur Karaoğlu, in collaboration with Volksbühne Berlin’s digital performance series, Next Waves Theatre. Kübra worked with Simon(e) van Saarloos for Cruising Gezi Park, an audio work presented as part of the exhibition Refresh Amsterdam at Amsterdam Museum between December 2020-June 2021. In January 2021, Kübra recorded Koli Kanonu, based on Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s KV 560, and performed four different voices and characters in the video directed by Efe Durmaz. Kübra Uzun is also the coordinator of the project Through The Window, which aims to gather Turkey and Holland-based queer artists, thinkers and night workers.
The 90s Onstage is organized as part of L’Internationale’s Our Many Europes program.
