Conver­sation:
Didem Pekün and
November Paynter

SALT Beyoğlu, Walk-in Cinema

For the last in a series of conversations organized in parallel with A Century of Centuries, Didem Pekün and November Paynter will talk about the inspirations, content and method of Pekün’s video work Of dice and men (2011 ongoing), which is included in the exhibition, as well as the future direction of the work.

Pekün has been developing the piece since 2011 as part of a practice-based PhD at Goldsmiths, University of London. Working with the fluctuating rhythms of everyday life, Of dice and men traces an essayistic video diary punctuated by significant moments — some of purely subjective consequence and others which became markers in shared and mediated history. The work presented at SALT Beyoğlu is a selection of 26 of these video entries. It includes footage of the Occupy movements that began in London in 2011 and Istanbul’s Gezi protests in 2013. Such major disturbances of daily existence are interlaced with more joyful and elusive encounters such as boys diving into the Bosphorus.

Having first met in 2012, Paynter presented early versions of Of dice and men in two screening programs curated for the Oberhausen Film Festival and Sheffield Fringe. These collaborations and continuous conversations that took place over the last three years eventually helped to inspire the development of the exhibition A Century of Centuries and locate Pekün’s work within its frame.

This program is the final of five conversations organized in parallel to, and presented on the last day of the exhibition, A Century of Centuries.

The conversation will be held in English.