Conversation:
Haig Aivazian and Gülce Özkara
Breaking Through a Dam
Salt Beyoğlu
June 10, 2026 18.30
Courtesy of Haig Aivazian
Açık Sinema
Haig Aivazian will give a talk as part of his site-specific installation As Death Lurks Above, We…, produced for the exhibition Breaking Through a Dam at Salt Beyoğlu.
As Death Lurks Above, We… continues Aivazian’s research into the night as a contentious space, where its attempted colonizations are countered by a progression of practices shifting from escapism to fugitivity and then resistance. Part of this inquiry has taken the form of an ongoing cartoon miniseries, sometimes spatialized into experimental, club-like installations with fog machines and searchlights activated in the intermissions.
In this installation, the artist expands this spatial vocabulary while doing away with the image altogether, retaining only the essentials of film: darkness, light, and sound. The intention is to create a space where something has seemingly just occurred: a nightclub as the party finally winds down, a street during a lull in riots, a battlefield where camouflaged fighters await to ambush invaders.
In the conversation moderated by Gülce Özkara, programmer of the exhibition, Aivazian will reflect on this work and broader questions shaping his practice, alongside projects that engage with the intertwined musical histories of Turkey and the Levant. The installation—featuring compositions by sound artists Omar Itani, Nadia Daou, and Rhea Dally—will be activated in conjunction with this program.
The conversation will be held in English and is open to everyone.
Haig Aivazian will give a talk as part of his site-specific installation As Death Lurks Above, We…, produced for the exhibition Breaking Through a Dam at Salt Beyoğlu.
As Death Lurks Above, We… continues Aivazian’s research into the night as a contentious space, where its attempted colonizations are countered by a progression of practices shifting from escapism to fugitivity and then resistance. Part of this inquiry has taken the form of an ongoing cartoon miniseries, sometimes spatialized into experimental, club-like installations with fog machines and searchlights activated in the intermissions.
In this installation, the artist expands this spatial vocabulary while doing away with the image altogether, retaining only the essentials of film: darkness, light, and sound. The intention is to create a space where something has seemingly just occurred: a nightclub as the party finally winds down, a street during a lull in riots, a battlefield where camouflaged fighters await to ambush invaders.
In the conversation moderated by Gülce Özkara, programmer of the exhibition, Aivazian will reflect on this work and broader questions shaping his practice, alongside projects that engage with the intertwined musical histories of Turkey and the Levant. The installation—featuring compositions by sound artists Omar Itani, Nadia Daou, and Rhea Dally—will be activated in conjunction with this program.
The conversation will be held in English and is open to everyone.
