Cigdem Aydemir:
Forecast
Cigdem Aydemir dances with her audience. She takes you by your hands, twirls you around and – with vulnerability, intimacy and charisma – gently and yet powerfully encourages you to veer off course. She dazzles you into realising that you may indeed be wrong, and that perhaps another path – lighted by intersectionality, hopefulness and intelligence – is actually not only possible but is right at your doorstep.
Artistic charisma, deftness and humour are not often discussed in the context of identity politics. When we think of the delivery of identity politics we think of punchy lines, direct gazes and subverted political tropes, all of which are powerful forms of communication. But it has been refreshing to see Cigdem Aydemir take a different approach when connecting with audiences. Through a practice drawn from an awareness of the possibilities in filmic tension, drag, costume and play, Aydemir communicates complex perspectives on both individual and collective notions of identity within a contemporary Australian context. Aydemir does this through a nuanced sense of self-awareness. Based in western Sydney, the artist identifies as Turkish-Muslim and queer.
Aydemir has received several awards and accolades for her practice, including the Edna Ryan Award for Creative Feminism in 2012 and the Redland Konica Minolta Art Prize in the Emerging Category in 2013. But I first came across her work in 2015 at Boxcopy in Brisbane. Her exhibition I WON’T LET YOU OUT OF MY SIGHT was made during the ten-year anniversary of the Cronulla riots, one of the most horrific events in Australia’s recent socio-political history. The work in ..Subscribe to read this article in full
