one channel-video
info@galeriezink.de
Set against the vast backdrop of a waste disposal site 60 kilometers from Diyarbakir, this film explores the intersection of consumer culture, environmental crisis, and creative resistance. Centered around 4 to 6 women, including a traditional Kurdish dengbêj singer, the project transforms discarded materials into improvised instruments, blending rhythm, performance, and song. Through these acts, the women give new voice to objects deemed worthless ― reclaiming waste as a site of renewal and expression. The film challenges the notion of waste as an endpoint, revealing its potential to carry memory, meaning, and ecological warning. At its heart, the project amplifies the silent stories buried in the landfill, offering a poetic response to the violence of overconsumption and the resilience of both nature and culture.
Born to a Kurdish family in 1971, Erkan Özgen lives and works in Diyarbakır. Özgen made
his debut into the Turkish art world in 1998 and since then has participated in exhibitions and
events in Albania, Austria, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, France, Finland, Germany, Iran, Italy,
Israel, Lebanon, Montenegro, Holland, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey,
Austria, the United Kingdom and the United States. Özgen primarily works with video,
photography and installation. Most of his recent films address migration and human rights,
often criticizing overcharged nationalism and military absolutism.