23.5 Hrant Dink Site of Memory turned one year old on 23.5 April 2020. On the occasion of its anniversary, we organized an online conversation with artist Sarkis who designed ‘Salt and Light’ installation in the balcony of Hrant Dink’s office at 23.5.

During the talk, Sarkis explained in detail the meaning of ‘Salt and Light’, which is a permanent artwork of 23,5 Hrant Dink Site of Memory, while sharing the process of its production and what each object that creates the artwork means to him.

Sarkis talked about his childhood and explained how his lived experience during childhood years turned into memory and affected his art practice.

Sarkis also talked about how he met with ’Scream’ by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch when he was a child, its place in his life and he also explained how he interprets ‘Scream’.

Sarkis continued by talking about his installation ‘Çaylak Sokak’ in ARTER. He explained the representation of three pieces that takes place in the installation and their relation with his childhood. He expressed how certain images from childhood memory continue to exist.

Sarkis finished his talk by explaining his work in Venice Biennale 2015 and the importance of the children in this artwork, after the talk he answered the questions of the participants.

Sarkis (b. 1938, Istanbul) received his education at Istanbul Mimar Sinan University Fine Arts Academy. He opened his first exhibition in 1960 at the Istanbul Art Gallery. He then moved to Paris. Sarkis started his journey with painting and over the course of time he included sculpture and audio-visual installations. The artist's works are exhibited in many museums and private collections. Sarkis lives and works in Paris. sarkis.fr

The video is only available in Turkish.