Portfolio

Portfolio
Emre Celikcan
“Je fouille ma mémoire pour débusquer
le plus grand nombre d’éléments de mon identité, je les assemble, je les aligne, je n’en renie aucun.”
(Amin Maalouf; Les Identités Meurtrières. 1998.)
.gif (Gay, Islam, Family), 2014
Video Installation, 6min 38sec
When I was young, I always watched Turkish movies with my parents. As a kid I found it strange
how close men, in the movies, were. Isn’t it strange that male intimacy is completely accepted in
the Turkish community, but that homosexuality is considered taboo?
For this project I selected fragments from Turkish movies and television series in which men
have intimate relationships. The result is an almost humoristic story about cultural codes and
conflicting principles.
Untitled, 2014
Video Installation, 7min 23sec
Untitled is about trying to understand who you are. Trying to find out who I really am: my ‘real’
identity. Being gay and muslim is not easy. It leads to a double life and two different personalities.
For this project I asked the same questions to both my family and friends. The answers are a
proof of this contrasting, clashing life of a gay muslim.
Paradise-Circus, 2015
Installation with three iPads and text
Paradise-Circus is an ongoing project which deals with the problematic of being gay in islam.
Many of homosexual muslim guys, including me, have a double life because they are not accepted
by their family and/or the community. They see it as a sin and it’s illegal.
Applications like Grindr and Gayromeo give us the opportunity to chat and meet with each other.
We make profiles and post pictures on these apps. Even if we know that everyone can make a
profile, free and quick. But in some countries, like Algeria, the gouvernement is infiltrated in this
application to hunt down this guys and lock them up or to condemn them to death.
The result is a conversation I had with a guy, Taher, and a picture that is deformed. This
deformation is caused by the interaction between the text and picture. Each sentence is pasted
in the picture with help of a program. The conversation gave me the chance to know him better
and to ‘hide’ him from all this information, but it shows also visually the danger.
Em1991 12. Mar. 2015 - 23:50
Raconte moi un secret.
Paradise-circus 12. Mar. 2015 - 23:55
De 12 à 19 ans j’ai touché la bite de mon cousin. Je
l’aimais. Puis, il s’est marié et depuis on a rien fait.
Je suis toujours vierge. Je l’aime encore, mais c’est
comme un frère que je touché.
Je suis adepte d’inceste.
Heu, voilà un secret. Et toi, tu m’en racontes un?
Em1991 13. Mar. 2015 - 00:01
Je suis gay. Haha.
Mon père m’a ramené chez les putes quand j’avais
13-14ans.
Paradise-circus 13. Mar. 2015 - 00:01
Pourquoi?
Em1991 13. Mar. 2015 - 00:01
Parce que l’homosexualité est une maladie. Bon
raconte encore plus.
Paradise-circus 13. Mar. 2015 - 00:06
Je le touchai. Il n’aimai pas les bisous, ni les caresses.
Il m’a dis un jour: désolé de t’avoir rendu PD.
Em1991 13. Mar. 2015 - 00:07
Mais bon. On change de sujet.
Em1991 14. Mar. 2015 - 11:44
J’ai garé ma voiture. Et pouf, un oiseau a chié sur la
vitre.
Paradise-circus 14. Mar. 2015 - 12:44
Haha! Lave là alors. Tu veux me voir laver ta voiture
? ^^Je me mettrais de la mousse partout sur le
corps.
Em1991 14. Mar. 2015 - 17:52
Haha. Pourquoi pas.
Paradise-circus 14. Mar. 2015 - 18:37
Tu aimerais? ^^
Em1991 14. Mar. 2015 - 18:38
Haha. Elle doit être propre la voiture!
Paradise-circus 14. Mar. 2015 - 18:39
T’as quoi comme voiture?
Em1991 14. Mar. 2015 - 18:43Twingo de ’96.
Paradise-circus 14. Mar. 2015 - 18:50J’aime. Je suppose de couleur verte?
Em1991 14. Mar. 2015 - 18:50
Non. Rouge.
Paradise-circus 14. Mar. 2015 - 18:52Tu me fera faire
un tour avec à Bruxelles?
Em1991 14. Mar. 2015 - 20:57
Oui.
Paradise-circus 14. Mar. 2015 - 20:58Je me prépare
alors.
Em1991 14. Mar. 2015 - 20:59
Je viens te chercher dans 10min.
Paradise-circus 14. Mar. 2015 - 21:01Ok, je fais vite
alors.On va ou?
Em1991 14. Mar. 2015 - 21:56
Chez maman, ou il y des shows travesti.
Paradise-circus 14. Mar. 2015 - 22:10
Il y a un bar de TRAVESTI qui s’appelle chez
maman?
Em1991 14. Mar. 2015 - 22:33
Jep. J’adore
Paradise-circus 14. Mar. 2015 - 22:35
T’aimes les travesti?
Em1991 14. Mar. 2015 - 22:57
J’en connais quelques-unes. Elles sont cool.
Paradise-circus 14. Mar. 2015 - 22:59
Tu me les présentera alors.Et après on fais quoi?
Em1991 14. Mar. 2015 - 23:04
Et puis on danse et boit.
Paradise-circus 14. Mar. 2015 - 23:09
Tu veux que je danse pour toi la danse du ventre ?
Tu risque de bander.
Em1991 14. Mar. 2015 - 23:09
Haha. Oh oui. Tu sais danser?
Paradise-circus 14. Mar. 2015 - 23:10
La danse du ventre? Oui je sais. ^^Donc on fait ça.Si
je bois trop, je risque de t’embrasser un peu.
Em1991 14. Mar. 2015 - 23:37
Oh oh. Et tu trouvera ça grave?
Paradise-circus 15. Mar. 2015 - 07:19
Non, mais je sais pas si tu aimerais?
Em1991 16. Mar. 2015 - 15:12
Raconte moi tes fantasmes sexuels. ^^
Paradise-circus 16. Mar. 2015 - 16:30
Je peux réaliser ça qu’avec mon homme, pas un
autre! J’aime qu’on me force. Un viole quoi.
Em1991 16. Mar. 2015 - 16:37
Qu’on te force quand tu dors?
Paradise-circus 16. Mar. 2015 - 16:38
Ca te donne des idées à ce que je vois.
Tu aime ça alors?
Et toi? Dis moi tout.
J’étais, je suis et je serai; 2015
Installation
Identity is a complex and multifaceted concept. We are all looking for our identity in one way or
another. Whenever we think we have found it, we discover that it is different from the person we
were a few minutes earlier.
”You’re a Turk,” say my parents. Why is it so important to stick a label to a person? Borders were
created and drawn by geopolitical history. Often a result of craving power. They divide the world
and ensure that people claim or are assigned identities.
For J’étais, je suis et je serai. I delved into my personal history. Son of a family of Turkish, Greek
and Bulgarian origins, I explore my cultural identity.I am, born in Brussels, fascinated by gender
issues and their representation in a multicultural background. My work enables me to (re-)
construct the different building blocks of identity. This is a socially engaged project that raises
contemporary issues and translates them to images.
Emre Celikcan
Ransonstraat 42, 1130 Brussel
8 augustus 1991
http://cargocollective.com/emrecelikcan
[email protected]
0498/34.07.63
Curriculum Vitae Biography
2007-2009
2009-2011
2011-2015
2015-…
Photography, Coloma Plus. Mechelen, Belgium.
Bachelor in law, HUBrussels. Brussels, Belgium.
Bachelor in fine arts; photography, Luca School of Arts. Brussels, Belgium.
Masters in fine arts; photography, Luca School of Arts. Brussels, Belgium.
Solo Exhibition
2016
J’étais, je suis et je serai. Recyclart. Brussels Belgium
Group Exhibitions
2014
2015
2015
2015
.gif (Gay, Islam, Family). Breda photo; Songs from the heart. Breda, Netherlands.
.gif (Gay, Islam, Family). Ithaka 23. Leuven, Belgium
Paradise-Circus. Loose Lips, Sink Ships. Amsterdam, Netherlands.
.gif (Gay, Islam, Family). The First Blossom - The Art of Constant Change. Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Publications
2014
2014
2015
2015
Breda photo; Songs from the heart. Book. Netherlands.
GLIMP; Bulletin for Queer Art. Online Magazine. World Wide Web.
D!NG; Online Art Magazine. Online magazine. World Wide Web.
D!NG; Online Art Magazine. Book. Belgium