photographs; 2011
Installation views: Manzara-Apartments
Curator: Kristina Kramer
Installation views: Manzara-Apartments
Curator: Kristina Kramer
Compilation
EverythingI Need To Do
White WinterHymnal
Dance Partyfor One
Smile
YHT Piece
Untitled2015
Tinnitus
StretchingExercises
LinearCommunication
Activismof Art
Tour ofAtasehir
Route
#Safe
Teacher'sDilemma
SK VendingMachine:
Belgrade
SK VendingMachine:
Stockholm
RoadDrawing I
Stupid
Neighborship
Bio +Contact
Both a gateway and a limit, the dual concept of border is brought forth in kapiciks (lit. small doors), which are architectural elements found in Balkan countries that used to be under the Ottoman influence and in old Turkish houses. Kapiciks are small doors that open to a neighboring house through a shared wall or fence, removing the need to use the main entrance between neighbors. Besides Turkish cities such as Kastamonu and Istanbul, they can also be found in Albania, Bulgaria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Macedonia. Indicating the importance of the relationship among neighbors, in Macedonia, kapiciks are thought to signify a common understanding of coexistence. It is also noteworthy that their comitadji (revolutionaries) were said to be able to travel all over a city without stepping on the street using kapiciks.*
The fact that the kapiciks, instead of being added later, were built with the house reveals that it was widely accepted that the neighboring families would naturally develop a close relationship. This understanding is diametrically opposite the understanding of coexistence that is behind the increasingly more secure and isolated housing complexes today. Here, one witnesses the sharp dialectic between the outside and the inside and the resulting alienation. In the interpersonal relationships shaped by such architecture, there is no entrance to another’s private space. When a person leaves his home, he immediately enters the public sphere and becomes visible. In relation to the past kapicik use in Macedonia, this situation prevents any social collocation that can occasion a transformation. Today, kapiciks are not only outdated, but they are also forgotten by all but the few interested and the elderly.
--
* Slavcheva, Polina. “We are not China and Japan to each other anymore”. The Sofia Echo 17 July 2006. 18 January 2011
Both a gateway and a limit, the dual concept of border is brought forth in kapiciks (lit. small doors), which are architectural elements found in Balkan countries that used to be under the Ottoman influence and in old Turkish houses. Kapiciks are small doors that open to a neighboring house through a shared wall or fence, removing the need to use the main entrance between neighbors. Besides Turkish cities such as Kastamonu and Istanbul, they can also be found in Albania, Bulgaria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Macedonia. Indicating the importance of the relationship among neighbors, in Macedonia, kapiciks are thought to signify a common understanding of coexistence. It is also noteworthy that their comitadji (revolutionaries) were said to be able to travel all over a city without stepping on the street using kapiciks.*
The fact that the kapiciks, instead of being added later, were built with the house reveals that it was widely accepted that the neighboring families would naturally develop a close relationship. This understanding is diametrically opposite the understanding of coexistence that is behind the increasingly more secure and isolated housing complexes today. Here, one witnesses the sharp dialectic between the outside and the inside and the resulting alienation. In the interpersonal relationships shaped by such architecture, there is no entrance to another’s private space. When a person leaves his home, he immediately enters the public sphere and becomes visible. In relation to the past kapicik use in Macedonia, this situation prevents any social collocation that can occasion a transformation. Today, kapiciks are not only outdated, but they are also forgotten by all but the few interested and the elderly.
--
* Slavcheva, Polina. “We are not China and Japan to each other anymore”. The Sofia Echo 17 July 2006. 18 January 2011
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