Berfin Alyeşil invites the viewer to participate in a mythical narrative with the video installation “Rahm'e”. Although systematic sexism has relatively diminished in recent years through the gains of women’s and queer movements, its traces endure in the psyche through transgenerational trauma.
During the residency, the healing/creative process that started with the artist's exploring her own transgenerational trauma regarding a forced marriage, evolved into imagining a collective healing process with recognizing the prevalence of such experiences in the older generations.
The artist invites the collective unconscious to the gallery by building a mythical narrative. The installation stages a collective healing ritual, drawing from the symbolic image of a cave where women of the region gather. In this imagined sanctuary, women leave behind the lives imposed upon them and create a sacred space for catharsis, resilience, and transformation.
The artwork recognises the healing properties of this “participation mystique” and invites the viewer to join the women in this cathartic experience by following the rituals in the cave temple recreated in the gallery.
*Excerpted from the exhibition catalogue.
