the opposite is connection

Cihan Çakmak the opposite is connection curated by Aldina Okerić The solo exhibition THE OPPOSITE IS CONNECTION by Cihan Çakmak showcases new, previously unseen works alongside older pieces by the Lower Saxony-born artist. At the forefront are themes of repetition and pain. Whether it is the repetition of clothing that cannot be attributed to a single protagonist, the supposed repetition of gestures, or the repetition of entrenched traumas, a state of tension and resistance hovers over everything. What is being repeated? We think we recognize the gestures, but we are continually misled by a sense of discomfort. Isolation can be a consequence of trauma; the opposite is connection. Cihan Çakmak takes on roles that could be herself, her grandparents, an actress, or none of these, in her own subtle iconographic way. Cihan Çakmak is a multimedia artist and photographer with a focus on socio-political- psychological aesthetics dealing with emancipation, human relationships, representation and abstraction of bodies and fragile, non-linear biographies. She work between the deconstruction of self and others in the context of different understanding between tradition and modernism. From 2021-2023 she was Meisterschülerin of Prof. Tina Bara at the Academy of Visual Arts Leipzig, where she also received a diploma in 2021. She also studied at the Dortmund University of Applied Sciences and Arts and graduated with a Bachelor's degree. At the IADE-Creative University in Lisbon she did a semester abroad and is still connected with Lisbon. She did further practicing at the International Center of Photography in New York City. Çakmak received the Paula Modersohn-Becker Newcomer prize in Worpswede, the Ein- Blicke Preis in Bochum and the Rössing prize for photography in Leipzig. Aldina Okerić (she/her) is a curator and art mediator. She studied art history, literary studies, and gender studies in Bochum and Rome. During her studies, she founded the association 'Atelier Amore e. V.' in Dortmund, where she organized exhibitions, events and workshops. Her professional career includes positions in various institutions such as the Museum Ostwall im Dortmunder U, the Kunstmuseum Bochum and the RuhrKunstMuseen network. Currently, she works as a freelance curator and art mediator for various organizations and museums. Right now she resides and works in Dortmund.