#47: Köken Ergun

Köken Ergun gives a personal introduction and a statement to the incidents at Gezi Park in which he was involved this summer. Following he will show:

Binibining Promised Land (The film)

There are 30,000 Filipino guest workers living within the State of Israel. The majority are female and work as caregivers for the elderly or sick. In Tel Aviv they live in shanty town conditions around the central bus station also known as the ‘Tachana Mercazit’. On Saturdays, buses in the Tachana do not work, and this giant modernist building is occupied by guest workers, who spend their time shopping, partying and socializing in bars, clubs and shops within the compound.

Beauty contests are very popular among Filipinos both at home and abroad. ‘Binibining Pilipinas’ is the most important beauty pageant in the Philippines, established in 1964. The Filipino community in Tel Aviv created their own beauty pageant in a nightclub inside the ‘Tachana Merkazit’ and named it ‘Binibining Philipinas Israel’.

Binibining Promised Land’s web site: www.binibiningpromisedland.com

 

Köken Ergun (b. 1976 in Istanbul, Turkey)  studied acting at the İstanbul University and completed his postgraduate diploma degree in Ancient Greek Literature at King’s College London, followed by an MA degree on Art History at the Bilgi University. After working with American theatre director Robert Wilson, Ergun became involved more with contemporary art, specifically video and performance.

Having a focus on rituals in his works, Ergun also collaborates with ethnologists, extending his practice to academia. He is currently writing his PhD thesis at the Interart Graduate College of the Freie Universität on the subject of “Rituals of Isolation: Emotional Bonding in Wedding Ceremonies of the Turkish/Kurdish Community in Berlin”.

His multi-channel video installations have been exhibited internationally at institutions including Palais de Tokyo, Stedelijk Museum Bureau Amsterdam, KIASMA, Digital Art Lab Tel Aviv, Casino Luxembourg, Protocinema, Queensland Art Gallery, SALT, and Kunsthalle Winterthur. His film works have received several awards at film festivals, including the Tiger Award for Short Film at the 2007 Rotterdam Film Festival, and the Special Mention Prize at the 2013 Berlinale. Ergun’s works are included in public collections such as the Centre Pompidou, Stadtmuseum Berlin and the Kadist Foundation.

Köken Ergun’s web site: www.indexofworks.com