Occupation  2012/2010/2009

The opening speech of the curators was “perforated”, interrupted. Withdrawn and very concentrated at the same time, some of the visitors begin to dance while the audience is still listening attentively. Soon thereafter, one can hear music, softly at first, then the sound level is increased. There are, at first, five, then ten, then 15, in the end 100 involved people (of various ages) dancing between or around the listeners and viewers. They simply move to the music, without any obvious choreography, just as if they were in a disco. After a while others are whetted to dance, too, they join the dance until, at last, the whole audience is dancing, until the opening of the exhibition has finally turned into a dancing occupying all the exhibition space. How easy or how difficult is it to gather people, to enthuse them, to inspire them, enchant them with an idea, persuade them, win them for one common action. How does (a) “community” evolve and to what end? With whom? Would you participate? The performance or interventions of Nevin Aladağ could be called “Communities of the moment”, which is the title of one of her earlier performances, too. In variedly conceived actions, the artist investigates the participation in and the reflection of a place or space and/or situation. She focuses on the experience of participation, of the moment of the realization of a collective action and the power it can have.

(excerpt from the text by Anke Hoffmann)