The Devrek Sun Agricultural Development Cooperative

2020 - Textile (Textile)

46 x 205 cm

Asli Çavusoglu

---

In the exhibition Pink as a Cabbage / Green as an Onion / Blue as an Orange , Asli Çavusoglu pursues her work on color to delve into an investigation into alternative agricultural systems and natural dyes made with fruits, vegetables, and plants cultivated by the farming initiatives she has been in touch with. Yet, rather than formulating the history of a particular color, the artist thinks through color, bringing together the various stories and models numerous farming initiatives in Turkey. The fabrics – each corresponding to a unique initiative – evoke the question: How have the social uprisings in Turkey during the last decade shaped the way we reimagine sites of everyday resistance? Can planting seeds constitute a political act? Following the Gezi uprisings in 2013, the artist noted the formation of numerous urban guerilla gardens reclaiming neglected land and the establishment of ecological farming initiatives in rural Turkey advocating for sustainable and community-supported agriculture. Interested in the different models of resistance these initiatives proposed, her work takes the form of an installation of numerous fabrics whose different sizes, textures, patterns and rhythmic surfaces introduce a mapping exercise about their stories. farmland, labor, production, agriculture, feminism, pattern Devrek Sun Agricultural Development Cooperative , 2020 Another textile consecrated to a feminist model is Devrek, an initiative founded in 2010 by 8 women farmers. Today they count 53 members, including only one man. They specialise in the production of traditional noodles called “Eriste”, the source of inspiration for the artist who uses the shape of the noodles to embroider the corresponding textile. The 8 embroidered eriste dyed in grey represent the 8 founders of the collective.

---

Asli Çavusoglu’s projects examine how cultural and historical facts are transformed, represented, and interpreted by individuals. Working across various media, Cavusoglu often assumes the role of interpreter, writer, or facilitator in her projects in order to highlight the precarious and subjective nature of our shared stories, questioning those who frame these experiences for the wider public.

---

Colors:

---

• farmland.n.01
• labor.n.01
• production.n.01
• agribusiness.n.01
• feminism.n.01
• form.n.03