SILA YOLU | Berlin
The Holiday Transit to Turkey and the Tales of the Highway
By Malve Lippmann and Can Sungu
Sıla yolu, autoput, death road, way home - the former European route 5 (E5) between Germany and Turkey has many names. The transit route served generations of migrant workers as the main link between Western Europe and their countries of origin. The former "guest worker route" is still an important route today for holidaymakers, commuters and new groups of immigrants.
For the installation, Malve Lippmann and Can Sungu from bi'bak talked to numerous travelers, families, highway and picnic experts on the old and new routes. Complemented by text, image and film material from the past and present, the exhibition tells the story of the route, the old and the new Europe, the borders and obstacles and the changing landscapes along the sıla yolu (Turkish for: way home).
In an audiovisual installation integrated in a Ford Transit (built in 1985), which stopped off at various locations in Berlin and Istanbul between 2016 and 2017, the highway between Germany and Turkey is thematized in all its facets. The focus of our exhibition project SILA YOLU – The Holiday Transit to Turkey and the Tales of the Highway lays on the individual and collective search for a route, finding destinations and starting points, traveling the distance and bringing along and transporting expectations, fantasies, memories and artefacts. The project deals not only with the physical path between two places, but also with the complex space of emotions, in which the concepts of culture, identity and community oscillate rapidly, but sometimes are also bound to immutable ideas. In addition, the exhibition shows an important part of German-Turkish migration history.
For the exhibition a publication with academic, artistic and literary contributions has been published, which can be ordered from us by email or downloaded here.
For more information visit the project website.
Concept and Artistic Direction: Malve Lippmann, Can Sungu
Project Assistants: Duygu Atçeken, Esra Akkaya, Hanna Döring
Workshop Leaders: Tuna Arkun, Malve Lippmann
Graphic Design: Çağın Kaya
Malve Lippmann studied at the State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart and at the Institute for Art in Context (UdK) in Berlin. As a freelance stage designer and artist, she has been internationally responsible for the design of numerous performances, opera- and theatre productions. Since 2010, Malve Lippmann has been working as a curator and cultural manager, leading artistic workshops and seminars and is active in various cultural- and community projects. She is co-founder and artistic director of bi'bak and SİNEMA TRANSTOPIA.
Can Sungu studied film and visual communication design in Istanbul and at the Institute for Art in Context at the Berlin University of the Arts. He has given workshops and seminars in the field of film and published texts on film and migration. As an artist, he participated in numerous exhibitions, including at MMSU Rijeka, Künstlerhaus Vienna and REDCAT Los Angeles. He is co-founder and artistic director of bi‘bak.
