Page 38 - Turkinsurance Digital Magazine

38 events

EXHIBITION
Dark World

Dates: Wednesday, July 23, 2025 ~ Sunday, December 14, 2025
Location: SALT Galata, Oditoryum

Founded by Garanti BBVA, Salt’s new exhibition Dark
World is based on an interdisciplinary research project
by an artist and a screenwriter. The exhibition explores
the story of the eponymous film directed by Metin Erksan
and written by Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu, which began to
grow more complex from the production phase onward,
within the cultural climate of 1950s Türkiye. It examines
the narratives that developed around the film—marked
by altered versions, controversies, rumors, conflicting ac-
counts, and archival material—that raise numerous ques-
tions.

Filmed with a social realist approach in Sivrialan (Sivas)
and Ürgüp (Nevşehir), the film weaves the story of Âşık
Veysel, from his childhood to becoming a renowned folk
poet, around a melodramatic love story. However, the narrative of the film was unexpectedly redirected to align with the
agricultural development and rural modernization policies of the time. According to Erksan, footage of combine harvesters
in the Hudson fields—obtained from the United States Information Service [Amerikan Haberler Merkezi]—along with
scenes later said to be shot on the outskirts of Istanbul showing a school and a health clinic, were used to portray an ideal-
ized image of village life. These additions pushed Veysel’s life story into the background, transforming the film into a ve-
hicle for the official ideology of the period. Among the reasons behind these alterations were censorship decisions reported
in three reports by the Central Film Control Commission in Ankara, dated between December 1952 and November 1953.
Although the reports did not specify which scenes were deemed objectionable, the concern for a flawless representation of
society was prominent. Following the edits made by the production company Atlas Film, the movie was released on Decem-
ber 31, 1953, under the title Âşık Veysel’in Hayatı [The Life of Âşık Veysel]. The film, whose entire atmosphere changes
along with its title, becomes an eclectic product shaped by commercial concerns and ideological tensions.

Today, both the film and its story remain incomplete. What survives of the film consists of a disjointed edit, deleted or
added scenes, distortions in the audio track, silences, and the narratives formed around these fragments. Neither the
original cut before censorship nor the altered version that was released is known. The circulating copies differ in sound,
image, and editing. During the exhibition’s research process, a 35mm nitrate film found in the archive of the Prof. Sami
Şekeroğlu Cinema-TV Practice and Research Center at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University contains footage that had not
been seen until now.

Based on the long-term research of artist Mike Bode and screenwriter Caner Yalçın, the exhibition approaches the film
not as a complete narrative but as an object shaped by cultural, political, and historical processes. The archival materials
presented in the exhibition are treated as elements that can be reactivated through artistic practice. Accompanying these
materials is a script that traces the interventions, transformations, and discrepancies between different copies of the film,
supported by a series of video installations. Rather than reconstructing Karanlık Dünya [Dark World], the exhibition dis-
sects it into layers, forming pathways to examine the ideologies, censorship mechanisms, and production conditions that
shaped its circulation.

Dark World, programmed by Gülce Özkara from Salt, can be visited between July 23 and December 14 at the Salt Galata
Mastercard Exhibition Space. The exhibition will be accompanied by a series of public programs and an e-publication to
be released in November. Details about the programs will be announced on saltonline.org.

Mike Bode is an artist and researcher. His practice, based on interdisciplinary collaborations, focuses on spatial and vi-
sual investigations in relation to social, historical, and political transformations. Institutions where his works have been
exhibited include Kunst-Werke, Berlin; Contemporary Art Centre, Vilnius; Nobel Prize Museum, Stockholm; Secession,
Vienna; Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami; and the Yokohama Triennale.

Caner Yalçın is a screenwriter and director. He completed his undergraduate studies in Journalism at Marmara University
and his master’s degree in Film and Television at Istanbul Bilgi University. Yalçın writes scripts for various television
channels and digital platforms, and also works as a short film screenwriter and director.