"It is dark, not a soul to be seen. Scattered amongst objects are countless traces and lives. Neriman Polat is a precise observer of the world in and around us. She wants to understand, and to change, the effects of human interactions. With the eye of a stage director, she crafts the exhibition space. The elements of her narration: balcony and apartment, patterned fabrics and drapes, clashing materials and immanent void, a spark of hope. Interior and exterior, each steps into the foreground, then recedes again, as if it were torn between distinct spaces of belonging. The gray walls tie things together. A down jacket caught on a branch loses itself in no-man’s land, like a prisoner who has no one to remember him. The photograph bears witness to its presence. Something is wrong. The miniature swing-set, the iron balcony direct our gaze into a bottomless abyss. A few fabrics are draped from the railing, as if to dry; their decorative patterns appear isolated in the black surroundings. They bother us again. In this eerie room lurk bodies that have disappeared, with and without names. It points to the structural violence in its shadows.

For thirty years now, Neriman Polat has developed an independent sculptural language and taken a stance. Her voice is heard. She studied painting and segued into conceptual art via photography, bringing in a feminist perspective. Taking an approach that stems from conviction in a communal consciousness, she has at the same time developed an artistic practice that is very much her own."

Text: Inka Gressel
translated by Darrell Wilkins