A hard year for art in İzmir

From large canvases to glass figurines and musical plans, artworks recently displayed in the Aegean province of İzmir reflect the political issues of 2016, including violence against women, child abuse and environmental issues.

In Galeri A, Tülin Yiğit Akgül's glassworks, titled "3 Rooms and 1 Living Room," focus on women taking charge to solve their own problems. 

"Rights are taken, not given. We are tired of waiting for education policies and the existing ethical norms to weigh in on the rights of women. It is time to end patience and take action. Our dreams are not limited to three rooms and a living room," Akgül has said, referring to a young bride's traditional/archaic dream of a perfect home.

The fragility of her glass contrasts with her message calling on women to be strong and firm in fighting for their rights. In a piece called "Vertigo," a glass female figure wearing boxing gloves is about to punch a round glass, while in "Pride," six female glass busts in metallic colors raise their chins in defiance. 

In one of the rooms in the gallery, tens of "takunya," (wooden clogs that women wear in hammams or bathing houses) are placed over a glass platform, their shadows reflected on the floor, against the background of a disturbing music, mixed with the murmur of female voices. 

"Men have killed 236 women in the last 11 months and abused 368 girls," Akgül said. "How many women have risen against this and stood against the violence? Or are we just trying to keep ourselves and our bodies clean and above dirt?" Then comes the punch-line of the work of the 47-year-old artist, who opened her studio "Galsst" two years ago in Galata in Istanbul: "As dead bodies are placed under our feet, whose blood do we bathe in?"